Don’t feel bad for Nate Costa.
The redshirt sophomore from Hilmar, Calif., will be out for the entire season after doctors found a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during surgery Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus in the same knee.
Instead of a hopeful 8-10 week delay to his promising season, it’s wait-til-next-year. Again.
But here’s the thing: Costa didn’t just say he’d be back Monday afternoon after practice, he said it in such a matter-of-fact way that it stopped any doubt in a second. Injured he will be; feeling bad for himself he won’t. He’s been through this type of injury before twice. He’s come back looking stronger than ever in the coaches’ opinions twice. Why should the third be any different?
Don’t feel bad for Nate Costa.
Offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said he’ll be a part of the Ducks’ long-term plans whenever he’s healthy. Will the talent that pushed Dennis Dixon for playing time last year still be sharp enough when he returns for fall camp next August? That will remain to be seen should Justin Roper (or any of the three talented backups) nail down the position this season. Faced with another stretch of uncertainty ahead of him after the initial news, Costa just shrugged his shoulders Monday and answered with a question of his own.
“What else am I going to do? Motocross?”
Of course not. And why?
“I’m a football player.”
There weren’t more than a handful of players or coaches still around the practice field when Costa took questions, but his attitude seemed to be telling his teammates he’d be all right. Costa shows a certain type of toughness that makes it easy to believe how a team could rally around him despite the hardly meaningful minutes he’s played in his career. He’s tough. Like Dennis Dixon a year before, he said, “I feel fine” hours after being told that, no, in fact, he wasn’t. He said he could run if he wanted to, and came pretty close to considering a practice or two on it, just to see.
Don’t feel bad for Oregon. If the Ducks do another November nosedive, it won’t be because of Costa. As important as his loss was, Oregon will have to suffer another dozen injuries this year (sound familiar?) until the cellar is in sight. There’s too much talent – albeit young and largely unproven – for this team’s fate to hinge on one knee. Let’s not forget that Costa and Roper were in true competition for the No. 1 job up until his knee injury last Thursday. And we’d be remiss to forget that Justin Roper beat the 28th best defense in college football last season (South Florida) and nearly did the same against the eighth best (Oregon State).
If you’re one of the thousands of Duck fans with low faces when Costa went down, do yourself a favor and talk with senior running back Jeremiah Johnson. Ask him how he thinks the Ducks will do when the team parades through the Moshofsky Center this morning, and I’ll bet you’ll see a halogen-lamp smile followed by a “We’ll be fine.” It’s the last season in Eugene this fall for Johnson, Nick Reed, Max Unger, Jaison Williams and Patrick Chung. You think they’ll let another season slip away without having their say?
With Johnson and LeGarrette Blount in the backfield, running behind a solid offensive line, backed up by potentially one of the most balanced defenses in the nation from line to secondary, it’s clear to see that things could be a whole lot worse.
So please, don’t feel bad for Nate Costa. He’ll still have two years left when he shows up with his repaired knee next August, and a medical redshirt for a sixth year could be in the cards.
It’s the beginning of the college football season. Anything can happen, and for Oregon, one of the worst already has. It doesn’t mean you won’t find him on the sideline today if he has his way.
What else would he do?
[email protected]