Jaden Craig, the quarterback who engineered Harvard’s comeback against Dartmouth last fall, is ranked as the fifth-best returning QB in the subdivision per FCS Football Central on SI. Here’s what the site writes (LINK):
In his first season as the full-time starter, Craig led Harvard to a share of the Ivy League title under new head coach Andrew Aurich. He earned second-team All-Ivy League honors.
In only 10 games last season, Craig completed 61% of his passes for 2,430 yards, 23 touchdowns, and three interceptions. He was named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award and earned NEFW All-New England honors.
Craig led the Ivy League in passing efficiency (158.8), ranking No. 10 nationally. He also ranked Top 20 among FCS quarterbacks in passing grade, according to Pro Football Focus.
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That got me thinking about the returning passing leaders for Dartmouth and each of the Big Green opponents this fall. Given that not every school has posted either a spring roster or a fall roster, there’s always the possibility that one of these players may have moved on, here’s what I dug up among anticipated returning quarterbacks:
Brown
Junior James Murphy 36-53 (67.9 percent), 377 yards, 2 TD, 1 Int
Columbia
Chase Goodwin, 78-117 (66.7), 879 yards, 6 TD, 3 int (5 games)
Cornell
No quarterback other than Jameson Wang threw a pass.
Dartmouth
Grayson Saunier, 47-74 (63.5), 533 yards, 5 TD, 1 Int
Harvard
Jaden Craig 169-279 (60.6), 2,430 yards, 23 TD, 3 Int
Penn
Liam O'Brien 76-115 (66.1), 1,018 yards, 13 TD, 2 int
Princeton
Blaine Hipa, 146-265 (55.1), 1,665 yards, 10 TD, 15 Int
Yale
Brogan McCaughey, 32-53 (60.4), 390 yards, 2 TD, 0 Int
Nonconference opponents:
Central Connecticut
Brady Olson, 185-362 (51.1), 2,239 yards, 17 TD, 12 Int
Fordham
Jack Capaldi, 124-250 (49.6), 1,578, 8 TD, 10 Int
New Hampshire
Matt Vezza, 14-18 (77.8), 136 yards, 1 TD, 0 Int
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As noted HERE last week, Penn has a transfer quarterback coming in from Michigan and Yale has a former high school QB-turned-receiver at Air Force Academy heading to New Haven.
Fordham has brought in transfer QB Gunnar Smith, who started his career at South Florida and played last season at Highland Community College in Kansas where he threw for 2,455 yards, 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions, completing 51.2 percent of his throws.
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EXTRA POINT
It’s pollen season in these parts and the good news is that it doesn’t affect us. The bad news is that it does affect Griff the Wonder Dog, whose eyes will fill with glop. Medication does wonders for him, but we have to stay on top of it.
