With question marks comes opportunity

When word spread starting quarterback Kevin Earl fractured the wrist of his throwing hand, all eyes immediately were on his replacement: Ryan Saeger.

Saeger is a redshirt sophomore from Hartland, Wis. and went to Arrowhead high school. His name might not ring a bell right now, but within a couple weeks, it should start to catch on. He does play quarterback, after all.

“Ryan (Saeger) had a really good fall camp and everyone on the team believes he’s ready,” Glenn said. “It’s his turn to go in there for (Earl), for now, and rock the house.”

After replacing Earl late in the season-opener at Oregon, Saeger went 5/8 for 62 yards. His first career action at the collegiate level against the nation’s third ranked team, Oregon, is a story sure to be shared later on in life for Saeger. But now his task isn’t to come into a game already out of hand.

He’s being asked with zero career starts to start at the game’s most important position for at least the next month.

“It’s all gone so fast. It sucks that (Earl) got hurt because he’s one of my good buddies and has helped me out as a quarterback a lot,” Saeger said. “I’m just trying to lead this team and take them where they need to go.”

Losing a starting quarterback to an injury isn’t usually in game plans, but the team made sure to be as prepared as possible, giving Saeger plenty of reps with the starters in fall camp.

“I already have great chemistry with the receivers and that’s because I was able to get plenty of reps with them throughout fall camp. (Earl and I) alternated during the drills,” Saeger said.

Saeger had an accomplished high school career in Wisconsin, going 17-4 in his final two seasons as the Arrowhead quarterback and accumulating 28 touchdowns as a senior.

“I’m very confident in myself,” Saeger said. “I gained a lot of confidence in the Oregon game and have had some good practices. There shouldn’t be any missteps just because I’m the quarterback. I’m the next guy up and I’ve got a lot of good players around me.”

Saeger should definitely benefit from his supporting cast — his offensive line has over 60 career starts. The team returns its leading receiver in sophomore Riley Donovan, and a plethora of running backs sit in the backfield.

Offensive coordinator Wesley Beschorner has worked with him for three years now and probably has the best idea to what Saeger can bring to the football field. He had high praise for him.

“He’s got really good feet, he’s got quick hands and he’s an intelligent football player,” Beschorner said. “So that can become a really good quarterback.”

Despite asking an inexperienced quarterback to run the show for the foreseeable future, the offense shouldn’t go through as big a transformation as you’d think. Saeger and Earl are both tall guys, listed at 6’4” and 6’6”, and that means many of the same plays will be called.

“I think (Earl) and I both play very similarly in terms of style of play,” Saeger said. “We like making the same kinds of throws.”

Still, going from one quarterback to another will entail a transition period. Beschorner said he spent the week of practice sitting back and figuring out what Saeger is best at.

“We’ll have to slightly modify the drawing board,” Beschorner said. “A lot of what you run on offense curtails to your quarterback. There are some throws (Earl) throws better than (Saeger), and some throws (Saeger) throws better than (Earl). Now we need to trim it back and see what (Saeger) does best.”

Beschorner said the more Saeger shows he can do in games, the more plays he’ll be comfortable calling. At the same time, Beschorner calls the plays and said he’s going to make sure the mental side of the game is on his plate Saturday afternoon, and not something Saeger has to think about.

It’s expected that a quarterback making his first career start will have his mind spinning one million miles per hour. Beschorner said he’ll put that thought on his shoulders and try his best at controlling that.

“It’s on me and the other coaches shoulders to allow (Saeger) to play fast out there and not make him constantly be thinking,” Beschorner said. “The hope his confidence builds throughout the game.”

Saeger’s best friend vs. William Penn this afternoon will be a good running game, which will shorten up the downs and distances. Beschorner said regardless of the quarterback, running is the top priority. You can imagine it’ll be even more important with a new quarterback under center.

Saeger didn’t deny that he’s going to be nervous heading into his first career collegiate start, but said it’s going to be good nerves.

“The coaches know what I’m best at,” Saeger said. “They call the right plays for me to run, so I have nothing to worry about.”