Baylor's Seth Russell, one of the top quarterbacks in college football, will undergo ankle surgery and miss the rest of the regular season after suffering an injury vs. Oklahoma on Saturday.
Baylor confirmed Russell suffered a left ankle fracture on Saturday. It's expected that the injury will bring his college career to an end, although BU is bowl-eligible.
Players immediately called for trainers to come to Russell's aid after the senior was tackled on a third-quarter scramble. ABC showed a replay before going to a commercial break, but did not show a subsequent replay upon returning. Russell was carted off the field.
Earlier this week, an NFL executive voted for Russell as a senior prospect with the most upside, describing the QB as having the potential to be a solid NFL starter. Entering the game, Russell had completed 137 of 247 passes this season for 1,948 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Russell suffered a season-ending injury last year when he broke a bone in his neck.
"Seth worked so hard to come back from the neck injury, and it's not about losing the talent and production at quarterback, it's more just like having one of your own children hurt," interim head coach Jim Grobe said, per a school release. "It breaks your heart to see a really, really good guy get hurt like that. Just really, really sad because you love the kid so much."
It marked the second time in two weeks that one of college football's top senior quarterbacks has gone down with a serious injury. Ole Miss' Chad Kelly was lost for the year last week to a knee injury suffered against Georgia Southern.
A look at some other injuries to key college players:
» Michigan State DL Malik McDowell missed the Spartans' 49-0 win over Rutgers due to an ankle injury suffered last week against Illinois. McDowell is one of the top defensive line prospects in college football, although he's been inconsistent this season, in part due to nagging injuries.
» Florida S Marcus Maye will miss the remainder of the season with a broken arm suffered during a 20-7 win over South Carolina. "His draft stock looking down the road has risen drastically because of how he's played so this won't have any bearing on it. He has a broken something in his arm," said UF coach **Jim McElwain**.
» Pittsburgh S Jordan Whitehead, a sophomore and the Panthers' top defensive back, suffered an arm injury in the third quarter against Clemson and was carted off the field.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
