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Conference play is beginning to take its toll on the Wildcats as more players are banged up and as a result are trying to over come nagging injuries. Of course we all know about Texas' coach Charlie Strong's immediate impact of handing out suspensions like Halloween candy earlier in the year, but Texas has also suffered a large number of season ending injuries to key players. Let's get this out of the way right up front. Jake Waters is expected to start and play against Texas after suffering a shoulder injury to his throwing arm. He suffered the injury at the end of a huge run to begin the second half against Oklahoma. After missing a couple plays later in the same series, Jake came back and lead the team to victory. I expect him to start and play well, but his shoulder is something to keep an eye on with the best defense in the Big 12 coming to town. While he was gimpy heading into the Texas Tech game, Burns has showed no signs of a groin injury that forced him to miss most of the second half against Auburn. In fact Burns recorded an critical interception in the end-zone against Oklahoma to end a red-zone scoring chance for the Sooners. Much like Morgan Burns, Debo showed no signs of an injury that forced him out of the UTEP game. Dakorey Johnson played well against Oklahoma, however he did leave the game for a big following what may have been an aggravation of his previous "body" injury. As reported and confirmed by Head Coach Bill Snyder, Klein is sitting out this seaon with a medical red-shirt. Out for the season and hoping for a hardship medical waiver. Travis Green has undergone a scope on his right knee according to a twitter post he made on October 9th. That post has since been deleted, but one can infer that his knee has some sort of ligament damage which will cause him to miss significant time. This is a tough injury for Green who has played great in the secondary this season amassing 18 tackles and picking off two passes. Cody Small has yet to see the field. Our magic eight ball says "ask again" when we asked if it was due to injury, so for now we'll keep him on the injury report. Freshman safety Jason Hall sat out the Iowa State game as he tries to recover from a patellar tendon injury he suffered against Oklahoma. Hall had started three games, and played in all six totaling 26 tackles including one sack. Look for sophomore Adrian Colbert to replace Hall in the starting lineup. The Oklahoma game really took a toll on the Longhorns as linebacker Steve Edmond also suffered an undisclosed injury and is expected to miss the Kansas State game. . Espinosa was expected to anchor an already thin offensive line, however during the North Texas game Espinosa rolled his ankle and had to be charted off the field. X-rays showed he broke his ankle and would be out for the rest of the season. There has been no word on whether Espinosa will seek a medical hardship waiver to play again next season. Third string QB, Miles Onyegbule, tore his ACL and other knee ligaments along with other ligaments, and is out for the season as a result. Onyegbule was not expected to compete for playing time.Kansas State
Jake Waters, QB
Morgan Burns, CB
Danzel McDaniel, CB
Dakorey Johnson, LB
Kyle Klein, WR
Charmeachealle Moore, LB
Travis Green, S
Cody Small, TE
Texas
Jason Hall, S
Steve Edmond, LB
Dominic Espinosa, C
Miles Onyegbule, QB
Erik Huhn, S
A promising freshman safety, Erik Huhn announced via twitter prior to the start of the season that he would be undergoing knee surgery and would be out the rest of the season. This is the second season long injury in as many years, as Huhn suffered a torn ACL his senior year of high school.
David Ash, QB
David Ash has a long history of concussions and the goal this season for the Texas Longhorns was to keep him from receiving another. This did not go well, as Ash was hit during the North Texas game on a seemingly innocent play. However, the play brought about concussion like symptoms later in the evening, and after a few weeks of discussions Ash came to the decision that he should retire to preserve his future health. We wish David Ash the best and applaud his decision to consider his long term health.
Desmond Jackson, DT
Desmond Jackson suffered a Lisfranc injury during the UCLA game and as a result will miss the remained of the season. Jackson is a senior and will apply for a medical hardship waiver.
Overall the injury report for Kansas State is not too bad considering most of our injured players have been able to come back quickly without missing too much time. Meanwhile, the Texas Longhorns have suffered a ton of season ending injuries, forcing the Longhorns to rely on young, inexperienced players at key positions.