Hail to the Keiff

OK, so maybe I'm recycling headlines. But as part of its College Football Preview supplement, The New York Times profiled Penn quarterback Keiffer Garton, calling him "one of the rare dual-threat starting quarterbacks in a league in which pocket passers are about as standard as ivy-covered walls."

Weak simile aside, Garton's story is pretty familiar to anybody who followed the Quakers closely last season: He began the year as an afterthought, the No. 3 QB; was thrust into the spotlight when starter Rob Irvin and ostensible No. 2 Kyle Olson both got hurt; and in his first start, led the Red and Blue to a dramatic 14-9 win over Princeton. He used his legs -- 54 attempts, 316 net yards (5.9 per carry), three rushing touchdowns -- and right arm (41-for-68, 388 yards, 1 touchdown and five interceptions) effectively enough to be annointed starter heading in to the 2009 campaign.

To anybody who has ever met Garton, the Times' reference to his "clear blue eyes" is spot on. And the last few paragraphs reveal a little more of the rising junior's personality; apparently, he nearly committed to Air Force and is at time envious of his close friends playing at the University of Colorado and Pac-10 schools.

In a brief sidebar which, best I can tell, is not available online, the Times says the Ivy League race is "wide open," predicting that the Penn's trip to Harvard on Nov. 14 "could go a long way to determining this year's Ivy champion." Also a nice dig at the Big Green: "[A]t Dartmouth, it will take very little to view this year as a step forward. The Big Green was 0-10 in 2008."

Meanwhile, in other Ivy QB news, Chris Pizzotti -- the elite Harvard signalcaller who graduated from this spring -- saw his first NFL preseason action last night. The boxscore does not show it, because he did not throw a pass, but Pizzotti played one series (a three-and-out) for the Jets against the Giants at the Meadowlands. The Jets had signed Pizzotti as an undrafted free agent, cut him on Aug. 15 and re-signed him on Aug. 21 after first-year coach Rex Ryan felt he did not give the 23-year-old a sufficient opportunity to claim the third-string job. Still, Pizzotti is a very long shot to make the team out of camp.