With the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga already on its second quarterback in the regular-season finale last week at Alabama, head coach Rusty Wright watched (perhaps in horror) as redshirt freshman Luke Schomburg absorbed a hard hit from Crimson Tide linebacker Chris Braswell.
Wright then watched in relief as the 6-foot-3, 194-pounder from Huntsville got up and signaled he was fine.
“Luke came back and said, ‘Well, he won’t be in the game anymore,” UTC offensive lineman Griffin McDowell recalled, and Braswell was indeed ejected for targeting on the play.
Later on, the Mocs were moving the ball downfield when Schomburg walked into the huddle, looked around and told the rest of the offense to “calm down.”
“He showed us that he’s not going to go out there and freak out,” McDowell said. “He was very relaxed, very calm. We’re moving the ball, and he’s telling us to focus on the next play, and I’m thinking, ‘I’m a sixth-year guy.’ This is his first time playing (as a college starter) — against Alabama — and he’s doing a great job.”