TEXAS A&M:
King’s ankle surgery elevates backup Calzada
COLLEGE STATION — Jimbo Fisher delivered the bad news first to Texas A&M fans on Monday: Starting quarterback Haynes King has a fractured tibia just above the right ankle.
Fisher quickly followed with the good news: The break could have been much worse for King and the Aggies.
“(The surgery) went clean as a whistle. It went really good,” Fisher said of Sunday’s procedure following the injury Saturday early in A&M’S 10-7 victory over Colorado in Denver. “It was as good as it could humanly be as far as the prognosis.”
Fisher declined to put a timetable on King’s return, although the redshirt freshman is expected out at least a month, likely longer. No. 7 A&M (2-0) hosts New Mexico (2-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday and then faces No. 20 Arkansas on Sept. 25 in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium to crank up SEC competition.
The following Saturdays are A&M SEC West home games against Mississippi State on Oct. 2 and top-ranked Alabama on Oct. 9.
“When you heal, you heal,” Fisher said of anyone trying to predict King’s return. “We would never play him in any way, shape or form before that. And we still have a great quarterback in Zach Calzada.”
After King fractured his tibia in the first quarter Saturday, Calzada led the Aggies to a comeback victory on a touchdown pass to Isaiah Spiller with 2:41 left in the contest — A&M’S lone time to reach the end zone in the near-upset.
“Right in the breadbasket,” Spiller said with a smile of the perfect lob.
Calzada (6-4, 200) will earn his first college start Saturday against the Lobos, a chance for the strong-armed sophomore to gain valuable snaps before A&M faces Arkansas in a tougherthan-anticipated contest for the Aggies, who harbor nationaltitle hopes. The Razorbacks pummeled nonconference foe Texas 40-21 this past Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.
“The character (Calzada) grew up with in that (Colorado) game, and to come back and make the plays at the end of the game for us to have a chance to win it, I’m very proud of him,” Fisher said.
Calzada finished 18 of 38 for 183 yards with the lone touchdown against Colorado. He earned plenty of first-team snaps early in camp in a spirited
competition with King.
Fisher said walk-on Blake Bost is Calzada’s primary backup, while scholarship quarterback Eli Stowers, like Bost a true freshman, continues earning snaps at both tight end and quarterback.
Bost likely would earn the first chance to fill in for Calzada, should the new starter be injured in coming weeks. Bost (6-2, 195) chose to walk on at A&M despite scholarship offers from Lamar, Incarnate Word and Arkansas State, among others.
“One of the reasons we were able to move Eli (to tight end) when we did was because of how Blake came in, and his ability to throw the ball and run the ball,” Fisher said of the battle for backup to the backup in camp. “The guy is a really good player, and I feel very comfortable with him there.”
New Mexico has won its first two games of the season for the first time since 2005 after beating Houston Baptist (27-17) and New Mexico State (34-25), both
in Albuquerque, N.M. Despite King’s absence, the Aggies, who dropped two spots from No. 5 in the Associated Press poll after edging Colorado, are still heavy favorites over the Lobos, and Calzada is expected to try and use the four quarters to continuing sharpening his game with a variety of passes.
Fisher said fans shouldn’t expect much change in the Aggies’ offensive attack, either, although King is known for his speed and Calzada is known for his arm.
“We’ll stay very similar,” Fisher said. “There may be (a situation) where one guy likes this play better than he likes that play, but the concept of what we do and how we do things … we’ll stay relatively where we are.”
In addition, Fisher said defensive tackle Mckinnley Jackson will return for Saturday’s game against New Mexico after he missed the first two contests — A&M wins over Kent State and Colorado — following an offseason arrest by university police.