• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Oregon facing more injury woes at quarterback

Sep 6, 2008 - 11:34 AM Utah State (0-1) at No. 16 Oregon (1-0), 3:30 pm EDT

EUGENE, Oregon (Ticker) -- It may be a new season, but the injury bug at quarterback continues to bite 16th-ranked Oregon.

Justin Roper suffered a concussion in the Ducks' season-opening 44-10 victory over Washington, putting his status for this Saturday's non-conference game against Utah State in doubt.

Oregon (1-0) has had no less than four quarterbacks sustain injuries since Heisman Trophy candidate Dennis Dixon went down with a season-ending knee injury in a 34-24 Week 10 loss at Arizona last year.

Dixon's backup, Brady Leaf, suffered an ankle injury, forcing Roper into service for the Ducks' 56-21 Sun Bowl victory over South Florida. It was Roper's only previous start before last week.

Nate Costa won this year's starting quarterback job in preseason, only to tear an ACL that will require season-ending surgery this week.

Roper completed only 7-of-11 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown against Washington before leaving in the second quarter. He was replaced by Jeremiah Masoli, a junior college transfer who had no previous experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

Last season, Masoli, passed for 3,592 and 30 yards TDs to lead City College of San Francisco to the junior college national championship.

Utah State (0-1) is coming off a season-opening 27-17 loss to Nevada-Las Vegas.