Michael Nebrich doesn’t have to worry about autograph-signing controversies, and he hasn’t had the privilege of hanging out with R&B star Drake, but he sure looked like Johnny Football on Saturday afternoon.
Gashing Columbia through the air and hammering the Lions on the ground, the Fordham quarterback turned the Liberty Cup into his personal highlight reel.
Nebrich accumulated 433 yards of total offense in the Rams’ 52-7 annihilation of Columbia Saturday at Jack Coffey Field in The Bronx.
“He’s got a little Johnny Football in him,” wide receiver Brian Wetzel said. “Mike Football is what we call him in the locker room.”
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound transfer from Connecticut and Virginia native, who missed all but three games last year after suffering a torn ACL, completed 32 of 38 passes for 347 yards. He also ran for 86 yards, keeping Columbia’s defense off balance with his slight of hand on read-option plays, and making running back Carlton Koonce’s 163-yard, two-touchdown effort an afterthought in the Rams’ fourth straight victory over the Lions.
Despite missing most of last year and not being able to fully participate in the spring, Nebrich won the job during the preseason.
“For what we want out of our offense from a quarterback-skill-set perspective, Michael fits the mold,” Fordham coach Joe Moorhead said.
On the breezy and cool afternoon, Fordham made its homecoming memorable, improving to 4-0 for the first time since 1988. After last weekend’s upset of Temple, the Rams’ first win over a FBS team since the program was re-established in 1970, overconfidence wasn’t an issue for Fordham.
Nebrich, who made the upset of Temple possible with a last-second 29-yard TD pass, did fumble three times against Columbia, but he made up for it with his exceptional play. Spreading the ball around to all of his dangerous receivers, he split apart the Lions’ defense at the seams with quick strikes, fast decisions and darting quarterback keepers.
“You better keep in the pocket because when he gets out of the pocket he’s a different cat,” Columbia head coach Pete Mangurian said. “That’s when he wreaks havoc on everything, throwing the ball and running with it.”
Ryan Flannery scored Columbia’s lone TD, on an 11-yard reception in the fourth quarter, and finished with 108 receiving yards on six catches.
Nebrich spread the ball around to six receivers, five of whom caught at least five passes. Wetzel led the way with eight catches for 116 yards and two touchdowns. Tebucky Jones Jr., the son of Tebucky Jones, who was on the Super Bowl XXXVI champion Patriots, and a UConn transfer like Nebrich, had five receptions for 59 yards and his first career touchdown.
“Throwing the ball downfield, I put a lot of emphasis on that [in the offseason],” Nebrich said. “I’m getting really comfortable with the drop back passing game.”
The Rams, ranked 21st nationally in both FCS polls, did whatever they wanted on offense, pushing around the Lions and moving the ball up and down the sun-splashed field to the delight of the capacity crowd.
“Last year I believe our kids thought they could compete,” Moorhead said, referring to the Rams’ 6-5 campaign, a five-win improvement from the previous fall. “This year our kids believe they can win.”