Mocs QB Chase Artopoeus Happy to be Back After Shoulder Injury

Chattanooga-(WDEF-TV) The Chattanooga Mocs return one of the SoCon’s leading passers from last season in Chase Artopoeus.
The now 23-year-old quarterback has endured a long college football journey, including a tough, shoulder injury last year.

What did the football coach say to the broken vending machine?
Give me my quarterback.
For the first time since Rusty Wright arrived at UTC in 2018, he has a returning starting quarterback in Chase Artopoeus.
Reporter:”Is it amazing you finally have a quarterback returning?”
Said Wright:”Well it helps. I don’t know if it’s amazing. I can promise you that. It’s good for sure, especially when you’ve got one as smart as he is and as good a player as he is.”
Artopoeus was certainly good last year.
In ten games he threw for over 26-hundred yards with 20 touchdowns.

Then came the Furman game.
Said Artopoeus:”It was pretty early in the game. Simple RPO pass. Linebacker came and hit me. Landed on it. Felt a little funny getting up. Felt really loose. Felt like I didn’t have as much power in it.”
Yeah Artopoeus finished the game with a bum shoulder, but reality set in afterwards.
Said Artopoeus:”It really wasn’t until that next Monday when I tried to throw the football again. Just didn’t come out the same at all. Ended up I couldn’t even throw a pass ten yards at one point.”
Heart-breaking for Artopoeus.
He was at UCLA four years, before finally seizing his opportunity at Chattanooga.
Then he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
Said Artopoeus:”That’s like my thing. I can throw a football well. Throw a baseball. Then all of a sudden you just can’t do that. Especially when you feel like you are hurting your team by not being able to do that. Took an emotional toll on me.”
But here is back for another year and ready for the Mocs season opener against Tennessee.

Said Artopoeus:”It’s awesome to be back out there. Kind of take it for granted. Playing a sport for ten plus years. All of a sudden it gets taken from you. Just realizing how much you love it. How every single day you are so thankful for it. I think that kind of instills that motivation in you.”