Baylor QB Seth Russell carted off after suffering dislocated ankle

ByJake Trotter ESPN logo
Saturday, November 12, 2016

NORMAN, Okla. --Baylor Bears quarterback Seth Russell suffered a dislocated ankle during Saturday's 45-24 loss toOklahoma, the school announced.

Russell was injured after being tackled on a 9-yard run midway through the third quarter, was carted off the field and had X-rays at the stadium.Replays of the gruesome injury showed his foot pointing straight to the side instead of forward.

"Heartbreaking," Baylor coach Jim Grobe said. "He's worked so hard to come back from the neck injury. And it's not about losing the talent and production at quarterback, it's more just like having one of your own children hurt.

"It breaks your heart to see a really, really good guy get hurt like that. The good news is that I think he'll heal up, but the bad news is that I don't think he'll get back this year. Just really, really sad because you love the kid so much."

Players from both teams approached Russell to shake hands and exchange high-fives before he was carted off the field.

"You hate it for a guy like Seth because he's such a good guy," Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield said. "It's more unfortunate because he had the neck injury last year. Like I said, you hate it for a guy like that, but he's going to handle it really well. He always does. That's how he handles everything."

Prior to the injury, he had completed 15 of 32 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown and had rushed for 70 yards.

Russell suffered a season-ending injury last year when he fractured a vertebra in his neck. The injury eventually required surgery, but he was cleared to play again over the summer.

True freshman Zach Smith replaced Russell, a senior, at quarterback and completed 6 of 15 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown.

"He's really disappointed that Seth got hurt, there's no question about it," Grobe said of Smith. "At the same time, it's his opportunity to step up, and he should be excited about that."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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