The quarterback position, for the first time in a year and a half, is resting with a question mark above its head.
This Saturday, the Colorado Mesa University football team is playing in one of their biggest games of the season against CSU-Pueblo, however, they are going into it unsure about who will be starting under center come kickoff.
Prominent starter Eystin Salum suffered a rib injury during last week’s game against Fort Lewis College. Salum was pulled at halftime and the remaining three CMU quarterbacks, Rope Ruel, Brevinn Tyler and Aaron Howard took turns on the field for the rest of the game.
It was hopeful that Salum would be good to go for this weekend but his status still remains up in the air.
“[Eystin] had an MRI yesterday and they are still trying to determine the extent of the injury,” Head Coach Russ Martin said. “Right now, at best, it might be a gameday decision so right now we are preparing if he is not going to be able to be there. If that is the case I will probably use all three quarterbacks, I’ll probably give Rope Ruel the start and then we will keep going from there.”
Ruel was the first quarterback to come into the game against Fort Lewis after Salum was injured. The Castle Rock native went 5-9 for 72 yards against the Skyhawks–he also played against Western State earlier on in the year and threw a touchdown pass in that game.
Ruel served as the primary backup quarterback last season and is listed as the number two quarterback on the active roster. However, he will more than likely not play the whole game as Russ Martin plans to use Brevinn Tyler and Aaron Howard in the game as well.
Both Tyler and Howard are redshirt freshman but have shown they can perform at a high level in different game situations. In the loss against Colorado Mines two weeks ago, Howard came into the game and had nine completions for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
“I have very good confidence in all of those guys and all of them being able to execute our game plan,” Martin said. “Obviously Eystin is a dynamic player and you take him out. He has been the leader the last year and a half and so it’s a standpoint that it’s still different but I have very good confidence and the other leaders have very good confidence in those guys.”
Whoever takes the primary reps at quarterback will be facing a tough test in the Thunderwolves’ defense who is the best in the RMAC in both the pass and the run. CSU-P’s pass defense allows only 155.8 yards per game and have surrendered only five touchdowns all season.
In a win earlier in the season against defending National Champions Texas A&M Commerce, the Thunderwolves held the Lions offense to only 13 points. The same offense who averages 31 points per game.
Without Salum, it leaves a sense of uncertainty on the Mavericks offense that is not normally felt. It also comes with significantly bad timing because of the importance of Saturday’s matchup. The Mavericks have the possibility to lose their third game in four weeks and it would also be the first time CMU has lost three games in the regular season since 2013.
