Serious injuries mar opening week of college football

By STEVE MEGARGEE

Sept. 8, 2015 12:50 PM PT

Associated Press

An injury-marred opening week of college football began with Arizona star linebacker Scooby Wright tearing cartilage in his left knee and ended with Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Brewer breaking his collarbone.

They are expected to return sometime this season. Plenty of other players weren’t as fortunate.

Pittsburgh running back James Conner, TCU linebacker Sammy Douglas, Notre Dame running back Tarean Folston, BYU quarterback Taysom Hill, Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt and UCLA defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes suffered likely season-ending injuries.

“Any team that has dreams of playing at the highest level realizes they have to have depth because you’re going to, through the course of the season, have some injuries,” UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr. said. “You have to have quality guys who can come in and fill that role. Most good teams do have that.

“It’s as easy as looking at Ohio State and their quarterback position last year to tell you how important quality depth is.”

Ohio State overcame injuries to quarterbacks Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett on the way to winning last year’s national championship.

Some teams already have gone to the depth chart.

With a knee injury sidelining Conner, Pitt freshman Qadree Ollison ran for 207 yards in a 45-37 win over Youngstown State and was chosen Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the week.

BYU freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum replaced Hill and threw a 42-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to Mitch Mathews as time expired to give the Cougars a 33-28 victory at Nebraska.

Here’s a rundown of other notable injuries:

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MICHAEL BREWER, QB, VIRGINIA TECH

After breaking his collarbone in a 42-24 loss Monday to No. 1 Ohio State, Brewer will miss four to eight weeks. He was replaced by Brenden Motley, a mobile quarterback who isn’t nearly as polished a passer as Brewer.

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JAMES CONNER, RB, PITTSBURGH

The reigning ACC player of the year tore the medial collateral ligament in his right knee Saturday. Ollison has a difficult task trying to replace Conner, who rushed for 1,765 yards and set an ACC record with 26 rushing touchdowns last season.

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SAMMY DOUGLAS, LB, TCU

Douglas was hurt Thursday while making his first career start in a 23-17 victory at Minnesota, though the nature of his injury hasn’t been specified. The loss of Douglas adds to the youth of what already was an inexperienced TCU linebacker corps. No. 3 TCU entered the season as the only Football Bowl Subdivision program whose linebackers had never started a college game.

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JESSE ERTZ, QB, KANSAS STATE

Ertz got hurt early in a 34-0 victory over South Dakota. Without detailing the nature of Ertz’s injury, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said the quarterback would be out “for quite some time.” Joe Hubener replaced Ertz on Saturday and went 9 of 18 for 147 yards and a touchdown.

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TAREAN FOLSTON, RB, NOTRE DAME

Notre Dame’s top returning rusher from last season tore the ACL in his right knee in a 38-3 victory over Texas. Folston’s injury makes C.J. Prosise the ninth-ranked Irish’s No. 1 running back and creates playing time for freshmen Josh Adams and Dexter Williams.

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TAYSOM HILL, QB, BYU

He sustained a mid-foot sprain against Nebraska, marking the third time in four years that an injury has ended Hill’s season early. Mangum, who takes over for Hill, isn’t a typical freshman. He graduated from high school in 2012 and returned three months ago from a Mormon mission in Chile.

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TERREL HUNT, QB, SYRACUSE

After missing the last seven games of the 2014 season with a broken left calf bone, Hunt injured his right Achilles tendon Friday in a 47-0 win over Rhode Island. Freshman Eric Dungey replaced him and went 10 of 17 for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

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EDDIE VANDERDOES, DT, UCLA

During the 13th-ranked Bruins’ 34-16 victory over Virginia in which he made a team-high eight tackles, Vanderdoes tore a knee ligament. His injury creates more playing time for Eli Ankou and Matt Dickerson.

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KEVIN WILLIAMS, WR, CLEMSON

Clemson’s top receiver from last season sustained a small fracture in his neck Saturday when he crashed into a padded goal post while making a touchdown catch in a 49-10 rout of Wofford. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Williams “might not be able to play the rest of this year” for the 12th-ranked Tigers. Williams’ injury may allow Germone Hopper to inherit a starting role.

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SCOOBY WRIGHT, LB, ARIZONA

The 2014 Nagurski Trophy, Lombardi Award and Bednarik Award winner is expected to miss three or four weeks for the 22nd-ranked Wildcats after injuring his knee in Thursday’s 42-32 win over Texas-San Antonio. Wright had 163 total tackles — 29 for loss — plus 14 sacks and six forced fumbles last season. Wright’s likely replacement is Haden Gregory.

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AP Sports Writers Stephen Hawkins in Fort Worth, Texas, and Pete Iacobelli in Clemson, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

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AP college website: collegefootball.ap.org