Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion is out indefinitely after injuring his left knee during the No. 10 Beavers’ victory over Washington State on Saturday.
Backup Cody Vaz will start for the undefeated Beavers when they play a nonconference game against BYU this weekend.
Mannion had his knee in a brace at practice on Monday. Coach Mike Riley said an MRI has indicated the 6-foot-5, 212-pound sophomore quarterback will require surgery of an undisclosed nature.
Mannion threw for 270 yards and a touchdown in Oregon State’s 19-6 victory. He apparently injured the knee on a handoff but did not leave the game.
Following the victory, Oregon State jumped into the Top 10 of the AP rankings for the first time since early 2001.
Mannion was averaging 339.5 yards passing a game, second in the Pac-12 Conference and sixth in the nation.
Vaz, a 6-foot-1, 198-pound junior, played in five games in the 2010 season, completing 6 of 17 passes for 48 yards. He did not appear in any games last season for the Beavers.
“Cody is a good quarterback. He has been preparing for this for a long time,” Riley said. “He’ll be good, and we’ll be ready to go.”
IT’S A TOUGH JOB
Florida State’s dream of contending for a national championship may have disappeared on a pair of fourth-quarter decisions by coach Jimbo Fisher.
The third-year Seminole coach disdained a field goal attempt with 9:35 left Saturday that could’ve given his team a nine-point lead at North Carolina State. Instead of giving Dustin Hopkins a shot at his fourth field goal in the game, the Seminoles punted.
But it was call earlier that was even more questionable. The then-No. 3 Seminoles wanted something big instead of something safe and ran a play on third-and-2 that resulted in EJ Manuel being sacked for a 15-yard loss — a play called during a timeout.
Fisher defended both calls Monday and said he’d make the same decisions.
EXTRA POINTS
UCLA Bruins running back Johnathan Franklin, the leading rusher in the Pac-12, has thigh and calf contusions as well as a bruised hand and may miss practice time this week. Franklin, who has 800 yards rushing to rank No. 4 in the nation, was limited in the second half of a 43-17 loss to California on Saturday, a game in which Franklin carried 15 times for 103 yards. … Georgia Tech has fired defensive coordinator Al Groh. The move comes two days after the Yellow Jackets (2-4) lost, 47-31, to Clemson. The previous week, Georgia gave up 49 points in an embarrassing loss to Middle Tennessee. … BYU freshman quarterback Taysom Hill will have surgery on his left knee and will miss the rest of the season with a an injury suffered on his final carry in Friday night’s win over Utah State. … Senior Ohio State linebacker Etienne Sabino fractured his right leg in Saturday’s win over Nebraska and will likely miss the Buckeyes’ next four games. … Temple defensive tackle Kamal Johnson will not practice or play with the Owls after he was arraigned on charges stemming from an alleged assault Sept. 27 on his girlfriend, also a student at the university.
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