Lauren RabainoTwo starters on the Cal Poly football team’s offensive line will likely miss Saturday’s game against North Carolina Central due to injuries they suffered in last week’s game, Mustangs head coach Rich Ellerson said Monday.
Sophomore center Jason Cox injured his left knee during the third quarter of a 49-10 win over Idaho State at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Saturday night.
Only a few plays later, his replacement, senior left guard Stephen Field, who was a three-time All-Great West Conference starter at center before making room for Cox last season, limped off the field with an injured left ankle.
Cox’s knee and Field’s ankle were both wrapped, and neither returned.
“I can’t comment specifically on what their ills are,” Ellerson said at the school’s weekly athletics news conference. “I do not expect that either will be available for this Saturday.”
In the team’s official weekly depth chart released Monday, redshirt freshman Stash McGuinness was listed as the first center, followed by: “or” freshman Matthew Bertole “or” sophomore Hal Kelley. None of the three was bolded like every other Cal Poly starter.
Redshirt freshman Maurice McClure was bolded as the top left guard.
“We feel good about those guys and some other guys that’ll find themselves in the mix,” Ellerson said.
Cal Poly (6-1), ranked third in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) coaches and media polls, hosts North Carolina Central (2-6) at 4:05 p.m. Saturday.