Zach Collaros made his first pro start against the CFL's top ranked defense, or defence if you are Canadian. His first impression was fantastic. Collaros went 21-25 for 253 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs. It was like watching Zach go up against USF, who he had great success against his last two seasons, or his first start against Louisville. His passes were sharp and on point. One of his incompletions was a straight drop. He showed the poise and presence that we grew accustomed to when he was a Bearcat. Collaros even showed off the ability to get away from pressure from the defense, as he avoided a couple of sacks. He did get brought down once in a play where he was rolling left, got wrapped up from behind, lost the ball and quickly recovered it. Flashbacks on that one.
Collaros was the first Toronto QB to win his first start in over a decade. Even though Collaros was the greatest QB in Canada last night, his coach squashed any rumors of him usurping starter Ricky Ray:
“Ricky Ray’s our quarterback, he’s going to be our quarterback and, when he’s healthy, he’ll be the starter,” Argos coach Scott Milanovich said. “But obviously, we had a lot of confidence in Zach. We handed him the ball, and he showed everybody why.”
Something the article went into later is that this great start wasn't necessarily bad for Zach's future shot at starting. Ottawa has a team coming in next year. Teams can protect only 1 QB. It's thought that Ray, who was probably really good last year because he signed an extension, is going to be kept. Meaning Collaros could have a chance somewhere new in 2014.
I really hope that he gets a chance. It was great to see Zach Collaros play in the pros the way we knew he could. He showed out as the kids say. Couldn't be any happier for Zombie.
I'll leave you with the best quote from Zach:
“I was having fun out there."
Photo via The Canadian Press
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
