Former Delaware QB has Columbus on brink of Arena Bowl title

-Courtesy of the Colonial Athletic Association

Matt Nagy, an All-American quarterback at the University of Delaware in 2000, led the Columbus Destroyers to a 66-56 win over the Georgia Force in the Arena Football League Division Championship Saturday, July 14, vaulting the Destroyers into their first-ever trip to the ArenaBowl.

The sixth-seeded Destroyers will take on the American Conference champion San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII on Sunday, July 29, at the New Orleans (LA) Arena at 3 p.m. (EST) on ABC.

Nagy, a first-year member of Columbus squad but a six-year veteran of the league, led the way over his former Georgia Force teammates with an outstanding effort. Nagy previously led the Georgia franchise to a berth in the ArenaBowl in 2005.

Nagy completed 23 of 34 passes for 209 yards and five touchdowns, threw just one interception, and scored touchdowns on his only two rushing attempts for the game.

During the regular season, Nagy completed 341 of 544 passes for 3,557 yards and 75 touchdowns with just 15 interceptions and also scored six touchdowns. He led Columbus to a 56-55 Wild Card playoff victory over the Tampa Bay Storm June 30 when he completed 19 of 26 passes for 260 yards and five touchdowns to earn Arena League Player of the Week honors.

On July 7, he led Columbus to a second round playoff win as the Destroyers downed the Dallas Desperados 66-59. Nagy completed 20 of 32 passes for 281 yards and four touchdowns in the victory.

Nagy's name still appears in the league record books dating back to 1998 when he wracked up the third-highest single-game passing yard total in league history. In just his second season, Nagy threw for 556 yards against Connecticut, Nov. 11, 1998, which is also the best-ever single-game passing total for a sophomore.

A native of Manheim, Pa., Nagy set over 20 career passing records while at Delaware, including marks for pass completions (502), yards (8,214), and touchdowns (58). He earned First Team All-Atlantic 10, First Team All-East and Third Team All-America honors as a senior in 2000 when he led the Blue Hens to a 12-2 record, an Atlantic 10 title and a berth in the NCAA I-AA semifinals. He threw for 3,436 yards and 29 touchdowns that season.