2012-GameRelease-Divisional

49ers' Kaepernick had 'it' in his first college start
By Matt Barrows, Sacramento Bee
Player Feature Story
Colin Kaepernick would have been forgiven if the combination of adrenaline, nerves and sheer arm
strength caused a few misfires early in last week's game.
After all, the second-year quarterback was making his first NFL start and was doing so on national
television against one of the league's top defenses. If his first few passes flew high and wide, it would
have been perfectly understandable.
They didn't.
Kaepernick, who figures to make his second start today against the New Orleans Saints, calmly
completed an eight-yard pass to Mario Manningham on the game's first play. His next attempt was one of
the prettiest of the evening – a 22-yarder to Vernon Davis over the tight end's outside shoulder.
In Reno, the coaches at Nevada were excited but hardly surprised.
They had watched a similar scenario unfold five years earlier when Kaepernick, a little-known redshirt
freshman at the time, made his first start for the Wolf Pack against an imposing Boise State squad.
Starting in place of injured sophomore Nick Graziano, Kaepernick flashed the same steel he showed
against the Chicago Bears on Monday.
In a back-and-forth game that stretched into the fourth overtime, Kaepernick threw for 243 yards and
three touchdowns and ran for 177 yards and two scores.
Kaepernick didn't win that one, though. Nevada fell 69-67 when he was tripped while rolling out on a twopoint
conversion attempt after the final touchdown.
But Graziano never got his job back.
"He just took it right to the brink," Barry Sacks, the school's defensive-line coach, recalled. "They
happened to clip him at the end or we'd still be playing right now. That game was the launching of a star."
Sacks recruited Kaepernick out of Pitman High School in Turlock, becoming enamored with the intensity
Kaepernick showed on the basketball court.
Sacks suspected Kaepernick had the indefinable "it" all programs seek in a leader. The Boise State game
confirmed it.
"After that, I knew – had supreme confidence – that we were going to win," Sacks said.
Kaepernick's greatest gift, say those who know him, is a focus so powerful he doesn't get rattled, no
matter how daunting the situation or glaring the spotlight.
"He's a little different that way," said his father, Rick Kaepernick. "A lot of people will ask me, 'Doesn't he
get nervous?' No, he doesn't."
Rick said he remembered dropping Colin off at the Manning Passing Academy in 2009. The camp is run
by NFL quarterback royalty Peyton and Eli Manning and attended by national media.
Kaepernick was the most anonymous face in a group of young passers that included Andrew Luck,
Christian Ponder and Kellen Moore.