With knee issue past tense, UR quarterback Kyle Lauletta looks forward to senior year
John O'Connor|3 hours ago
James Madison coach Mike Houston recently talked about the Dukes' 47-43 win at Richmond last season, recognizing that game as perhaps JMU's most formidable FCS challenge on the way to a national championship.
He wondered how UR's playoffs experience would have unfolded had quarterback Kyle Lauletta not torn his right ACL in the regular-season finale at William & Mary.
"Certainly I think (the Spiders) would like to know if Kyle Lauletta had not gotten injured, what would have been their final fate? You could have had them sitting right there at the end also," Houston said.
Without Lauletta, Richmond was eliminated at Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals. Lauletta, CAA's leading passer as a junior (275 ypg, 24 TDs, 8 INTs), required surgery and did not participate in spring football.
"I've been dying to get out there, get the pads on, and just play," said Lauletta, a 6-foot-3 215-pounder from Exton, Pa.
Lauletta practiced without physical restrictions as the Spiders began preseason work Thursday in preparation for their Aug. 27 opener at Sam Houston State.
"I'm in better shape. I feel stronger. I feel bigger and better than I've ever been," Lauletta said.
At William & Mary on Nov. 19, 2016, Lauletta was running near midfield. Untouched, he fell. Limping, Lauletta was helped off the field.
"It was hard to process right away when it happened. I walked off thinking, 'I'm going to be in the game in the fourth quarter,'" Lauletta said. "Until the doctors told me 'You're done,' I was trying to stay as optimistic as possible. Deep down, I knew something was really wrong."
In the playoffs, Kevin Johnson stepped in for Lauletta and led Richmond to victories over North Carolina A&T at Robins Stadium, and at North Dakota, before the 38-0 loss at frigid Eastern Washington. Lauletta was working with his third offensive coordinator (John Garrett) in three years and, as in previous seasons, felt his play improved as the year progressed.
"I think I would have finished the season really strong," Lauletta said. "For the past three seasons, I've always felt that toward the end of the season is when I've come on and I've really started to master it and really started to think quicker, make decisions faster."
Garrett is the first-year head coach at Lafayette, and Lauletta is with his fourth offensive coordinator in four years, Jeff Durden, whose scheme Lauletta describes as "high-octane." At previous stops as an offensive coordinator at Chattanooga and James Madison, a running quarterback was pivotal in Durden's system.
That will change this year. Even before Lauletta's knee injury, he was more of a drop-back passer.
"The type of player he is, we're stupid if we say we're going to run Kyle 20 times a game," said Russ Huesman, UR's first-year coach. " I would say if (Spiders quarterbacks) run six times a game, that's probably our target number."
When in need of support during his comeback, Lauletta had a mentor with a comparable experience. Aaron Corp, Richmond's quarterbacks coach, suffered a serious knee injury as UR's quarterback in 2010 and came back to play as a senior in 2011.
"He said that once the lights come on and you're out there, it's not even in your head. He just told me, 'Don't even think about it. Just play,'" Lauletta said of Corp. "I'm very excited that he's a guy I can always talk to and always relate to. He really knows what I'm going through, and he's always there for me."
Lauletta's knee, as far as he is concerned, is a nonfactor. He has been working out, running and cutting for months.
"I'm just going to trust it like it never happened. If I'm thinking about it the whole time, that's when you're going to see my performance falter a little bit," said Lauletta. "I think a lot of people are waiting to see how I respond from the injury, waiting to see how I come back. I'm doing everything I can to show those people I'm not going to skip a beat.
"I'm going to pick up right where I left off."
