TCU Loses Top Offensive Lineman Niang

Oklahoma State will be facing a TCU who will be missing one of their best offensive linemen

STILLWATER -- Oklahoma State still has a tall task ahead of them this Saturday against TCU, but the Pokes' defensive line is getting a bit of a break. TCU comes into town without one of their best offensive linemen, Lucas Niang, an All-Big 12 selection.

Pro Football Focus broke the news over the weekend that Niang is going to have season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip.

The injury occurred prior to last weekend, but Niang played in the 37-27 win over the Texas Longhorns this past weekend, but that marked the final game of his TCU career.

"He played in ballgames, so you do all the ballgame, it was decided before he played in the ballgame that he was going to have the surgery," TCU head coach Gary Patterson said during his weekly press conference.

But according to HornedFrogBlitz.com, Gary Patterson wasn't to pleased that the news broke, or that Niang posted it on one of his social media accounts.

"I was disappointed," said Patterson. "It's not so much having the surgery, I was just disappointed that there was no reason to let it out. You didn't have to know until Saturday when he's not playing."

There's no secret that coaches hate when injury news breaks because it gives an advantage to the team their facing.

In this case, it happens to be Oklahoma State and there's no doubt that the Pokes will not only benefit from another tackle in the game, but also from the fact that they knew nearly a week before the game.

Of all the preseason concerns for Oklahoma State, the defensive line was one of the bigger ones, but they've shown several times this season that depth and experienced hasn't been that big of an issue.

Younger players such as Samuela Tuihalamaka and Israel Antwine have really stepped up to fill some holes, literally and figuratively, and have eased some pressure off of the thin linebacker corps.

There's no doubt that TCU's run game will still be lethal this coming Saturday, but OSU's win against Iowa State and TCU injuries are certainly going to help.