Tevaka Tuioti will start at quarterback for the Lobos on Saturday, head coach Bob Davie announced after practice on Tuesday.
“I’m excited to get back on the field,” Tuioti said. It’s a different feeling when gametime comes, you’ve got the adrenaline coming and I don’t worry about (getting hurt) though, I’m just here to play football and have fun.”
Tuioti, who suffered a concussion in the first quarter of the Lobos matchup against Wisconsin, missed two weeks of practice and returned to practice on Monday. He had to earn the starting job back after a rusty return to the field Monday and a week of strong practices from Sheriron Jones, who started for the Lobos against New Mexico State.
“(Tevaka) has made steady progress back to where you see there’s a rhythm there and the reason would be that there’s just different rhythm there with him in there at quarterback right now,” Davie said of the decision.
Jones will return to a backup role as the Lobos No. 2 quarterback with Coltin Gerhart still out with a sprained foot. Gerhart is no longer wearing a walking boot, but still isn’t practicing. Davie expects to have him back in a few more weeks.
Tuioti says that he feels very comfortable on the field, and is picking up where he left off. He doesn’t think that he will be nervous in game action despite the hit he took in the Wisconsin game.
Prior to his injury, Tuioti threw for 55 yards and a touchdown on 5-of-8 passing against the Badgers as well as one rush for four yards. Against Incarnate Word he threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns to go along with 11 rushes for 54 yards and a touchdown. In that game he became the first Lobo quarterback since 1998 to throw for four touchdowns in a game.
Davie confirmed on Tuesday that senior linebacker Alex Hart will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury he suffered against New Mexico State. Davie described Hart as a coach on the field for the Lobos and said that his injury leaves a leadership void on the defense that the players will have to step up to fill.
Because Hart’s injury happened before the fourth game of the season, he’ll have the option to redshirt and return next season.
The Lobos take on Liberty University on Saturday, Sept. 29, at 4 p.m., for a full preview of the matchup, read Matthew Narvaiz’ preview here.
Cameron Goeldner is a sports beat reporter and photographer for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, women’s basketball, softball and the Albuquerque Isotopes, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter
@goeldfinger.
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