Sept. 2, 2006
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State junior quarterback Kevin O'Connell will undergo surgery on Monday to repair ligament damage suffered in Thursday night's season-opening game against UTEP.
"We feel bad for Kevin, but he will be back and we are hopeful that he will be able to return this season," head coach Chuck Long said. "As with all surgery, we won't know the extent of the damage until after it is completed. Kevin has a great future at San Diego State and we look forward to his return."
O'Connell made his 18th consecutive start for the Aztecs on Thursday night against the Miners, and was 12-for-14 passing for 97 yards and rushed nine times for 25 yards in the contest. The junior, who completed his first 12 passes of the game on Thursday, has 4,088 career passing yards and holds the school-record for rushing yardage by a quarterback with 774 yards.
Although Long did not speculate how long O'Connell might miss, he did indicate that sophomore Darren Mougey will get the start in SDSU's next game at Wisconsin on Sept. 16. Mougey played in six games last season and was 12-for-16 for 178 yards passing in relief of O'Connell on Thursday. The sophomore was also SDSU's leading rusher in the game with 13 carries for 41 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The Wisconsin game will mark the first time that a player other than O'Connell has started at quarterback for the Aztecs since Oct. 16, 2004, when Matt Dlugolecki got the start against Colorado State.