Four WVU Players Ruled Out for the Season, Including Bowl Game

Unfortunate news on the injury front for the West Virginia Mountaineers.

West Virginia University defensive back Ayden Garnes. / Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

During his weekly radio show last week, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown briefly mentioned that wide receivers Traylon Ray, Jaden Bray, and safety Aubrey Burks are done for the season due to injury. Cornerback Ayden Garnes has been banged up and hasn't played since the Iowa State game in mid-October.

Monday afternoon, Brown revealed that those four players will indeed miss the final game of the regular season at Texas Tech and will not be available for the bowl game either.

Burks underwent surgery last week for an undisclosed injury, along with Traylon Ray, who had his surgery done the day after the Baylor game.

"I think he only played in two complete games and left with injuries in a few other ones, so that’s unfortunate. That hurt us, too," Brown said. "He and Sean (Martin) were definitely our most experienced players coming back, and Aubrey had been an all-league player. He really hasn’t played at all since the Kansas game. Disappointed for him, but that hurt us.”

Ray's injury was really unfortunate, considering he was starting to turn the corner and become one of West Virginia's biggest playmakers in the passing game. He reeled in a touchdown catch in three of his final four games and had big gains of 20, 24, 38, and 54. Brown did state last week, though, that Ray is expected to make a full recovery and should even be able to participate in team activities early in the offseason, which is terrific news, especially considering how nasty the injury looked.

Jaden Bray is also set to undergo surgery, but his timeline to return is uncertain at the moment. Neal Brown and the rest of WVU's offensive staff were encouraged by the body of work he put together over the summer and in fall camp, but he just couldn't stay healthy long enough to make his mark for the Mountaineers this season. He finishes the year with just two catches for 88 yards, each going for 44 - one against UAlbany, the other coming against Pitt.

With just two games remaining, the Mountaineers can add more players to the defensive back and wide receiver rotation with guys who haven't played a ton this season but can help contribute while staying under the four-game mark to keep their redshirt. True freshmen Brandon Rehmann and Dom Collins could see some action at receiver, while on the other side of the ball, Jason Cross is a name to watch.

West Virginia will take on Texas Tech this Saturday at 12 p.m. EST and will be televised on FS1. A win will clinch the second straight season of winning six games in Big 12 play.

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