Star quarterback Greg Smith '02 may play in tomorrow's season finale against Princeton, Dartmouth head coach John Lyons confirmed yesterday in an exclusive interview.
"Greg got his cast off last week and he's been working very hard on rehab," Lyons said from his office in Davis Varsity House. "Greg wants to play. He's been out throwing for a couple days and was in pads for the first time on Wednesday."
Smith was on a record-setting pace and was one of the top quarterbacks in Division I-AA before he went down with a fracture in the middle finger of his throwing hand on Oct. 13 against Holy Cross.
At the time, athletic trainer Scott Roy held out little hope, saying "It would be a miracle if he was even back for the last game."
Smith had surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock on Oct. 17 and said days later in an exclusive interview with The Dartmouth that "I should be able to throw a football in six weeks, just about in time for my annual Thanksgiving Day pickup game at my grandparents' place."
Barely four weeks later, Smith is back in pads and taking reps in practice, turning the "miracle" scenario into a real possibility.
"The doctors have to sign off on it. But once he's had the surgery, there isn't a whole lot they can do to prevent him from playing if he wants to play," Lyons said. "Greg wants to play. I think it's a question of seeing how he feels in practice today and Friday.
"The one thing he has not been able to do is take a snap because the hand is tender. So if he does go, it will probably have to be in the shotgun."
Keeping Smith solely in the shotgun would restrict what the signal caller is able to do, but even a limited Smith would be a boost to the Big Green passing attack.
Before his injury, Smith had thrown for 1,098 yards and 10 touchdowns in only three contests. What's more, Dartmouth was looking the best it had in years, giving 22nd-ranked New Hampshire and defending Ivy champion Penn close games before beating Yale, 32-27, the week before the injury.
After the injury, the Big Green had a total meltdown, going 0-5 while receiving little more than 100 ineffective yards per game from fill-ins Evan Love '05 and Joe Kinder '03. Lyons and his staff searched so deep for answers that big tight end Casey Cramer '04 took a few snaps as well.
Barring a turn for the worse in practices, No. 10 will likely be back on the field for Dartmouth tomorrow, sharing time with the healthy Kinder and presumably giving the snake-bitten Big Green a much-needed lift.
"He's looked good in practice. Same old Greg," punter Fred Ware '03 said. "We'd love to have him back because he's a great player and a great leader."
Added Lyons: "It would be unbelievable if he were able to come back. I don't think it's possible for him to throw with quite the same velocity, but he was throwing it pretty well yesterday. We're going to have to play it by ear. I'd love to get him out there if I could, but for how much, I'm just not sure right now."
Dartmouth's passing playbook has expanded with each successive week since Kinder took his first snaps on Oct. 27 against Harvard, but the versatility and potency of the air attack have been nowhere near what they were when Smith was in charge.
The offense with Smith was a complicated machine that thrived on those tough, well-timed passes over the shoulders of his receivers that were virtually impossible to intercept.
The Big Green, now 1-7 (1-5 Ivy) and staring down the possibility of the program's first one-win season since 1945 and only the second since 1884, would benefit greatly from having Smith's services against a feisty Princeton team that is hungry for a win.
While Smith is likely to play, it will not be before he and Lyons discuss the consequences of his appearance.
"I need to talk to Greg to make sure he understands all the repercussions if he was to hurt it again," Lyons said. "I'd love him to play, but at the same time, I don't want him to do permanent damage to his hand.
"Whatever happens, I think it's amazing what he's been able to do, considering he had a cast on for the last five weeks, or however long it was," Lyons added. "It seems like it's been five years since he went down."
