Central Connecticut was agonizingly close to staying alive in the FCS playoffs, four yards from tying the game at Rhode Island. Brady Olson was sacked, and the Blue Devils settled for three points. When Olson got his hands on the ball one last time, with only 43 seconds left, his final pass of the season was intercepted.
He walked from Meade Stadium with a point proven, having transferred from UMass for a chance to show his quarterbacking skills, but there was business left unfinished.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I left a lot on the field that I felt I wanted to get back,” Olson said. “I wanted to give this program a little more than what I gave last year, that was one of my main goals in coming back, to excel more, develop more and be a really good quarterback here.”
After the season, Olson turned a deaf ear to any entreaties to re-enter the portal and chose to stay at Central. His chance to stamp his commitment “paid in full” comes on Saturday, 364 days later. He has led the Blue Devils back to the FCS playoffs, back to Rhode Island for a rematch at noon.
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It’s typical, in a way, as Olson doesn’t like to leave a locker room, or the team bus, without everything put away.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Brady’s the guy who is the last one off the bus, the last one out of the locker room,” coach Adam Lechtenberg said. “You literally have to tell him to go home at 2 in the morning, he’s waiting to help the coaches unload stuff. He’s that type of guy, in terms of his humility and his leadership. We had four captains last year, all had eligibility left, he’s the only one who stayed.”
Olson’s example, his experience and arm talent were all instrumental in getting the Blue Devils back to the same place with another ticket, despite an almost entirely new cast on both sides of the ball. Central began the season with a 59-13 loss to UConn, and took its lumps out of conference, but went 6-1 in NEC play to claim the conference’s automatic bid to the 24-team field. With the Ivy League accepting bids for the first time, Yale plays at Youngstown State Saturday.
“The stakes are a lot more amped up,” Olson said. “The atmosphere, the pressure of the game, you get a taste of what playoff football is actually about, and it gets the juices flowing.”
Olson, 6 feet 4 and 200 pounds, from Bellingham, Mass., played three seasons at UMass, only throwing three passes his junior year, before moving to CCSU. He was solid in 2024, but better in every way in 2025. He goes into the playoffs with a 59.6 completion percentage, for 2,821 yards, 23 touchdowns and seven interceptions, a 135.1 efficiency rating.
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“Last year I put a ton of stress on myself to be perfect,” Olson said. “At the quarterback position, definitely a part of it is being very consistent. This year, I’ve tried to be good consistently, not trying to be perfect every rep.”
With Elijah Howard, who rushed for 934 yards last season, and 1,070 this season, Olson has the running threat to keep defenses from focusing solely on defending the pass. Then Olson has completed passes to 16 different receivers, six with more than 20 catches, an indication the game has slowed down for him.
“He looks for the open guy, goes through his progressions,” Lechtenberg said, “plays a lot with with his feet. He watches film of every practice with our staff, always watching, learning, trying to better understand the game of football.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith 114 on Saturday, Olson would surpass Jake Dolegala (2,934), now in the CFL, for most passing yards in a season at CCSU.
“The best way to get better at football is to play football, and Brady’s played a lot of football,” Lechtenberg said. “Since the day he walked in here, he’s been one of the most humble and hard working guys we’ve ever had, one of the best leaders we could ever ask for, a great team-first guy. And he has all the talent, he can make all the throws, he can run and he continues to get better and better, just cutting loose and having some fun.”
Rhode Island is seeded ninth in the field. The winner of this game plays at UC-Davis, the No. 8 seed.
Central needed to beat Mercyhurst in New Britain last Saturday to clinch this playoff spot. The teams were tied at 28 in the fourth quarter, when the Blue Devils recovered a fumble at the 12-yard line. The drive stalled, but on 3rd and goal from the 8, Olson hit Howard six yards downfield, and Howard took it in for the winning score.
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“Some of the close wins we had, at Wagner and LIU, seeing our team stick together, I knew we were doing something special again,” Olson said. “(I want to be) calm, cool, collected. A couple of our last drives, I said, ‘everybody take a breath,’ and I calmly gave them the next play and we all rolled out there. We don’t need to get hyped up in the moment. Don’t let the moment get too big.”
The moment will be big Saturday, as CCSU plays in the playoffs for the fourth time since 2017, still looking for its ground-breaking first win. Each game now, for Brady Olson and others running out of eligibility, represents a fight to keep their careers going. He has earned this last ride, and when it ends he’ll tidy the place up before closing the door. That’s his way.
“That’s the way my parents raised me, leave a place better than you found it.” Olson said, an unintended metaphor.
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