Junior Running Back Juwan Washington is expected to be out for up to six weeks because of a broken collarbone, San Diego State football coach Rocky Long said.
“There’s a crack in his clavicle somewhere,” Long said at a news conference Tuesday. “It wasn’t too bad. It’s still attached, so they think it’ll heal in six weeks on its own.”
Washington, who is expected to be next 2,000-yard rush after Donnel Pumphrey and Rashaad Penny, was injured in Saturday’s overtime win against Eastern Michigan. He was also banged up and sat out for most of the fourth quarter in the win against Arizona State the previous weekend.
So far this season, Washington has 560 yards and five touchdowns on 99 carries. His backup, Chase Jasmin, has 244 yards with one touchdown on 43 carries.
With Washington out for half the season and Jasmin filling his shoes, there was a question about who’s going to pick up the slack at running back. Long said he hasn’t decided yet and there’s no “pecking order.”
“We’ve got a little bit of time to figure out who’s going to be the best or the second guy in, and we’ll use this week and next to figure that out,” he said. “So nobody has been given the backup role yet. Except Chase won’t get hit as much in practice as he used to.”
The Aztecs (3-1) have several options to backup Jasmin, redshirt freshmen Kaegun Williams, Chance Bell and true freshmen Jordan Byrd and Zidane Thomas. All of whom are untested.
Williams and Bell have an advantage because they’ve had a season and spring practice with the team under their belt while Byrd and Thomas have had only fall camp to prove themselves.
“The guys who make the fewest mistakes in practice are going to be the guys that get the first chance, and you can kind of tell,” Long said. “Now, we’ve had Jordan Byrd and Zidane Thomas on the defensive side down with us on the scout team and you know how well they read a hole. You know how tough they are when they run through a hole and all that kind of stuff. But Chance Bell and Kaegun Williams were down there last year, so we know that about them, too.”
San Diego State has a bye this Saturday before opening conference play at Boise State on Oct. 6.