Stanford running back E.J. Smith to miss remainder of the season with undisclosed injury
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In what has been a tough couple week stretch for Stanford, it continues to get worse.
Stanford head coach, David Shaw, spoke to the media on Tuesday and relayed that star running back E.J. Smith will miss the remainder of the season with an injury. Shaw did not specify what the injury is, just that the Cardinal will be without Smith moving forward.
Smith appeared to have suffered the injury in the Week 2 loss to USC, but Shaw would not disclose which play he was in fact injured on.
This is a huge loss for Stanford, as Smith was the team leader in rushing yards, and was also among the team's leaders in pass catching prior to missing last week's game against Washington. Smith's season has been cut extremely short, as he will finish with 206 yards rushing, three rushing touchdowns, on 6.9 yards per carry. He also added eight catches for 63 yards and a touchdown in the passing game. Smith started the season with a bang, taking his first touch over 80 yards for a touchdown. He also at times was Tanner McKee's safety blanket in the passing game.
The news comes as somewhat of a surprise, as leading up the Washington game there was a thought that he might be able to return this week for Stanford's game against Oregon.
This now leaves Stanford in quite a predicament at running back, as they will have to lean heavily on junior, Casey Filkins. Aside from Smith and Filkins, there is only one more running back that has five carries, which is junior Caleb Robinson.
It will be interesting to see who steps up, as it is simply just not practical to lean on one back for the remains nine games.
