WSU Football Injury Update: Connor Halliday, Brett Bartolone To Go Vs. Golden Bears

Sep 28, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Stanford Cardinal defensive end Josh Mauro (90) sacks and causes Washington State Cougars quarterback Connor Halliday (12) to fumble the ball during the 1st quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Big news came Sunday afternoon when the Cougars took the practice field in Pullman, their junior leader at quarterback was full-go.

Connor Halliday took a brutal hit by Stanford’s Trent Murphy in the early stages of the second half on Saturday evening, leaving him writhing in pain for several seconds on the Century Link turf while his pass got returned into the endzone. It wasn’t a pride thing, Murphy straight buried him with the full weight of his almost 300 pound body after left tackle Gunnar Ecklund apparently decided he wasn’t going to block on the play (ok, to give proper credit, he did stand there and stick out a half-hearted elbow). Halliday then got up and made it to the sidelines and even back onto the field for one more throw, but he grabbed at his hip in mid-motion and needed help to make the locker room.

Meanwhile, sophomore Brett Bartolone who has missed the past couple of weeks with an undisclosed injury (Mike Leach and staff do not give information on such things) was back at full participation as well. Bartolone is one of the Cougars’ most trusted targets, but hasn’t been a huge part of the offense so far in 2013 with just six catches.

Freshman Daquawn Brown and senior Nolan Washington were with the 1’s on Sunday while another senior, Damante Horton was limited in his participation. Mike Breske said Sunday that the cornerback position is one with a “rotation” and that all three of those players get their game reps. So if you’re looking for Brown to be the exclusive No. 1 after watching Washington get roasted on Saturday, it looks like you’ll be disappointed. Junior Tracy Clark also repped with the 2’s and of course we know senior Anthony Carpenter has been getting corner reps as well.

For the most part it seems like the Cougs came out of Stanford ok and the rest of the team (at least those getting game action) was going strong on Sunday. Time to get after the Bears. That is a far cry from how it looked when both Halliday and fellow qb Austin Apodaca went down in a span of four plays on Saturday. Very fortunate stuff.

Go Cougs