Reason for the move is probably because Costa WILL NOT START. Roper is the starter against Washington, but if his play in the Sun Bowl is any indication, he'll be good to go.
Five days before the opening game of the season, Oregon’s quarterback battle came to a decisive end Monday when Nate Costa was scheduled for surgery later this week to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.
Costa, a redshirt sophomore, was surrendering ground to Justin Roper over the past two weeks in their competition to start the opener. Then, Costa injured his knee Wednesday. Roper will start Saturday when Washington visits Autzen Stadium to play the No. 21 Ducks at 7 p.m.
“Right now, he’s the guy,” UO offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said. “Looking at our track record with quarterbacks, I’d be very pleased if he got 100 percent of the snaps, because if he did it means he didn’t get banged up.”
Roper, a sophomore, accounted for seven touchdowns against one interception in the final two games of 2007, when he took over following injuries to the four quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart. One of those was Costa, who was on track to redshirt before he tore ligaments in his left knee during late October practice.
Sophomore transfer Jeremiah Masoli, who led his junior college team to a national title last fall but has nursed a wrist injury this year, assumes the backup role. Athletic true freshman Chris Harper is No. 3, and could be called on in situational duty.
Roper said he heard Saturday that Costa’s injury might be significant. Though Roper outplayed Costa in a scrimmage 10 days ago and performed well in another scrimmage Friday, it took the diagnosis of Costa’s injury to finalize his starting spot.
“It is what it is,” Roper said of the circumstances. “It’s good to get a chance to play and make the most of it.”
Roper began the 2007 season fourth on the depth chart but slipped to fifth behind Cody Kempt during the fall. After Dennis Dixon, Brady Leaf and Costa had all been injured, Kempt started the overtime Civil War defeat before being knocked out in the early going. Roper rallied the Ducks into position for a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation, then directed a 56-21 win over South Florida in the Sun Bowl.
“I’ve been saying all fall camp, we’ve got two great quarterbacks,” running back Jeremiah Johnson said. “The only thing we’ve got to do with Roper is just keep his confidence up if anything goes bad.”
Masoli accounted for more than 4,000 yards of offense and 40 touchdowns for City College of San Francisco last fall. He didn’t participate in 11-on-11 drills until last week to protect his right (throwing) wrist; Monday is believed to be the first day he didn’t appear on Oregon’s daily injury report.
“No. 1, my wrist feels great,” Masoli said. “It’s always felt great this whole time. We were just being cautious with it. No. 2, I do feel confident with this offense and this playbook, especially with the guys around me.”
Masoli, at 5-foot-11 and 214 pounds, is a stocky, rocket-armed thrower in the mold of Costa. Kelly called the lanky, 6-6 Roper “underrated as an athlete” and said the Ducks won’t adjust the game plan for Roper.
“There is really not that much flexibility,” center Max Unger said. “We run the spread offense. The quarterbacks do what they’re designed to do, and there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can do to change.”
Costa’s mobility gave him an edge over Roper in their competition, until last week’s injury. The non-contact incident occurred late in practice as he slowed up on a run.
Though he continued to participate in the practice, Costa knew something was wrong.
“It could be my last four plays that I get to play football this year, so I figured, why not stay out there and give it my best shot?” Costa said.
An MRI exam was conducted, but Costa wasn’t scheduled for surgery until meeting Monday with athletic department orthopedic consultant Dr. Rudy Hoellrich. The preliminary diagnosis after a stress test Monday is that Costa has a torn meniscus, but that the injury could be limited to cartilage and not ligaments.
The MRI results were difficult to interpret, Costa said, because this is his third major injury to the same knee, following an ACL tear in high school and the torn ligaments last fall.
“There’s a lot of scar tissue up in there,” Costa said. “It’s really hard to read an MRI when there’s that much stuff in the way. So he’s not truly going to know until he opens it up Wednesday.”
If no ligament damage is found, Costa could return in as little as eight weeks, making him potentially available for the final five games of the regular season and a possible bowl game. Depending on how the season is going and how their quarterback play has been, the Ducks might be tempted to use Costa at that point.
An athlete who loses two seasons of eligibility to injury can petition to the NCAA for a sixth year. But even if Costa sat out this entire season, Oregon will have an uphill battle arguing that his redshirt last year owed solely to an injury, because the injury occurred past the halfway point of the season, UO executive assistant athletic director for compliance Bill Clever said.
“There’s going to be something good to come out of this,” Costa said after spending Monday’s UO practice on the sideline in a T-shirt and shorts, signalling in plays to the offense. “There always is. Maybe I’m going to coach somebody up on the sideline that’s going to make a big play, or maybe I’m going to tell Rope about a coverage that I saw and he’s going to throw a touchdown pass on it. Something good is going to come out of this, and that’s something that I’m waiting for.”
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