How does a quarterback play essentially an entire game with a broken hand?

Connor Dietz used the out-of-sight-out-of-mind approach.

On the fourth play of the Falcons’ 23-16 overtime loss at Utah on Oct. 24, the Air Force sophomore injured his right (throwing) hand. He was in pain, and it was difficult even to grip a football, but he didn’t leave the game.

“I never really looked at my hand,” Dietz said after Air Force’s practice on Saturday. “But then going into overtime, I finally took a glance down and it was about two or three times the size of my other hand. So I figured something was wrong.”

You could say that. Dietz had fractured the second metacarpal bone in his hand – the bone just below the knuckle of his forefinger. He had surgery a few days later and missed the Falcons’ final four regular season games.

“It was really disappointing, one of the tougher things I’ve had to swallow,” Dietz said. “But that’s how it works, life goes on.”

Dietz’s performance against Utah, however, became all the more remarkable when the extent of his injury was learned. Just getting through the game would have been impressive enough, but Dietz rushed for a team-high 98 yards and completed 7-of-10 passes, including one to convert a fourth down in overtime.

“That’s just a whole new level of toughness,” quarterback coach Blane Morgan said.

“There’s some mettle there,” coach Troy Calhoun added.

Dietz returned to practice Friday, albeit with a temporary cast on his right hand and forearm. He’s working with the running backs until he can practice without the cast – perhaps a week from Tuesday. He said he plans to be ready for the Falcons’ bowl game “to help the team every way I can.”

While Dietz lining up at running back in practice makes for interesting conversation, Calhoun said he’ll be there only temporarily and that Dietz is “a quarterback all the way.”

Indeed, the week before the Utah game, Dietz replaced sophomore starter Tim Jefferson against Wyoming and guided the Falcons to a victory. He got the start against the Utes and seemed to have won the quarterback job for the rest of the season. But in his absence Jefferson played well and re-gained the starting spot.

Either way, Morgan said the Falcons will be better off with two capable quarterbacks next season.

“With the offense we run, you’ve got to have two guys,” he said. “It’s just the nature of the offense, quarterbacks are going to get hit, so they’ve got to be tough guys and they’ve got to be able to bruise a little bit and play with it, which is different from a lot of other places.”

Dietz, clearly, can play through pain.

Bowl announcement SundayAir Force will learn its postseason destination and opponent on Sunday.

The Falcons are all but certain to receive a bid to the Armed Forces Bowl for the third consecutive season. If they do, they’ll face either Houston or Southern Miss of Conference-USA.

Air Force’s Connor Dietz took the hit from Utah’s Dave Kruger, left, and Kepa Gaison and kept playing back in October. Photo by GAZETTE FILE