Quarterbacks get injured.
Periodically football tweaks its rules to make that less likely. These guys after all are the faces of the franchises, the programs, the straws that stir the drinks and all that.
But quarterbacks do their best work standing straight up while anywhere from three to five very large human beings are devoting every ounce of energy and skill to knocking them into the next zip code.
Legally, of course.
And quarterbacks get bonus points if they can stay in the pocket as long as possible, stare a 300-pound tackle in the face and deliver a strike to a late-developing open receiver right before ending up flat on their backs.
It is not a job for the faint-hearted.
Which brings me to Grayson Loftis.
Loftis isn’t the first Duke quarterback to be thrust into a starting spot upon the injury of someone ahead of him on the depth chart. No program has that kind of luck.
And some of those replacements have been pretty successful. Dave Brown took over for injured Billy Ray late in the 1989 season. He passed for 1,297 yards and 11 touchdowns (four interceptions) in three games, a 52-35 win over Wake Forest, a 35-26 win over NC State and a 41-0 win over North Carolina.
Now, that’s a debut.
Ron Sally filled in adequately for Ben Bennett in 1981, Brandon Connette for Anthony Boone in 2013, Quentin Harris for Daniel Jones in 2018 before the regulars returned to duty.
Jones, of course, took over for Thomas Sirk right before the 2016 season when Sirk tore an Achilles.
Not all endings are fairy tale. When Dennis Satyshur was lost for the 1971 season Mike McGee didn’t even have a backup quarterback. He tried defensive back Rich Searl. It did not end well.
Todd Orvald took over for injured Scotty Glacken in the middle of the 1965 Illinois game, Duke lost that game and the next two before finishing with wins over Wake Forest and North Carolina, the latter Bill Murray’s final game.
But these were all back-ups taking over for starters. Loftis began the season as Duke’s third-string quarterback. The best analog for Loftis’ situation might be 1984 when Sally and backup Drew Walston suffered injuries. True freshman and presumed redshirt Steve Slayden took over.
He ended his Duke career with over 8,000 passing yards.
This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive list or anything but rather a suggestion that different outcomes are possible when the number one guy goes down.
Loftis? No one questions his talent. I remember the spring game when he hit Apollos Cook with a perfect strike from around midfield.
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