Whether or not Cody Fajardo plays in Nevada’s Mountain West opener remains in doubt. What’s not in doubt, however, is who won’t replace the senior under center if he can’t go.
Wolf Pack head coach Brian Polian confirmed Tuesday that No. 2 quarterback Devin Combs suffered a torn ACL in the loss to Florida State Saturday and will miss the remainder of the 2013 season. Combs also tore the meniscus in his left knee, and will undergo surgery shortly.
Combs had replaced Fajardo, who suffered his own knee injury Week 2 and did not start against the Seminoles.
Polian also revealed that Combs played “two or three series” with the ACL tear, lauding the player for his toughness.
“If I can take a moment to talk about that kid’s toughness, because he played a couple series on that knee,” Polian said of Combs, who at least twice buckled and dropped to the turf after throwing a pass. “I don’t know if anybody in this room has had that before, but it ain’t fun. I told him at halftime, when we realized he wasn’t going to be able to play, how proud of him I was and what a fantastic job I think he did leading our offense in the first half of that game against obviously a great opponent.”
If Fajardo is unable to go -- Polian hopes he can practice at some point this week -- Tyler Stewart would get the nod against Hawaii. It would be the redshirt freshman’s first career start.
A decision on a starter will likely be made Thursday, but Polian won’t reveal it until close to kickoff Saturday.