Day 71: Alex Gross

Alex Gross stalks his prey (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)

A nice piece of recognition for Austin Knowlin today as he has been named to the Sports Network FCS All-America First Team as a punt returner.

The full story and roster is on the TSN site here.


Gross Gains

The last linebacker I'll spotlight on our 100 players in 100 days countdown is current standout Alex Gross '11.

The Kettering, Ohio product made a huge splash in his freshman year of 2007, getting into the starting lineup, leading the team in tackles, and finishing the season as Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

The thing is...there were so many players making emergency starts during the great injury-riddled campaign of 2007, that I didn't really notice just how good Gross was until very late in the season.

By week 10 against Brown I did realize he was a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year, but I almost missed the boat. Incidentally, Gross clinched the award with a 15-tackle performance that day.

Sophomore jinx? Not so much.

Gross led the team and the entire Ivy League in tackles last season with 101 and ended up on the All-Ivy First Team at linebacker.

He had his best performance in Columbia's best game of the season. In the 17-7 win over Cornell in week 9, Gross had 15 tackles, an interception, a sack, and a pass breakup.

But stats really don't tell the whole story. When Gross is on the field, it seems like opposing ball carriers never have a chance to get around that left end of the Columbia defense. He's also a very disruptive force in the short passing game week after week.

With the graduation of Drew Quinn, I suspect Gross will become the de facto leader of the linebacking corps, and I think they're in good hands.