Injuries on our side, injuries on their side.
Northwestern has now lost their star running back and star wide receiver for the season-opener against Cal. Venric Mark was suspended for the first two games and now has decided to transfer from the program, and now Christian Jones is done for the year after suffering a season-ending knee injury on Wednesday.
Jones caught 5 passes for 94 yards in their win over Cal last season, finishing the year with 54 catches with 668 yards. Tony Jones (55 catches last season, 5 catches for 70 yards and a touchdown against Cal) now will probably move into the established number one spot, and it will be a free-for-all for that second spot, including players like USC transfer Kyle Prater. Cameron Dickerson, Miles Shuler and Pierre Youngblood-Arywill also be in the mix for that spot as well. Hopefully that will keep the Cal defense from being too stressed by the number of weapons they'll have to face the first week of the season.