-- Eight weeks into the season, Northwestern is running dangerously low on quarterbacks.
Brett Basanez won't start and probably will miss Saturday's game at No. 20 Penn State after breaking his fibula last Thursday at Minnesota. He'll play again this season, but probably not until Oct. 26.
That leaves Tony Stauss to start against the Nittany Lions and freshman Derell Jenkins -- who was supposed to redshirt this year -- as the backup. A fourth quarterback, Alexander Webb, is already out for the season with a lacerated liver.
``We came in with some quarterback depth,'' Northwestern coach Randy Walker said Monday. ``And we need it.''
Basanez was hurt on Northwestern's last offensive play at Minnesota, a 2-point conversion run. The break wasn't discovered until late Friday afternoon.
``His leg hurt, and they were just going to do one of those precautionary X-rays,'' Walker said. ``Well, they came in, and guess what? ... You could see it, plain as day.''
The injury doesn't mean the end of Basanez's season, though. The break is high on the bone, in a spot that doesn't bear any weight, so Walker said there's no risk of further injury if Basanez continues playing.
When Basanez can tolerate the pain, he can play.
``It's like a broken nose, I guess,'' Walker said. ``You can play with a broken nose. It's a little bit uncomfortable, but you can play with it.''
In the meantime, Walker will go with Stauss, who began the season as Northwestern's starter after backing up Zak Kustok last year.
Looking back, Walker said Stauss probably didn't get the best chance he could have. The Wildcats (2-5, 0-3 Big Ten) began the year trying to find replacements for Kustok and Damien Anderson. When Stauss struggled in Northwestern's 52-3 loss to Air Force, Walker replaced him with Basanez.
``There were a lot of unknowns in our offense,'' Walker said. ``That isn't the best thing to go into a season with.''
Basanez started the next week, but Walker also used Stauss and Webb to try to jump-start the offense. When Webb got hurt, Walker went back to Basanez and the offense eventually settled into a good rhythm.
``I told Tony a few weeks ago, 'You're going to get the ball back in your hands sometime. I don't know when it's going to happen, but it's a pretty good bet that it will and you need to do all the right things to get ready,''' Walker said.
``He's done the right things to prepare for this chance and this second opportunity.''
Stauss is 17-of-29 for 159 yards, with one touchdown, one sack and one interception.
Brett Basanez won't start and probably will miss Saturday's game at No. 20 Penn State after breaking his fibula last Thursday at Minnesota. He'll play again this season, but probably not until Oct. 26.
That leaves Tony Stauss to start against the Nittany Lions and freshman Derell Jenkins -- who was supposed to redshirt this year -- as the backup. A fourth quarterback, Alexander Webb, is already out for the season with a lacerated liver.
``We came in with some quarterback depth,'' Northwestern coach Randy Walker said Monday. ``And we need it.''
Basanez was hurt on Northwestern's last offensive play at Minnesota, a 2-point conversion run. The break wasn't discovered until late Friday afternoon.
``His leg hurt, and they were just going to do one of those precautionary X-rays,'' Walker said. ``Well, they came in, and guess what? ... You could see it, plain as day.''
The injury doesn't mean the end of Basanez's season, though. The break is high on the bone, in a spot that doesn't bear any weight, so Walker said there's no risk of further injury if Basanez continues playing.
When Basanez can tolerate the pain, he can play.
``It's like a broken nose, I guess,'' Walker said. ``You can play with a broken nose. It's a little bit uncomfortable, but you can play with it.''
In the meantime, Walker will go with Stauss, who began the season as Northwestern's starter after backing up Zak Kustok last year.
Looking back, Walker said Stauss probably didn't get the best chance he could have. The Wildcats (2-5, 0-3 Big Ten) began the year trying to find replacements for Kustok and Damien Anderson. When Stauss struggled in Northwestern's 52-3 loss to Air Force, Walker replaced him with Basanez.
``There were a lot of unknowns in our offense,'' Walker said. ``That isn't the best thing to go into a season with.''
Basanez started the next week, but Walker also used Stauss and Webb to try to jump-start the offense. When Webb got hurt, Walker went back to Basanez and the offense eventually settled into a good rhythm.
``I told Tony a few weeks ago, 'You're going to get the ball back in your hands sometime. I don't know when it's going to happen, but it's a pretty good bet that it will and you need to do all the right things to get ready,''' Walker said.
``He's done the right things to prepare for this chance and this second opportunity.''
Stauss is 17-of-29 for 159 yards, with one touchdown, one sack and one interception.
