East Carolina named Kurt Benkert the team’s starting quarterback earlier this month. Now he is done for the 2015 season.
East Carolina announced today the sophomore quarterback will be sidelined for the 2015 season as a result of a right knee injury. The injury is believed to have occurred during a practice on Tuesday. Discomfort in the knee following practice led to additional evaluations on Wednesday, which have now led to the unfortunate injury update.
“Everyone in college football is affected by injuries and we are no different,” ECU head coach Ruffin McNeill said in a released statement. “I am disappointed for Kurt because he has worked so hard for this opportunity. We’ve got a lot of talent on this team and we’ll be asking everyone to step up.”
With the Pirates now back to searching for a new quarterback (Benkert was to replace Shane Carden), McNeil will evaluate juniors Blake Kemp and Cody Keith in what little time remains before the start of the new season. Keith is just coming back from his own injury, having come back from a foot injury earlier this summer.