Cullen Finnerty

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(This article is about the Grand Valley State University football team quarterback. For the Duke University lacrosse player - see Collin Finnerty)

Cullen Finnerty is an American football player, a quarterback at Grand Valley State University. Finnerty led the Grand Valley football team to NCAA Division II National championships in 2003, 2005, and 2006.

1 High School
2 University of Toledo
3 Grand Valley State University
4 Awards
5 External links

[edit] High School

Finnerty prepped at Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan, located in Livingston County. He was awarded the Livingston County Football Player of the Year award as a senior, and was named to the Ann Arbor News All-Area First-Team, and Michigan All-State Honorable Mention. Finnery threw for 1,954 yards and rushed for 636 yards. As a junior, he was named the Ann Arbor News Player of the Year, as well as all-area, all-league and all-Livingston county. Finnerty threw for 459 yards, and kicked three field goals, in his first playoff game as a junior. Finnerty also lettered in track and baseball. [1]

[edit] University of Toledo

In 2001, Cullen Finnerty redshirted his true freshman year at the University of Toledo.

[edit] Grand Valley State University

Finnerty transferred to Grand Valley State University in 2002, but he did not play that season. In 2003 he joined the Grand Valley Football team for his first year of eligibility as a freshman.

(Click for image of quarterback Finnerty at GVSU)

[edit] 2003 Season

Finnerty was awarded 2003 GLIAC conference Freshman of the Year award, and was named GVSU's Rookie of the Year. He was a two-time GLIAC Player of the Week, and was named Football.com Div II Player of the Week. Finnerty earned his first varsity letter as a freshman after starting 14 games. He completed 230-of-363 passes for 2,764 yards and 22 touchdowns, completing 63.4% of his passes. Finnerty was ranked 12th in pass efficiency rating (144.02) and 26th in total offense (256.9) in NCAA Div. II. He rushed for 822 yards and nine TDs himself, and also caught one pass as a receiver, for nine yards. Finnerty completed 20 or more passes in a game three times in the season, and broke the 200-yard passing mark six times, including two games of over 300 yards. He completed 19-of-29 passes for 149 yards and rushed for 78 yards on 19 carries in the NCAA Div II National Championship game vs. North Dakota. [2]

[edit] 2004 Season

In his sophomore year, Finnerty started all 13 games at quarterback. He completed 192-of-333 passes for 2,462 yards and 25 touchdowns, averaging 189.4 yards passing per game. He rushed for 458 yards and five TDs on 139 carries. Finnerty tallied 224.6 yards of total offense (passing and rushing) per game. He was ranked 26th in the nation in passing efficiency (138.5), and 42nd in NCAA Division II in total offense per game at 225.4. He was fourth in the GLIAC in both passing yards (189.4) and total offense (225.4) per game. [3]

[edit] 2005 Season

With GVSU winning the NCAA Division II National Championship, as a junior Finnerty was named the 2005 GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year, and First-Team All-GLIAC Quarterback. Finnerty was given Honorable Mention on Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-American Team. Finnerty completed 157-of-273 passes for 2,459 yards and 22 TDs, while rushing for 523 yards and nine TDs himself on the season. In the National Championship match versus Northwest Missouri State University, Finnerty completed 12-of-19 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown, while rushing himself for 59 yards and two TDs on 14 carries in the win. [4]

Through his first 3 seasons, Finnerty recorded a 36-4 record as a starting QB, and produced a 9-1 NCAA Div. II playoff record. He achieved 9,488 offensive yards and 92 career touchdowns, passing for 7,685 yards and 69 TDs, while rushing for 1,803 yards and 23 TDs. Finnerty ranked second in career total offense at GVSU with 9,488 yards, and third in career passing yards with 7,685 yards, and all with another season yet to play.

[edit] 2006 Season

As a senior quarterback, Finnerty became the winningest quarterback in NCAA history for all divisions, with a career record as a starting quarterback of 51-4, and he was named to the 2006 American Football Coaches Association All America Team [5]. Finnerty also earned Daktronics First Team All American honors[6]. He finished the 2006 GVSU season with a 15-0 record, completing 195 of 343 passes for 3,220 passing yards and 41 touchdowns, and leading the nation in quarterback efficiency with 169.32. Finnerty also rushed for 580 yards and 8 touchdowns himself, totalling 3,800 offensive yards and 49 touchdowns on the season, for an average offense of 253.3 yards per game [7] . Finnerty was awarded second place for the Harlon Hill Trophy award [8], just prior to the NCAA Div II national championship match in Florence, Alabama. In the title match versus Northwest Missouri State University, Finnerty completed 15-of-33 passes for 225 yards and rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries for 340 yards of total offense, passing for one TD and running for another. Finnerty became the first quarterback in NCAA Div. II Championship game history to pass for over 200 yards and also rush for over 100. [9]

Over four seasons, Finnerty finished 14-1 in the NCAA playoffs and 51-4 overall. His 51 wins as a starting quarterback is the most in NCAA history. Finnerty finished his career as one of only two players to throw for more than 10,000 yards and rush for 2,000 yards (10,905 passing and 2,383 rushing). Finnerty ranks third all-time in the NCAA in total offense (13,288), and holds the NCAA all-divisions seasonal record with 41 touchdown passes. Finnerty ended his 4-season playoff career with 3,009 passing yards and 3,784 yards of total offense, accounting for 35 touchdowns in the playoffs. He personally finished tenth in school history in rushing yards (2,383), and went over 3,000 yards passing on the season (3,220 yards). In total, Finnerty threw for 110 TDs and ran for 31 TDs in his career. He was the third player in NCAA Division II history to quarterback three national championship teams. [10]

Finnerty and his senior class of 2006-2007 at GVSU produced a four-season record of 52-4.

[edit] Awards

GLIAC Freshman of the Year 2003
GVSU Rookie of the Year 2003
GLIAC Player of the Week (2 times) 2003
D2Football.com Player of the Week 2003

2006 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches' All-America Team.
2006 Daktronics First Team All American
Finalist, 2006 Harlon Hill Trophy - 2nd Place

High School period:
- Livingston County Player of the Year (Senior year)
- Ann Arbor News All-Area First-Team
- Ann Arbor News Player of the Year (Junior year)
- Honorable mention all-state
- All-area, all-league and all-county - Junior year