Stanford will be without its starting quarterback, a starting receiver and a reserve defensive end for Saturday night's game at No. 12 Oregon due to COVID-19 protocols, the program announced on Saturday. Quarterback Davis Mills, wide receiver Connor Wedington and defensive end Trey LaBounty will each miss the game.
Losing Mills means the starting duty will likely fall to Jack West, a junior who has attempted just 37 passes in his career. He'll have to get by without the help of Wedinginton, who finished second on the team with 51 receptions last season. Mills was expected to be among the Pac-12's best quarterbacks this year as a senior after emerging as a promising option at the position last season. He completed 65.6% of his passes in eight games.
Though West has played sparingly in his first two seasons at Stanford, he arrived as a four-star prospect and No. 10 pro-style quarterback in the 2018 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. The Alabama native also had an offer from the Crimson Tide, among others. He started in last season's loss against UCLA, going 15-of-32 passing for 143 yards without a touchdown or an interception.
The absence of three Stanford players from the game is another example of the issues the Pac-12 has faced on its opening weekend of play as COVID-19 issues continue to hamper college football. The Washington at Cal and Arizona at Utah games were each canceled due to COVID-19 issues, leaving the league with just four games on its first Saturday of play.
