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For the second consecutive season, Ole Miss lost their star quarterback due to injury in the second half of the season.
Shea Patterson was hurt in last night’s loss against LSU late in the second quarter. After a spell in the trainer’s tent on the sideline, he went to the locker room and was replaced by Jordan Ta’amu for the last series before halftime.
Patterson returned for the second half with his leg braced but appeared tentative at times. On an interception near the end zone late in the third quarter while driving to try to bring the Rebels within one score, Patterson looked like he did not fully step into his throw causing the ball to be inaccurate. After that interception, Ole Miss never threatened to make the game close again.
Sunday morning it was confirmed that Patterson tore his PCL and will be out for the rest of the season.
An Ole Miss spokesman confirmed Shea Patterson suffered a torn PCL and will miss the remainder of the season.
— Antonio Morales (@AntonioCMorales) October 22, 2017
Last season, Chad Kelly’s Ole Miss career was brought to an end due to an injury against Georgia Southern. That injury led to Patterson’s redshirt being pulled with three games remaining in the season.
Going forward, Hawai’i native Jordan Ta’amu will take the reigns at the quarterback position. The junior college transfer from New Mexico Military Institute was rated a three star by Scout and ESPN coming out of the juco ranks. Spelling out Patterson at the end of each half last night, Ta’amu went 7/11 for 78 passing yards and 20 rushing yards while leading a pair of drives that yielded ten points.
Presumably sophomore Jason Pellerin will move back to quarterback to back up Ta’amu. Pellerin replaced Kelly in last year’s Georgia Southern game but did not garner a starting role at any point. Before this season, he bounced around positions between slot receiver and tight end but was not listed in the pre-LSU depth charts from Ole Miss Media Relations. The only other scholarship quarterback on the roster is true freshman Alex Faniel, a true freshman from Virginia who was ranked as a three star prospect by 247Sports.