Senior quarterback Kellen Clemens underwent surgery Monday morning to repair damage from the fractured left ankle he suffered in Saturday’s 28-21 win at Arizona, ending one of the most successful collegiate careers in Oregon history.
X-rays on Sunday confirmed the severity of Clemens’ injury, and a full recovery is expected to take three to six months. The injury occurred one week after Clemens set an Autzen Stadium record with 36 completions. The Burns native also established a school record with a career completion percentage of 60.9 percent, and his 61 touchdown passes fall only one shy of Danny O’Neil’s school record set in 1991-94.
Clemens led the Pacific-10 Conference and ranked fifth in the country in total offense (329.3 average) while rating 17th nationally in passing efficiency and was one of seven finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, presented annually to the nation’s top senior collegiate quarterback.
Clemens had led the Ducks to its highest national ranking since the 2003 season. Oregon currently ranks 14th in the Associated Press Top 25, the USA Today Poll and Harris Poll. The Ducks also join two other Pac-10 Conference teams in the Bowl Championship Series rankings – Oregon currently sits 11th in the BCS, while UCLA ranks eighth and USC, who previously held the top position, fell to number two after being displaced by Texas.
– Luke Andrews