The Pac-12 North race may have gotten a bit easier for expected (doesn't it seem like ESPN has crowned them already?) champion Oregon as Sean Mannion, the starting QB for undefeated rival Oregon State, is heading for surgery on his left knee for what appears to be "just" a torn meniscus or even a slightly damaged one. Basically, once they open up the knee of the QB currently sixth in the nation in passing yards per game at 339.5 they will find out if he needs to miss 2-3 weeks or 2-3 months. So he'll miss this week's game at BYU, who themselves lost QB Taysom Hill for this season on Saturday and returned former starter Riley Nelson to lead job. That game should prove to be a defensive struggle. Then OSU hosts Utah, a team that has yet to adequately replace their injured starting QB Jordan Wynn. The Beavers can win both of those games with a decent performance from new starter Cody Vaz, who has not thrown a pass in a real game since 2010. But Vaz will have to play at higher level, or Mannion will have to return at or close to 100%, if the Beavers expect to hold up against a second half schedule featuring road trips to Washington and Stanford and the November 24 showdown with the Ducks.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The inexperienced Vaz will need to play well this Saturday in Provo against one of the better defenses in the country if the Beavers wanrt to remain in the nation's top ten. Let's see how he handles the new job.
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