Erik Glavic might not be back to his Hec Crighton form, but he’s getting the job done for the Calgary Dinos.
The former Saint Mary’s Huskies star has quarterbacked the Calgary Dinos to a 3-1 record — fourth in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport football rankings — in his comeback from a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Glavic, who blew out his knee in November 2007 and red-shirted last season because he hadn’t fully healed from off-season surgery, transferred to Calgary this past January.
“He still has a little rust on him, but you see his confidence improve each week and his accuracy and his ability to read,” said Dinos head coach Blake Nill, a former Huskies bench boss. “I think it’s all coming back to him.”
Glavic won the Hec Crighton as the country’s player of the year in 2007, throwing for 1,843 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for another 478 yards and five majors.
So far this season, Glavic is 60-of-94 for 979 yards and six touchdowns, while gaining 221 yards and four more majors on the ground — all while wearing a knee brace.
“He had a pretty tough off-season in terms of rehab, but you’re seeing the results of his hard work,” Nill said. “The knee’s still a concern at times but he’s had a lot of success.”
The Dinos were a strong team before Glavic. They lost to the eventual Vanier Cup champion Laval Rouge et Or in last year’s national semifinal and have a large returning group.
Known for his ability to run the ball, the 6-foot-4 Glavic has made the biggest difference through the air, Nill said.
“He’s given us a two-dimensional attack,” Nill said. “We’ve always had a strong run game and teams have been able to defend that by overemphasizing run defence. Now, they’re not able to. That extra dimension has helped us a lot.”
