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Provo • It was a familiar scene for both teams during Saturday's BYU-Oregon State football game: a player writhing in pain on the synthetic turf at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, surrounded by medical personnel trying to provide comfort and assess the player's condition.
At least six BYU players left the field injured during the game, and it appears that one player — tight end Richard Wilson — has been lost for the season with a serious knee injury.
A BYU football representative said Sunday it is likely Wilson will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the damage, but noted the school generally does not release or confirm injury information until Monday's weekly news conference with head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
The coach said he was "concerned" about the high number of injuries suffered by the Cougars in their 38-28 win over the Beavers in his postgame news conference Saturday, but had no specific information regarding any of the injuries.
"It seemed like three, four or five [players], and they were all players that were playing a lot for us, and relatively early in the game," he said.
Along with Wilson, defensive linemen Hebron Fangupo (ankle sprain) and Romney Fuga (knee sprain), safety Mike Hague (probable broken nose) and linebacker Uona Kaveinga (leg injury) left the game, although the medical staff cleared Fuga and Kaveinga to return.
Their status was to be evaluated Sunday. Hague suffered the injury while trying to make a tackle on a kickoff after his helmet had popped off — another familiar scene Saturday as several Cougars lost their lids throughout the game.
Injuries never come at opportune times, but at least the Cougars (5-2) get a break in their schedule this week, with the 2-5 Idaho State Bengals visiting Provo on Saturday (1 p.m., BYUtv). Idaho State, 1-4 in the Big Sky Conference, lost 39-12 to Weber State last Saturday.
The Football Championship Series school will face a BYU team coming off its best offensive performance of the season.
"We are really starting to show what kind of an offense we can be. And that's really exciting," said offensive lineman Matt Reynolds after the Cougars rolled up 499 yards of offense on OSU. "... Right now, it is get the job done when it needs to be done, however that needs to happen. We are doing it on the ground, we are doing it by air. We have a really balanced attack."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Idaho State at BYU
P 1 p.m., Saturday TV: BYUtv