The David Ash Dilemma: When and If He Could/Should Return

With administrators at every level of football focusing more on preventing and reducing the risk of head injuries, how the University of Texas handles David Ash’s recovery from the concussion suffered at Brigham Young on Sept. 7 and subsequent recurrence of symptoms Saturday against Kansas State will be highly scrutinized. [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

In Austin, American-Statesman columnists Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden both opined that the quarterback should at a minimum take an extended break from football, possibly the remainder of the 2013 season. Monday, Bohls suggested in his “Nine things and one crazy prediction” column that those making the decision on Ash’s availability err on the side of extreme caution. “If the Texas junior quarterback did suffer a concussion in two straight games, I’m sure Mack Brown and the medical staff will err on the side of caution,” Bohls wrote. On Tuesday, Golden went a step further. “A young body is built to take all kinds of punishment, but the head is different,” Golden wrote in Tuesday’s Golden’s Nuggets. “Ash could be cleared to play in the nine days leading up to the Oct. 3 game at Iowa State, but he and his family should give real strong consideration to not playing football again, at least for the rest of this season.”

Texas’ schedule sets up favorably to minimize the number of games Ash might miss. Texas doesn’t play again until Thursday, Oct. 3, at Iowa State and then gets another nine days to prep for the Red River Rivalry. That could be plenty of time for Ash to recover and receive clearance to play. On Tuesday, Ash’s father Stephen told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the junior quarterback wants back on the field just as soon as he’s cleared. “I think things are looking good,” Ash’s father, Stephen, said. “We’d all want for that to happen.”

UT’s medical protocol explains that players must be symptom-free for a minimum of 48 hours following a concussion. The doctors announced that Ash had met those conditions prior to the game against Kansas State and he played the first half, completing 16 of 25 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown but also enduring several jarring tackles. At some point during halftime, team officials observed Ash displaying concussion-related symptoms and informed head coach Mack Brown that the quarterback could not play any further. Officials did not disclose whether the symptoms stemmed from a fresh concussion or were a recurrence of the prior concussion.

“Any time there’s a (concussion) symptom — it doesn’t have to be another concussion; it can be a symptom that pops up — then the doctors take them out of the game, and they have to be clear of symptoms for 48 hours before they can return,” Brown said on Monday’s Big 12 coaches media teleconference. “They’ll just continue to evaluate him.”

When healthy, Ash has been Texas’ best option at quarterback. After starting 12 of 13 games last year, Ash entered 2013 as the Big 12’s most experienced quarterback. He entered the season off the momentum created by the come-from-behind win he led in the Alamo Bowl and he had taken charge of the team during spring practice and summer workouts.He entered the fall as the unquestioned leader of the offense. How Texas moves forward should Ash be sidelined for an extended period has also drawn considerable debate. In the short term, the Longhorns have gone with senior Case McCoy, who played the entire game against Ole Miss and the second half Saturday against Kansas State, leading the team to a pair of second half touchdowns.

True freshman Tyrone Swoopes follows McCoy on the depth chart. While experts describe McCoy as a game manager, they see Swoopes as more of a dual-threat, an athletic quarterback who can make plays with his feet as well as his arm. Marian Hinton at Rantsports.com and Zach Shelton at bleacherrport.com suggested that the Longhorns might consider Swoopes a better long-term substitute in case Ash can’t play for an extended time. “Swoopes, like Ash, has the ability to make plays with his feet and the Longhorns are a much, much better team when they have a quarterback that provides a dual-threat option,” he writes. “Will he give the Longhorns a better chance to win now? It’s hard to say. He may or may not be ready, and McCoy has the experience. But if Ash is forced to miss a lot of time, then why not start planning for the future?”

In a perfect world, Brown and co-offensive coordinator Major Applewhite would prefer to let Swoopes redshirt, but as Hinton states, the Longhorns season hasn’t unfolded perfectly. One thing is clear. With Ash out, Swoopes is the back-up quarterback, and he must be ready to play should he be forced into action, as McCoy has been each of the last three games. “This is all contingent on how much time Ash misses,” Shelton writes. “But with Oklahoma less than three weeks away, getting Swoopes ready to go needs to become a priority.” Upon Swoopes’ arrival on campus in January, the Longhorns had five quarterbacks on scholarship. But between the end of spring practice and the beginning of fall practice, redshirt freshman Conner Brewer transferred to Arizona and redshirt freshman Jalen Overstreet moved to running back, leaving the trio of Ash, McCoy and Swoopes at the quarterback position.   [/s2If]
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