Dustin Crum has no experience being 'The Man.' He has no idea what it's like to be seen as that surefire game changer, at least in the eyes of others, at quarterback.
Considering his personal history, then, perhaps Crum was right in his comfort zone the moment he joined the Ottawa Redblacks midway through last season. A marquee signing, this was not.
"It’s exciting to see him run with the opportunity. I’m not surprised with how he’s playing — that’s who he is," Scott Crum, father of perhaps the most compelling player in the CFL, said over the phone this week while on vacation in North Carolina.
"Really happy he got his shot and the team seems to be rallying around him like they have and he’s getting a chance to do his thing."
Third on the depth chart at camp this year — and presumed to be falling to fourth once Jeremiah Masoli was healthy — Dustin Crum, 24, now finds himself at the helm of a team that has won two wildly entertaining overtime games in a row after losing a pair of quarterbacks to season-ending injuries.
Crum's rise may have caught many off guard, but he's quite familiar with overcoming long odds — "If you talk to him, he's faced these challenges before," Scott Crum said.
Kent State, which never will be confused with Alabama or Michigan, was the only school to offer the fleet-footed Crum a scholarship in 2017. Paul Haynes, the coach that opened the door for Crum, was fired after his freshman season.
Former Syracuse co-offensive co-ordinator Sean Lewis became the new coach at the Ohio school, earning him the distinction of being the youngest coach at the top level of the NCAA at the time at age 31. He took over a team that went 9-30 the previous five years. In a previous job at Bowling Green as co-offensive co-ordinator for another Ohio program, Lewis opted not to recruit Crum, an in-state product from Midview High in Grafton — about a 40-minute drive from Cleveland.
"Quite honestly, coach Lewis had no intention of really giving him a shot until Dustin persevered," said Scott Crum, the offensive co-ordinator for Dustin's high-school team.
After being mostly stuck on the bench in Lewis' first season in 2018, Crum got his chance the following year. All he did was lead Kent State, previously considered one of the lowest-ranked programs in the country, to its first Bowl victory in school history at the Frisco Bowl.
“I actually had one of the coaches there come up to me right after the first Bowl game they’d ever won and he said any other kid in America would have transferred in the situation your kid was in," Scott Crum said. "We talked about the transfer and I said 'it's up to you.' I said 'if you think they're going to give you a legitimate shot and think you can win the job, go do it.' That’s what he did."
Former Kent State defensive end Zayin West was one of a handful of 2017 recruits to stick it out all the way through school with the new staff. He developed a close bond with Crum.
"I just think he’s a quiet leader," West said. "He's not too vocal — that's something he grew into over the years at Kent. He shows by his actions a daily commitment to the team and he's also going to open up once you get to know him."
Crum went on to be named top player in the Mid-American Conference (the same conference that produced former B.C. Lions star QB Nathan Rourke at Ohio) in 2021, guiding the Golden Flashes to another Bowl appearance at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
"Give Crum ball with time on the clock, he's going to get it done," West said. "He's going to do things not to lose the game."
After he was cut by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022 during the pre-season, Crum was signed by Ottawa with zero fanfare.
This year, Nick Arbuckle was the opening-day starter for Ottawa. Tyrie Adams replaced Arbuckle after an 0-2 start, only to suffer a season-ending ACL injury in a win over Edmonton. Masoli returned from a year-long absence the next week and suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, sending Crum onto the field that night in Hamilton.
Crum came one yard short of giving the Redblacks a chance to tie that game in the final seconds before being named starter the next week versus Winnipeg.
A comeback victory at home against the heavily favoured Blue Bombers was followed by another come-from-behind triumph in Calgary against the Stampeders. Both games were walk-off victories in OT — a highlight-reel, 29-yard Crum run vs. Winnipeg preceded a two-point conversion toss to Nate Behar in Calgary.
Crum's play has promoted reaction from a former Kent State quarterback, who made his name at receiver in the NFL.
Crum is doing this for a team that has been simply awful the past three seasons -- with a revolving door at QB.
Lewis, the new offensive co-ordinator for coach Deion 'Prime Time' Sanders at Colorado, ran a fast-paced offence at Kent State. It turned out to be excellent training for the shorter play clock in Canada.
"In that game against Winnipeg, when they started really going offensively was when they were going up in hurry-up and two-minute because they were down so much," Scott Crum said. "He’s a very quick processor. Very smart kid and processes things really quickly. A lot of that is just him and a lot of that is what coach Lewis did at Kent State. They were trying to snap the ball every 10 seconds, it was crazy. It's definitely something that has helped him with the Canadian game."
By the way, Scott's not simply being a proud dad when he talks about his son, who makes his third start Friday against the visiting Ticats, being a smart kid. Dustin has a degree in aeronautical systems of engineering technology from Kent State. In other words, he's a rocket scientist.
“Some of the math he had to do and those type of things, I can’t comprehend it," Scott Crum said. "It’s pretty high level."
So too is the play of Dustin in Ottawa in recent weeks.
Suddenly, Canadian golfers Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes and Taylor Pendrith aren't the only Kent State grads making sports headlines in this country.
• The Stamps-Redblacks game. Just like Week 6, Week 7 ended in thrilling fashion with a glorious Sunday nighter
• The continued strong play of Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly. Circle Aug. 13 on your calendar. Kelly's Argos host Crum's Redblacks.
• The knee injury for B.C. Lions quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. Fortunately, it doesn't sound like it will be a long-term thing. Dane Evans starts this week against the Elks.
• The Edmonton Elks' poor second half against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Tied 6-6 at halftime, the winless Elks lost 28-14.
1. Toronto Argonauts (5-0, 1st last week): Clearly the class of the league. Kelly seems to have a new favourite receiver each week.
2. B.C. Lions (5-1, 2nd last week): Evans, on paper at least, is one of the best backups in the league.
3. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (5-2, 2nd last week): Not as consistent as previous years, but still in a good spot on a bye week.
4. Ottawa Redblacks (3-3, 8th last week): Crum the best CFL story going.
5. Calgary Stampeders (2-4, 4th last week): Stamps QB Jake Maier managed to throw for 450 yards against Ottawa and lose. Turnovers will do that.
6. Montreal Alouettes (2-3, 5th last week): Coming off the bye, Alouettes looking to snap a three-game losing streak.
7. Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-3, 6th last week): Mason Fine's first game of the season as starting QB (with Trevor Harris hurt) wasn't great against B.C. Tough test this week against Toronto in Halifax.
8. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-4, 7th last week): QB Bo Levi Mitchell returns this week after missing past four games with a lower-body injury.
9. Edmonton Elks (0-7, 9th last week): How low can they go?
Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Ottawa Redblacks (-1.5), Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET / 4:30 p.m PT: Mitchell was shaky before being hurt. Ticats need him in top form. PICK: Ottawa
Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Toronto Argonauts (-10.5) in Halifax, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT: Second year in a row these teams square off in Touchdown Atlantic game. Argos won 30-24 last year in Wolfville, N.S.. PICK: Saskatchewan
B.C. Lions (-7.5) at Edmonton Elks, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT: Elks have lost 20 in a row at home. They face a backup QB here, but they're still heavy underdogs. PICK: B.C.
Calgary Stampeders at Montreal Alouettes (-2.5), Sunday, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT: Defensive end Shawn Lemon, the league's top defensive player last year, signed with the Als this week -- just in time to face the team he played for in 2022. PICK: Calgary
Odds from FanDuel as of Thursday night.
2023 Picks Record: 14-13
