Injured linebacker Trey Lathan and safety Aubrey Burks are set to fly home to West Virginia and return to campus after they were carted off the field and taken to a hospital during the Mountaineers’ win at TCU over the weekend, coach Neal Brown said Monday.
Lathan underwent surgery on a lower leg injury and will miss the rest of the season, Brown said. Tests were negative on Burks, who was injured making a tackle on a punt Saturday night.
Brown didn’t specify Burks’ injury and didn’t know when he’ll be available to play again.
“We’re going to fly them back” on Tuesday, Brown said.
The Mountaineers are off this week and next play at Houston on Oct. 12.
“That was really tough on Saturday night from a mental standpoint on seeing not one but two of your teammates go down and it doesn’t look good,” Brown said.
West Virginia defensive linemen Sean Martin and Mike Lockhart were shaken up but returned in time to block fourth-quarter field goals, which proved to be the difference in the game.
Brown said Lathan was watching the game on his smartphone as he was being taken to an ambulance and saw the first blocked field goal. On the way to the hospital, he saw the second one.
“The ambulance people don’t know what’s going on, but he’s watching on his phone and is fist-pumping and super excited that we won the game,” Brown said.
Brown also said Monday that he doesn’t believe an injury to offensive lineman Tomas Rimac, who hurt a leg on an extra point, will keep him sidelined for an extended period.
Quarterback Garrett Greene, who came up limping against TCU but stayed in the game, is not expected to miss any playing time. He had been scheduled to rest his sore ankle against TCU but started after backup Nicco Marchiol injured an ankle in practice.
West Virginia (4-1) is off to its best start since 2018.
“I really believe our best football is out in front of us,” Brown said.
