I thought it was pretty interesting that the Ivy League's co-offensive players of the week happened to be a pair of sophomore quarterbacks from Connecticut.
Former Griswold High star Sean Brackett threw for 273 yards and tied a school record with five touchdown passes in Columbia's 42-14 win over Princeton. Brackett also ran for 48 yards.
Cheshire's Billy Ragone ran for three touchdowns including the game winner in overtime and threw a touchdown pass in Penn's 35-28 win over Dartmouth. Ragone threw for 132 yards and ran for another 57.
Naturally, the play of the sophomores came up during Tuesday's weekly Ivy League football coaches' call.
"I guess the record has been around a while," Columbia coach Norries Wilson said. "We don't think Sean is out thre for personal accolades but, fort enough that he executes the plays.
"Sean is a guy who people have to defend and you also have to defend the pass. There are no designed runs for Sean. He will take off and run if everybody’s covered."
Ragone, who like Brackett got valuable playing time as a freshhman, fits the mold of the athletic dual-threat quarterback that veteran Penn coach Al Bagnoli, himself a Connecticut native, likes to have behind center.
"I think we kind of switched our philosophy," Bagnoli said. "We try to get a guy who can continue to play with their feet. Given all the gun run offenses, all the blitzes, given everything a quarterback has to encounter, he place a premium on kids who can throw the ball as well as run the ball."
While Yale does not have a Connecticut native among the eight quarterbacks on its roster, the Bulldogs have no complaints in the quarterbacking department as junior Patrick Witt is leading the Ivy League in passing offense with an average of 290 yards per game and is second in total offense (293.7).
Speaking of Ivy League stats, juniors Alex Thomas and Jordan Haynes are leading the league in rushing (81.3 yards per game) and solo tackles (23) respectively.
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