There was a sound the football made when it was released from Antonio Pipkin’s right hand. And as soon as head coach Gary Goff heard it, he knew the fortunes of the Tiffin University Dragons were about to change.
“When he threw a football, you didn’t have to be watching. You could hear the
football come out of his hands and it just sounded different. And it got everybody’s attention,” said Goff, about to enter his eighth season leading the small Division II school 144 kilometres southwest of Cleveland.
“Early in his career, we knew we had something special. He kind of lived up to that. When I got Pipkin, I knew I had something a little bit different,” Goff added. “He was a big part of changing the culture. We expected to win instead of expecting to lose.”
By now, everyone should be aware of the Pipkin phenomenon. The 23-year-old was expected to make his third consecutive start at quarterback Friday night for the Alouettes at Ottawa, fresh on the heels of a 303-yard performance in Montreal’s victory last week against Toronto.
Time will tell whether Pipkin has the staying power to be consistent on a bad team, or whether this is his 15 minutes of fame. Especially with Johnny Manziel waiting in the wings
