Injured McGill QB Collin to miss remainder of the season

MONTREAL – The McGill University Redmen will be without quarterback Jonathan Collin for the remainder of the football season after he suffered a major knee injury in the team’s season-opening game against No.2-ranked Laval last Sunday.

Results of a magnetic resonance imaging test taken Monday, have revealed that the star sophomore has suffered two torn ligaments (anterior cruciate and lateral collateral) in his left knee in addition to having a stretched nerve which is causing some numbness in his left foot. The injury occurred during a collision late in the third quarter with Laval’s Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, a six-foot-three, 250-pound lineman, who landed full force on Collin’s knee.

“I’m very disappointed to learn the extent of the injury,” said Collin, a 21-year-old education major who is currently wearing a full-length leg brace and walking with crutches. “However, it’s not the knee that concerns me the most because I can come back from that with therapy and hard work. I’m more worried about the numbness in my foot.”

Collin is expected to undergo surgery sometime over the next three weeks. The six-foot-five, 230-pound pivot was voted rookie of the year in the Quebec conference last year. He rushed for seven touchdowns in eight games, setting single-season school records for most TD scored by a freshman and a quarterback.

“It’s a tremendous disappointment for us,” said Sonny Wolfe, head coach of the Redmen. “JC has worked very hard to get where he is. This has been very hard on him and his family.”

Collin will be replaced by 20-year-old junior Ryne Bondy, a six-foot-three, 210-pound native of Richmond Hill, Ont., who has played in parts of six games over his three seasons at McGill, including three against Laval. In six career contests with the Redmen, Bondy has completed nine of 29 pass attempts for 47 yards, no TDs and two interceptions

The international development studies major replaced Collin at the helm last week in Quebec City and completed three of six passes for 19 yards. Bondy, a product of W.F. Herman secondary school in Windsor, Ont., actually won the starting role in last year’s season opener against the Montreal Carabins before being injured on a late hit in the second quarter. He was replaced by Collin, who started all remaining seven games in 2009.

“This is a real opportunity for Bondy to show everyone what he can do,’ said Wolfe. “We recruited him very aggressively and believe in him. He is a very cerebral quarterback, reads defences well and throws a good ball.”

Bondy also has some athletic genes in the family as his uncle Gavin MacDougall was an all-Canadian receiver with the Ottawa Gee-Gees in 1985.

“The guys have a lot of confidence in Ryne,” said Collin. “The team will do just fine with him at quarterback.”

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University