Miss State QB Garrett Shrader to Miss Bowl Game After Injuring Eye in Altercation With Teammate

Mississippi State will be down its starting quarterback for the Music City Bowl clash against Louisville, and for the most petulant of reasons.

Starting signal caller Garrett Shrader reportedly suffered an eye injury, fracturing his orbital bone during an altercation with linebacker, and teammate Willie Gay. The injury is serious enough to keep him out of action for the Bulldogs' final game of 2019.

Second-stringer Tommy Stevens will now be under center for head coach Joe Moorhead against the Cardinals.

Per 247Sports, Shrader's swollen eye didn't heal as expected and it was later determined that damage was done to the aforementioned orbital bone. He is expected to be able to avoid surgery, but he will need to allow his eye to heal until the end of January, thus ruling him out for Monday's clash.

In fact, the initial injury designation saw Moorhead hold Shrader out of Saturday's walk-through practice, for nothing more than precautionary reasons. The news that he isn't well enough to play is utterly shocking for Moorhead and the rest of the Bulldogs' coaching staff.

Well, shocking and infuriating.

If there is a silver lining to be had in this PR nightmare, however, it lies in the fact that Stevens is a relatively experienced backup.

In appearances against the likes of Abilene Christian, Southern Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana, Stevens compiled 934 passing yards for nine touchdowns (and five interceptions), while adding 310 yards and three scores with his legs.