Connor Michelsen
Quinn Epperly
Princeton’s 2013 QB position is not exactly set in stone,
but the Tigers did get some good results from the two then-sophomores who split
the signal-calling duties in 2012.
Connor Michelsen stared nine of the ten games and threw 73%
of the passes for Princeton last season. Quinn Epperly got the start in the
finale after Michelsen was hurt, and he was more of a runner. In fact, Epperly
finished the season as the Tigers #2 rusher with 314 net yards and six TD’s.
But if you need a reason why Head Coach Bob Surace is anything
but set on using these two QB’s exclusively in 2013, just look at their track
records on 3rd down:
Michelsen was 31 for 57 for a .543 completion percentage on
3rd down.
He threw for 397 yards for a fine 6.9 yards per attempt
average.
23 of his 3rd down passes went for 1st
down for a not-too-bad .403 percentage.
But then it gets ugly. It gets REAL ugly.
Zero of his 3rd down passes went for TD’s and
FIVE of his 3rd down throws were picked off.
He was also sacked 10 times for a loss of 72 yards.
Considering that Michelsen threw nine INT’s all season, the
fact that he threw one INT for every 11 3rd down passes thrown…
well, that’s pretty bad.
Epperly was 12 of 20 on 3rd down passes for a
.600 completion percentage.
He threw for 101 yards for a 5.0 yards per attempt average.
Seven of his 3rd down passes went for 1st
downs, a .350 percentage.
One of his 3rd down passes went for a TD, two were
picked off.
Epperly was also sacked twice on 3rd down for a
total loss of seven yards.
For Surace skeptics like me, the 2012 Princeton season was a
real surprise. This is a team that beat Harvard, shutout Brown, and darn near
beat Penn too. And when you look at the QB play, you might be scratching your
head to figure out just how they pulled it off. The fact that the Tigers lost
three of their last four games suggests that maybe their luck ran out as the
season went on.
Moment #79: A Dagger
in the Heart
With Columbia trailing 14-10 in the 2nd quarter
in week 2 against Fordham, RB Marcorus
Garrett went 64 yards down the west sideline before he was caught from
behind at the four. The Lions still looked like they were going to cash in when
on the next play, RB Alec Fisher ran
the ball to the one to set up a 2nd and goal. Columbia then called a
timeout to make sure they got the play right, but the result was a disaster.
QB Sean Bracket
overthrew everybody in the right corner of the end zone… well, almost
everybody. Fordham’s Ian Williams, the same player who had hustled to catch
Garrett from behind two plays earlier, made an acrobatic catch and got one foot
in-bounds for an incredible interception.
The scenario was hauntingly similar to what happened in
Brackett’s first game as a starter for Columbia in 2009, when after a 75 yard
run by RB Leon Ivery ’10 to the same spot in front of the same end zone, the Lions Zack Kourouma ’10 fumbled the ball away to Yale on the very next
play.
In this game against Fordham, that lost TD would end up
being the deciding margin in the game.
1 comment:
Also similar to the interception Brackett threw at the end of the first half of the Fordham game during the final Wilson season. We were driving for the end zone and dominating Fordham (a team and a venue I really do not like) when Vinnie called a QB running play. Brackett got hammered, hurt his shoulder (badly) and then threw a pick that some Fordham LB took back 99 yards. There went the game, probably the season, and possibly Brackett's effectiveness for the rest of the season if not his career.
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