Probably means a no name will have the game of his life against us.
UK's Hartline out at least 3-4 weeks
MRI shows full tear of MCL
By Brett Dawson • bdawson@courier-journal.com • October 12, 2009
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LEXINGTON, Ky. — It's uncertain how long the University of Kentucky football team will be without quarterback Mike Hartline.
But it's absolutely certain someone else will quarterback the Wildcats in Saturday's game at Auburn. On Tuesday, UK begins the process of figuring out who that will be.
An MRI exam on Hartline's injured left knee revealed on Monday that the junior has a completely torn medial collateral ligament, a partially torn posterior cruciate ligament and some cartilage damage and will be out at least 3-4 weeks.
There was no damage to Hartline's anterior cruciate ligament. Surgery on the ACL would have ended his season.
Hartline's MCL and PCL tears, suffered in the third quarter of the Oct.10 loss at South Carolina, won't require surgery.
“(It is) possible he could play before the end of the season; possibly he could not,” UK coach Rich Brooks said at his weekly news conference. “It's very much up in the air, but it's great news that no major surgery (is needed) on the ACL.”
The MCL and PCL should heal in 3-4 weeks, Brooks said, and Hartline will be out at least that long.
If the cartilage in the knee heals by that point, Hartline could play this season. If not, he might require surgery for the cartilage injury, and that procedure likely would end his season.
UK (2-3, 0-3 Southeastern Conference) took its scheduled weekly day off from practice on Monday, and the process of choosing a starter for Saturday's game at Auburn (5-1, 2-1) could linger well into the week.
The Cats' most likely options are junior Will Fidler — who replaced Hartline against South Carolina — or true freshman Morgan Newton, who has yet to play in a collegiate game.
Either would be making his first career start.
Wide receiver Randall Cobb, who lines up at quarterback in UK's wildcat formation and who started four games at QB last season, will not move back to full-time quarterback for the Auburn game, and Brooks hopes to avoid that scenario in future games.
Another true freshman, Ryan Mossakowski, will get additional practice snaps this week as UK's emergency third quarterback, Brooks said. UK intends to redshirt Mossakowski this season.
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The race likely boils down to Fidler and Newton, and there appears to be no frontrunner.
“Will, being in the system and being in the offense (longer), should be far ahead,” Brooks said. “I'm not sure that is the case in this whole process, and that's what we're going to find out this week. Morgan's been getting a lot of reps, and he should be a lot better prepared now than he was a month ago or six weeks ago.”
The change presents challenges for other Cats, none more than the offensive line that will protect either Fidler or Newton.
“This week is probably our O-line's biggest game,” left guard Christian Johnson said on Monday. “The quarterback we have in there, whoever it's going to be, I'm pretty sure hasn't played a lot, unless it's Randall. We're going to have to make sure (the quarterback) is comfortable, let him get in a groove and start working on his job.”
The offensive line's job is similar no matter who plays, right guard Stuart Hines said, but there are specific difficulties in protecting a first-time starter.
“Obviously a new quarterback is going to be a little bit less confident, a little bit slower to make decisions,” Hines said. “The pass protection's going to have to be better. We had great pass protection (against South Carolina). We didn't allow any sacks. We're going to have to keep that going on from here.”
UK's home game against Louisiana-Monroe on Oct.24 has been selected for live telecast by Fox Sports Network.
The game will kick off at 7p.m.
A list of FSN regional affiliates that will carry the game will be announced next week.
UK tackle Corey Peters was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. He set career highs with seven tackles and 2½ sacks at South Carolina.
Brett Dawson can be reached at (859) 523-0706.
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