Vandy quarterback out for BBVA Compass Bowl
After having surgery to repair torn ACL, Austyn Carta-Samuels will not play in the Commodores game against Houston.
VANDERBILT quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels will not play in the BBVA Compass Bowl on Jan. 4 after having surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.
Coach James Franklin said yesterday that Carta-Samuels tore his ACL in a win Oct. 19 over Georgia and had surgery to repair his knee shortly after the regular season ended Nov. 30.
Carta-Samuels was on crutches after getting hurt in the first half of a 31-27 upset of Georgia. He missed a loss at Texas A & M and was dressed on the sideline for the Commodores' win at Florida - their first since 1945.
Franklin said doctors cleared Carta-Samuels to play with a brace after some rehabilitation. The senior then started the final three games as the Commodores beat Kentucky, Tennessee in Knoxville, and Wake Forest to finish 8-4 in the regular season a second straight year.
When asked about the seriousness of his injury in November, Carta-Samuels said only that he couldn't hurt his knee any further by playing. He was on crutches Dec. 8 when Vanderbilt's bowl destination was announced and declined to comment on whether he had had surgery.
Patton Robinette will start the bowl game against Houston in Birmingham, Ala.
Carta-Samuels started 10 games this season completing 68.7 percent of his passes for 2,268 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Noteworthy
* Arkansas assistant head coach and defensive-line coach Charlie Partridge was hired as head coach at Florida Atlantic.
Carl Pelini resigned as coach Oct. 30 after FAU said he and defensive coordinator Pete Rekstis acknowledged using illegal drugs. Rekstis also resigned.
Pelini later denied using illegal drugs, but the school withdrew his resignation and fired him. He went 5-15 as coach.
* Citadel's Kevin Higgins is leaving to become assistant head coach at Wake Forest under new Demon Deacons football coach Dave Clawson. Higgins was head coach at Lehigh, where Clawson served as his offensive coordinator in 1994-95.
* Auburn's Gus Malzahn is the winner of the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award presented by the Football Writers Association of America. Malzahn has led the Tigers (12-1) to the BCS national championship game in his first season after taking over a team that went 3-9 in 2012.
* Glendale, Ariz., will host the College Football Playoff championship game in 2016 and Tampa, Fla., will be the site of the 2017 title game.