Stanford RB Love out Saturday vs. UC Davis
STANFORD – In a potential blow to his Heisman Trophy chances, Stanford running back Bryce Love will miss Saturday’s game against UC Davis because of an undisclosed injury.
Coach David Shaw said that Love and left tackle Walker Little will miss the Aggies game but should be back Sept. 29 against Oregon.
“Don’t anticipate Walker and Bryce being extended, but it’s a wise decision to hold those guys out this week,” Shaw said at his weekly press conference. “This was a very, very physical football game (last Saturday against USC) and we had a lot of guys with bumps and bruises.”
After a slow start to the season – he was held to 29 yards against San Diego State – Love tallied 136 yards and a touchdown in 22 carries last Saturday against USC. A game against an FCS opponent could have been a prime opportunity to improve his rushing totals.
Shaw doesn’t reveal specific injury information. Love was met head-on by two Trojans defenders on his final carry with 1:31 remaining and left the field. The senior dealt with ankle injuries last season but only missed one game, a 15-14 win at Oregon State.
Senior Cameron Scarlett, a Pac-12 honorable mention selection last season after rushing for 389 yards and eight touchdowns, is expected to start in Love’s place. Juniors Trevor Speights and Dorian Maddox will also be in the mix.
Shaw also said backup lineman Foster Surrell is expected to be out three to four weeks. But the injury news wasn’t all bad – Pac-12 honorable mention center Jesse Burkett should make his season debut against the Aggies.
UC Davis is 2-0 following a 54-21 win over the University of San Diego last week and a 44-28 victory over San Jose State in the season opener on Aug. 30.
ALAMEDA – After losing his first game in nearly 10 years, Jon Gruden used a little levity Tuesday to ease the tension.
In addressing a question about the second-half struggles of quarterback Derek Carr, Gruden interjected at the first of his weekly day-after-game press conferences, “I heard a skunk got loose in our tunnel. I think that’s what screwed us up a little bit.”
True enough, the skunk part anyway. Anyone who made the post-game trek to the field was doing so covering their noses. But the late Pepe Le Pew (word was the skunk met his demise) had little to do with the Raiders’ problems in a 33-13 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams had a lot to do with it, with the Raiders contributing mightily to their own demise with their own mistakes.
Bay Area News Group/tns Oakland Raiders head coach Jon Gruden shakes hands with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean Mcvay following their 33-13 loss on Monday night.
Foremost among them were three interceptions by Carr, including two in a tentative second half. On the first one, Carr changed his mind about throwing one out of bounds and instead lofted a pop fly to linebacker Cory
Littleton.
The second one came when Jared Cook “sat down” in a route while Carr expected him to keep running. Marcus Peters turned that one into a 50-yard touchdown return for the Rams’ final score.