This question came in from one of our readers:
Q - GRFC, It's great to see some of the Golden Rams getting preseason recognition. But why doesn't quarterback Sean McCartney appear on any of these lists? He had a great season last year.
A - To fully answer this question requires a look back at last season. In 14 games last year, McCartney completed 242 of his 384 pass attempts (63.0%) for 3,569 yards with 34 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions. In West Chester single season history, those passing yards are second best (Dave McDonald had 3,613 in 1994), his touchdowns are also second (Dave McDonald had 40 in 1994) and his completion percentage was fourth best. So it was truly one of the best seasons ever by a Golden Ram quarterback.
But what's important is how McCartney stacked up to other quarterbacks last season. When all passing numbers are factored together, it produces a quarterback efficiency rating. For 2013, McCartney's was 163.0 which was ranked 12th in the nation. In the PSAC, only East Strousburg's Matt Soltes had a higher rating of 167.1, good for 9th in Division II and second team All-PSAC East second team honors. With a quarterback rating of 142.0 was Shippensburg's Zach Zulli, good for 40th in the country. However, Zulli was the reigning Harlon Hill winner and therefore captured All-PSAC East first team honors.
Granted Zulli threw for 3,500 yards and 35 touchdowns in only 11 games, but take a closer look. In a 48-0 victory over Millersville, Zulli amassed 353 yards and five touchdowns. In a 73-27 win over Seton Hill, it was 395 yards and four touchdowns and in the 42 point shutout of Cheyney, 304 yards and four touchdowns. Comparatively, in West Chester's 48-3 win over Millersville, McCartney only attempted 13 passes before leaving after one possession in the third quarter. And he didn't even dress for West Chester's game at Cheyney. In fact, McCartney's biggest games statistically were American International (a first round playoff game) and Gannon and Kutztown, two games where the Golden Rams needed every yard and point to win. So although McCartney played in three more games than Zulli, he had almost 100 fewer pass attempts to rack up additional yardage and touchdowns. But that is why the quarterback efficiency rating was developed - to consolidate all of a passer's statistics into one single number.
To be clear, accumulating offensive numbers in out-of-reach games is by no means a criticism of the player. Whenever a football player gets the honor to take the field, he should play each down hard and execute it to the best of his ability. For a quarterback, this means calling the play, reading the defense, checking the play if necessary and moving the team down field as far as possible in the shortest amount of time. Zulli and McCartney did just that.
So how does all of this relate to the original fan question? Preseason anything - polls, all-conference, all-American - are all based on the previous season. For example, is West Chester the 6th best team in the country this year? Who knows? But they did finish last season #4 in the AFCA poll after reaching the national semi-finals. Since McCartney didn't make either the All-PSAC East first or second team, he didn't have the name recognition for this year. And if one were to look past All-PSAC teams and just at the NCAA statistical rankings, he was listed as a senior since he didn't receive his medical redshirt for 2012 until after the 2013 season started. Although his eligibility status did not make it to the NCAA statistics table, it would have appeared correctly in any All-PSAC listing.
Fortunately, preseason teams and rankings are not as important as postseason teams and rankings. And Golden Ram fans can only hope that the team, and McCartney, have as much success in 2014 as they did in 2013.
As always, if you have any questions, comments or ideas for topics, please e-mail them to GoldenRamFootballClub@comcast.net and be sure to follow us on twitter @GoldenRamFC
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