This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall watched his players get off the airplane in Utah on Saturday night after the Cougars had defeated Oregon State 38-28 in Corvallis and wondered how they were going to practice this week.
That's how banged up BYU was, with at least six players missing time in the game due to injury.
The worst injury happened to reserve tight end Richard Wilson, a Spanish Fork product. He suffered a tear to his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), will undergo surgery in the next day or two and is out for the season, Mendenhall said.
It's the latest devastating injury in Wilson's career. He had shoulder surgery last winter and missed spring ball. The sophomore caught 11 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown this season, with a long of 35 yards. He caught five passes for 61 yards last year.
Hebron Fangupo (ankle sprain), Romney Fuga (knee sprain), Uona Kaveinga (contusion), Jordan Pendleton (contusion) and Ziggy Ansah (grade 3 MCL sprain) also suffered injuries against the Beavers; Fangupo, Fuga and Ansah are day-to-day, with Ansah's injury the most serious. Kaveinga and Pendleton, linebackers, should play against Idaho State on Saturday.
Mendenhall said the injuries will probably alter the way the Cougars practice this week.
"It might be one of those weeks were we don't go into pads at all, and just try to get fresh bodies for Saturday. Too early to speculate, but certainly it probably won't be a normal week," he said.
Not giving it to Nelson
Mendenhall said Riley Nelson will start at quarterback against ISU, but the coach is not ready to say the junior lefthander has secured the position for the remainder of the season over Jake Heaps, who started the first five games.
"The way [Nelson] is currently playing, I am impressed with him," Mendenhall said. "He's making a lot of good plays, he's helping our football team through two-and-a-half games.
Briefly
Former BYU receiver Mike Rigell is in his first year as Idaho State's running backs coach after serving as a graduate assistant last year. ... Cody Hoffman is averaging 25.74 yards per kickoff return in his career, the third-best average in school history behind Austin Collie (26.0) and Chris Farasopoulos (27.2). ... The Cougars last played Idaho State in 1951 and are 3-0 against the Bengals all-time.
Twitter: @drewjay —
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Saturday's Game
Idaho State at BYU, 1 p.m.
TV: BYUtv