The Little Giant football players know they will not see quarterback Dustin Huff under center for the next few weeks.
No one knows it better than the two possible replacements preparing for Saturday’s game at Millikin.
"You just have to hate the circumstances that have led to all of this," sophomore quarterback Matt Hudson (right) said. The 6-6 second-year player threw for 2,557 yards and 23 touchdowns as a junior and senior at Salem High School. He was a member of the Indiana All-Star team after earning All-Conference honors as a junior and senior.
Huff suffered a fractured fibula and torn deltoid ligament on a onside kickoff in the Little Giants' 35-33 win over Franklin. The fifth-year senior is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks. Huff set the school record for passing yards (477) and total offense (499 yards) in the victory.
Hudson took the final two snaps of the game Saturday.
Sophomore Kyle Augustinovicz joins Hudson on the Wabash two-deep as a possible starter against Millikin. Augustinovicz threw for 2,263 yards and had a quarterback rating of 188.6 as a senior at Pendleton Heights High School. He set the school record for passing yards in a game with a 440-yard effort against Mt. Vernon in 2004 and still ranks fifth on the school’s all-time passing list with 2,988 yards.
Both players know they don’t have to step onto the field Saturday and play the best game of their lives.
"There is no comparison between Dustin, Matt, and myself," Augustinovicz (left) said. "Dustin is an amazing player who knows this system well and has a great deal of on-field experience. Matt and I will study hard all week and stay composed. We don’t have to do this ourselves. We have incredible teammates who will pick us up and make this an easier transition.
"Matt and I just have to soak everything up like a sponge this week and be ready to execute Saturday."
Hudson has the advantage of having been in the Wabash system for over a year. Augustinovicz joined the Little Giants after two seasons at Quincy University in Illinois. He played in five games last year for the Hawks as a backup quarterback after redshirting his first year.
"I’ve done all of the workouts with my teammates and know all of these guys," Hudson said. "But Kyle is also an incredibly talented quarterback and has really picked up our system quickly. We’re a family. We don’t just talk about it. We believe it. It doesn’t matter which one of us is under center Saturday, he’ll have the full support of this team.
"That’s given both of us the confidence to prepare for Saturday. All we have to do is complete passes. We have a lot of talented players around us who will take care of everything else."
Head coach Chris Creighton echoed those thoughts earlier in the week.
"Football is a team sport. Every position needs every other position to play well to succeed. It’s not about one person.
"Saturday was a perfect example. We didn’t have (wide receiver) Mike Russell at 100 percent and couldn’t use him a lot. We missed him, but we didn’t have to have him because guys stepped up and made plays. This is a huge opportunity for Hudson and Augustinovicz. We’re not asking either one of them to be great. We’re asking every player to go out and elevate their game. If that happens, it will be a lot of fun watching us play Saturday afternoon."