Muschamp updates Samuel’s injury, Gamecocks looking for “next man up”
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – Will Muschamp said during his weekly teleconference Sunday that Deebo Samuel had successful surgery on a lower left leg fracture right above the ankle after missing the end of Carolina’s 23-13 loss to Kentucky Saturday night.
The Gamecocks’ all-purpose threat, responsible for six of their 11 touchdowns through three games, was said to be out for the season postgame according to initial diagnosis passed along to coach Muschamp. But Samuel tweeted shortly after press conferences that he would only miss five-six weeks.
On Sunday, coach did not say specifically that Samuel will miss the remainder of 2017, choosing instead not to put a timetable on the junior’s return. “I don’t want to comment much on the status part of it, because you never know with these surgeries,” said Muschamp. “We’ll see what happens, but right now, he will be out for an extended period of time.”
The focus of the offense goes to who can fill the shoes Samuel leaves behind. Carolina’s other top 3 pass-catchers, Bryan Edwards, Hayden Hurst, and Shi Smith average over 50 less yards per game in total offense combined to Deebo’s mark. Hurst has the second most touchdowns on the team (two) to Samuel’s six.
