With the Lions leading 3-0 after their first possession
against Fordham, the defense came up big with a three-and-out punctuated by Josh Martin’s nine yard sack of Ryan
Higgins back to the Ram eight yard line.
After the punt and nine yard return by Alec Fisher, Columbia was set up nicely again with a 1st
and 10 at the Fordham 40.
But a two yard run by Marcorus
Garrett was followed by two straight incomplete passes by QB Sean Brackett, and the Lions had to
punt.
While Brackett was one of the most athletic, gutsy, and
emotionally-positive QB’s in Columbia history, his inability to ever become a
high percentage completion QB was a big reason the Lions didn’t win more of the
32 games he started.
The problem began at the end of his sophomore year, after he
suffered a shoulder injury. His passes just weren’t as accurate after that. He
also suffered from the graduation of rock solid TE Andrew Kennedy in 2011 and
the breakdown of his decent pass blocking protection his senior year.
Brackett never became a QB who was too prone to INT’s, but
his ability to find his receivers in crucial moments faded down the stretch of
his career.
In 2012, that was a big reason why Columbia was dead last in
the league in 3rd down conversions at just 31%. The Lions were dead
last in 4th down conversions too, at 14%.
In this game against Fordham, Brackett was an alarming three
for ten passing on 3rd down plays for just 49 yards.
For the season on 3rd down, Brackett completed
just 38 of 95 passes, (40%), for 401
yards (just 4.2 yards per attempt), for 27 1st downs, four TD’s and
three INT’s. He was also sacked 16 times on 3rd down for a total
loss of 89 yards.
It’s not likely that Columbia will get the Sean Brackett complete
talent package of passing, running, and gutsy combo with its next starting QB.
BUT if the next Lions starter hits 60% of his passes, we could see a significant
improvement on 3rd down and through the entire offense.
Sean Brackett
1 comment:
Any news on what Brackett and the other football graduates are doing ???
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