Oct 23, 2009

Cincinnati's Pike Has Surgery On Left Forearm

Bearcats' Starting Quarterback Not Yet Ruled Out For Saturday's Game After Tuesday's Surgery

Cincinnati's Tony Pike elected to have surgery on Tuesday in order to repair a damaged plate in his non throwing arm, but he still has not been ruled out of playing in Saturday's game against the Louisville Cardinals. Pike re injured his left forearm in last Thursday's game against the South Florida Bulls. Pike originally injured his left forearm last season in which he missed only two games after surgically having a plate and six screws inserted into the forearm. The plate had shifted during a hit that Pike suffered in the first half of the game against the Bulls leaving him unable to return to action for the remainder of the contest. At the present time, his return to action is uncertain but it could be as early as this weekend when Bearcats face the Louisville Cardinals.

Currently, Cincinnati is ranked 5th in the country and the sportsbooks have them as a heavy favorite to win their conference and a berth to a BCS Bowl Game. However, those odds are a sure bet to drop if the Bearcats lose the services of Pike for even the slightest duration of time. Pike is the key to running a successful offense at Cincinnati. The senior QB currently ranks 8th in the nation in passing yards per game at 298.6. In addition, when he is at the helm running their no-huddle spread offense, they rank 4th in the nation in scoring with 40.7 points per game. Although the 6-0 Bearcats are going to be a sizable betting line favorite over Louisville regardless of whether or not Pike plays, they can ill afford to have him out of action past this upcoming weekend if they expect to continue to enjoy the same success for the rest of the season that they have been so fortunate to have had thus far with Pike running the show.

By Bryan Jackson
Staff Writer
Betsportsweb.com
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