The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Around the FBS: Rice’s Collins, BC’s Sebastian shine
Mike Collins, Rice and Brandon Sebastian, Boston College: New Canaan’s Collins has started at quarterback in two games since transferring from TCU and has four touchdown passes in each of them. Collins was 12 of 17 for 233 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions in Saturday’s 30-6 win over Southern Miss. He is eighth among FBS quarterbacks with a quarterback rating of 181.34. Sebastian, a junior defensive back from West Haven returned a fumble 97 yards for a touchdown. It was his second straight game with a defensive touchdown while facing a ranked opponent. Sebastian also matched his career high with seven solo tackles.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Wallingford’s John Tessitore wasn’t credited with a rushing or pass attempt in BC’s near upset of No. 1 Clemson but he was part of a play the Tessitore family won’t soon forget. The sophomore holder went under center on a fake field goal formation. Clemson jumped offsides to give BC a first down setting up a TD catch by Hamden’s CJ Lewis on the next play. It just so happened that Tessitore’s father Joe was calling the game for ESPN.
“John Tessitore came up and played quarterback at the last second and they may get a first down out of this,” Joe Tessitore said on the broadcast. “How about that on 4th and 2. He has played every position growing up from prep quarterback, receiver. He has done multiple things and he did it here.”
He wasn’t the only special-teams player to make an impact. New Canaan’s Wes Farley was 3 for 3 on extra points in Vanderbilt’s loss to Ole Miss. Darien’s Mitchell Pryor had two carries for 19 yards while Redding’s Connor Mignone started on the offensive line for the fourth straight game.
MAC, PAC-12 READY TO GET GOING
More Connecticut players will be hitting the field
with the MAC and Pac-12 set to begin their seasons this week.
Hamden’s C.J. Holmes is a redshirt junior defensive back at Kent State which will host Eastern Michigan on Wednesday. Holmes began his collegiate career as a running back at Notre Dame and had 32 rushing yards in a 2017 win over North Carolina. He transferred to Penn State and played in eight games as a defensive back in 2019. He had a pair of tackles in a 59-0 win over Maryland.
Three former FCIAC stars are on Pac-12 rosters. Darien’s Scott Voigt is a junior tight end at USC which faces Arizona State at noon, Danbury’s Pierre Moudourou is a junior receiver at Utah which plays Arizona at 4 p.m. and
Greenwich’s Scooter Harrington is a senior tight end at Stanford which has a 7:30 p.m. matchup with Oregon set to air on ESPN.
Speaking of Connecticut products, plenty should be on the field when Boston College plays at Syracuse on Saturday. Six of the eight state natives on BC’s roster (New Canaan’s Jack Conley, Lewis, Sebastian, West Haven’s Bryce Sebastian,
Tessitore and West Hartford’s Spencer Witter)
played in the Clemson game. Rocky Hill’s Justin Barron, Orange’s Kevin Nusdeo and Bloomfield’s Russell Thompson-Bishop played in Syracuse’s loss to Wake Forest. The teams will meet at 2 p.m. in a game being televised on NESN.