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Riley Dodge Breaks Wrist


The ridiculousness continues. Brett Vito says Riley has broken his non-throwing wrist.

Our top three quarterbacks have been injured. According to Todd Dodge, Chase Baine will be taking the primary snaps this week in preparation for the self-hating Arkansas State Red Wolves.

Not good news for this star-crossed team. To be fair, Dodge may be able to play if he can sport a cast instead of getting surgery. It is another injury for Dodge, who by my unofficial count has had shoulder surgery that ‘ended’ his career at quarterback as it was thought he would not get the full strength back. He miraculously recovered — or perhaps there was another reason for the switch?– in time to rescue the team from a quarterback scarcity following the injuries to Nathan Tune and Derek Thompson.

In any case, after performing horribly (along with the rest of the Mean Green) as the emergency quarterback vs Army when Thompson went down with a  leg injury, he has played exceptionally well for a guy without a quarterback’s arm.

In two full games as the starter he has completed 70% of his passes for 337 yards and 4.15 yards a carry with six total scores. Not bad, huh? Add to that his relative clutch-ness and heady play as the signal-caller and you realize this is a pretty significant blow for our guys in green.

Despite claims to the contrary, Riley has been a leader in his own way. You don’t take your offense on a (seemingly) game tying 91-yard drive in the waning minutes of the final quarter if you can’t lead anyone. You also don’t throw corner routes if you don’t have an arm. Even if he can’t chuck it 70-yards from his knees, he can put the ball on the money. In the final drive against Louisiana-Lafayette Kid Dodge knew when to pass, when to run, and when to throw the ball away.

Really, that is all you can reasonably ask for: a playmaker that doesn’t make mistakes.

Now, before you start pointing out his many flaws, remember I am not saying the guy is our best player–Lance Dunbar has something to say about that– but I am saying that he gives us a chance, one that we might not have with the unproven youngster this week.

Also — if you are going to throw out some bonehead plays Riley Dodge has made , remember Vince Young on the drive before his signature drive against USC nearly lost the game by throwing into triple coverage–USC just dropped the pass.

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