History in the Making

As of now, I don't know who will be the starting QB for the Lions this Saturday at home against Harvard. But frosh Sean Brackett has already carved himself a decent space in Columbia history.

Consider the following:

(all the "records" listed below do NOT include the post-World War II years when varsity players were allowed to play for four years, even as freshmen).


-Brackett became the first freshman to ever start a game at QB for Columbia. Freshman football was eliminated in the Ivies beginning with the 1993 season, so that's 166 games where there was an opportunity to do so but Brackett was the first to get the nod.


-The only two freshmen QB's before Brackett to even get significant playing time in a game for Columbia were 1) Craig Hormann '08, who made a nice debut sharing time with Jeff Otis '05 in the final home game of the 2004 season, and 2) M.A. Olawale '10, who came in during the second half for Hormann in a home contest against Dartmouth in 2006.


-Brackett had three TD passes in his debut start. I'm still going through all the records, but it looks like that's a record too. Think about that: Luckman, Witkowski, Domres, and Roberts... none of them put up numbers like Brackett.


Obviously, it's too early to declare that Brackett is the man who will lead Columbia football to some kind of glory days for the next 3+ years. But no one can deny he put in a heck of a performance against a tough defense on super short notice and with little prep time.

And remember how Brackett came to Columbia in the first place. It was all because of a good deed Coach Wilson did in a little church in Danielson, Connecticut. Perhaps a little divine intervention helped us out.


But let's not give this entire post to the youth movement. Please read Darlene Camacho's excellent piece about senior co-captain Taylor Joseph. Taylor has been a key cog for this team since his freshmen year and he's still going strong. I was more than pleased that he grabbed another TD pass last week on that super play. I thought it was fitting that Brackett's first ever TD throw for CU went to a seasoned veteran senior like Taylor.

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