Pac-12 Football: The Most Impactful Injuries so Far This Season
Injuries are an unfortunate yet inevitable part of football, and the Pac-12 has seen some key players go down during critical moments in the 2014 season.
Some will point to the fact that almost every team has to weather the injury bug, and how you employ the "next man up" attitude will determine how successful a season is.
On the other hand, some injuries have devastating consequences regardless of how well a team may be prepared to handle them.
Nobody is deep at every position across the board, and losing one or two players—even for a lone game—can result in a loss. The most impactful injuries are often those that affect teams at positions of little depth.
Washington State's Connor Halliday is one of the premier quarterbacks in the country, yet his replacement Luke Falk has proven to be more than capable of running Mike Leach's offense.
At the end of the day, we all hope that every player injured will go through a speedy and easy recovery to full health. That's goal No. 1 before everything else.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the most impactful injuries so far this season from an on-the-field standpoint.
All stats via CFBStats.com.
5) RB Nick Wilson, Arizona
1 of 5
The first player on our list certainly doesn't come close to any record for the amount of playing time missed, but for Nick Wilson, being absent just one game was impactful enough to alter the course of Arizona's season.
Listed as questionable prior to the home matchup with USC on Oct. 11, Wilson ultimately played no part of the Wildcats' 28-26 loss to the Trojans.
Keep in mind that this in no way blames the loss on Wilson's absence, but it's hard to deny what he's meant for the prolific rushing attack, which racked up just 77 yards against USC, the lowest output of the year.
Just a week earlier against Oregon, Wilson carried the ball 13 times for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while also scoring once after receiving a pass from quarterback Anu Solomon. For the season, Wilson has 763 yards rushing and seven touchdowns—impressive stuff for a true freshman.
In the two games after missing out against the Trojans, Wilson carried the ball 19 times for a total of just 36 yards. But he seems to be hitting his stride following a 153-yard effort against Colorado.
The Wildcats had plenty of chances to beat USC, including a field-goal attempt at the buzzer that would have secured a victory, but Wilson's absence definitely hurt the Wildcats.
4) LT Chad Wheeler, USC
2 of 5
Despite offensive linemen being ignored unless they happen to make a mistake, the five men charged with opening up holes in the running game and protecting the quarterback make up arguably the most important unit on the team.
And while the center has the task of making sure the ball gets to the quarterback, the left tackle is often the most indispensable player on the line.
Unfortunately for USC, starting left tackle Chad Wheeler suffered a season-ending knee injury against Utah. According to Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times (via the above link), the injury occurred just several plays into the game.
The Utes went on to win in a thrilling 24-21 contest, and while we're again not blaming any results on injuries, it's hard to ignore the impact Wheeler has had on the offense.
Before playing the Utes, USC had rushed for more than 200 yards in four straight games. The Trojans had just 100 against Utah and then 127 at Washington State.
USC has games against Cal, UCLA and Notre Dame remaining on the schedule with an outside shot of winning the Pac-12 South. Without Wheeler, all three games become much more difficult, which makes his injury one of the more impactful ones in the Pac-12 so far.
3) QB Taylor Kelly, Arizona State
3 of 5
If the left tackle position isn't the most important position on offense, it's only because of the quarterback, and Arizona State lost its QB for more than a month.
Taylor Kelly went down after a short run at Colorado on Sept. 13 and didn't return to the field until the Sun Devils traveled to Washington on Oct. 25. The reason the injury isn't listed higher is because the fallout was minimal thanks to backup Mike Bercovici.
In Kelly's stead, Bercovici threw for 1,243 yards and nine touchdowns in just three starts. Against USC, he had a whopping 510 yards passing and five scores without an interception. Yet the injury still had a negative impact given whom the Sun Devils faced in the backup's first start.
That would be UCLA, which rode into Tempe and picked off Bercovici twice before rolling to a 62-27 victory. It's the only blemish on an otherwise perfect record.
We can't say for sure what would have occurred with a healthy Kelly, but the fact that it even makes you wonder is enough to have his injury on this list as one of the most impactful ones of the season.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
2) WR Dres Anderson, Utah
4 of 5
To give you an idea of how much Utah misses wide receiver Dres Anderson, consider that he's still the team's leading receiver despite playing in two fewer games than everyone else.
Anderson suffered a knee injury in the fourth quarter of the victory over USC on Oct. 25, and with it, the Utes lost their go-to option in the passing game.
The only real weakness on Utah is a lack of offense specifically in the passing game; without Anderson, it's almost nonexistent.
In the following contest at Arizona State, the passing attack accounted for just 57 yards. To Utah's credit, the entire team bounced back against Oregon, and quarterbacks Travis Wilson and Kendal Thompson combined to throw for 320 yards, but they might have been able to simply pick a number had Anderson been available.
Not only was 16 points not good enough to beat Arizona State, but the 27 put up against Oregon wasn't enough to hang with the Ducks, and Utah is now out of contention in the Pac-12 South.
If Anderson had been able to stay healthy, you could be looking at a team poised to win the division and perhaps represent the conference in the College Football Playoff.
1) LT Jake Fisher, Oregon
5 of 5
Jake Fisher has to be the most talked-about offensive lineman in years given the team he plays for and how that team performed in the two games he missed.
But enough riddles! Fisher is the starting left tackle for the Oregon Ducks, and he missed games against Washington State and Arizona.
Against the Cougars, quarterback Marcus Mariota was sacked seven times, and only a brilliant passing performance saved the Ducks from suffering what would have been an embarrassing loss. But not even Mariota could overcome his porous offensive line when it came time to face Arizona.
The Wildcats sacked Mariota five times, and linebacker Scooby Wright III got to the signal-caller and forced a fumble on the Ducks' final drive. With Fisher out, Oregon allowed 12 sacks in just two games. In the five games since he's returned, the line has given up just seven total.
The senior is one of the anchors on offense, and it was clear from the first snap in the Palouse what his absence would mean. Ultimately, it meant a loss that the Ducks have since overcome to remain in position for the College Football Playoff.
But the impact of it has folks discussing the injury as it relates to Oregon's ranking. We'll never know for sure, but with Fisher in the lineup against Arizona, the outcome could have been much different.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
