Is the SCIAC up for grabs now?

The way the University of Redlands football team played for two weeks, it wouldn’t be going out on a limb to say the Bulldogs were the heavy favorite to win a SCIAC championship.

As always Occidental looked like the stiffest competition with Cal Lutheran the other possible stumbling block. But Redlands has both those games at home.

Now comes word that quarterback Dan Selway is out with a broken foot. Hmmmmm! Things just got a lot more interesting.

Injuries are never good, especially one of that magnitude. But the Bulldogs still have some things in their favor. First, Selway was injured in the game against Whitworth on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs were idle last week so understudy Steve Smith will have two full weeks to get ready.

Second, Smith is not a newcomer. He played in each of the first two games, although it was in a mop-up role. He also played the second half of the playoff game last year at St. John’s (Minn.) when Selway was sidelined by a shoulder injury. There is no bigger stage than that one and Smith performed admirably.

Third, the Bulldogs get La Verne first. While the Leopards look to be much-improved, they are probably still at least a year away from seriously challenging for a conference title. This should be a good game for Smith to get his feet wet.

Oxy is up after that. But let’s see how the Bulldogs do this week without Selway for the first time.

Did the Bulldogs lofty hopes go down with Selway? Probably not. The Bulldogs have enough left to contend. They just have a little less room for error.

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