Hightower out for the season with knee injury
Hightower to have surgery on damaged knee ligaments
Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower (30) is helped off the field after a first quarter injury against Arkansas at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala on Sept. 26, 2009. Alabama won the game 35-7.
By Chase Goodbread Sports Writer
Published: Monday, September 28, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 28, 2009 at 12:13 a.m.
TUSCALOOSA | University of Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower has knee ligament damage that will require surgery, and is expected to miss the remainder of the season following an injury suffered in a 35-7 win over Arkansas on Saturday.
“Dont’a Hightower’s MRI confirmed that he has ligament damage in his knee that will require surgery,” UA coach Nick Saban said in a release. “Dont’a is a fine young man, has been an outstanding player for us, and we are confident he will make a full recovery.”
Hightower was injured near the end of the first quarter when his left knee collided with Razorbacks senior guard Mitch Petrus. Following the game, Saban said the initial prognosis was “not good,” and Sunday’s MRI confirmed the bad news for the sophomore from Lewisburg, Tenn. Hightower entered the game as Alabama’s third-leading tackler with 14 stops on the season, including four for losses, while primarily playing the weakside linebacker position. Hightower also played a role at defensive end as a pass rusher, and was credited with two assisted tackles Saturday prior to the injury.
He was unavailable for comment Sunday.
On Saturday, Saban called Hightower “one of our best football players on our entire team. The best pass-rusher we have, a very good linebacker, plays in nickel, athletic, size, and I hate to see any player get hurt, ever. But that one there is a good one.”
Hightower’s loss deals a blow to a Crimson Tide defense which ranks No. 2 in the nation in rushing defense (42.25 yards per game), No. 2 in total defense (202.5 ypg), and No. 13 in scoring defense (13.0 points per game). Though only a sophomore, he was making his 16th career start against the Razorbacks and is a centerpiece for a defense that returned eight starters. The Crimson Tide posted its most impressive defensive effort of the season against the Arkansas despite playing without Hightower for three quarters, limiting quarterback Ryan Mallett to 12-of-35 passing and allowing only 203 total yards.
Hightower was carted off the field before halftime, but rejoined his teammates on the sideline, using crutches, for the end of the Crimson Tide’s first Southeastern Conference victory of the season. He was injured on a second-down play while trying to avoid a cut block from Petrus, and was replaced in the lineup by sophomore Courtney Upshaw. The Alabama coaching staff moved senior Cory Reamer to Hightower’s weakside position, moved senior Eryk Anders to Reamer’s normal position on the strong side, and inserted Upshaw to replace Anders at the ‘Jack’ linebacker spot. Junior Rolando McClain, the team’s leading tackler, remained at his middle linebacker position.
“When Dont’a went down, I had to step in and be the Jack in regular, and come in on rabbits,” Upshaw said after the game.
It remains unclear whether the lineup adjustments made Saturday in Hightower’s absence will continue as the season moves forward. Alabama faces Kentucky (2-1, 0-1 SEC) next week for an 11:20 a.m. kickoff in Lexington, Ky.
Hightower is the second player for the Crimson Tide (4-0, 1-0 SEC) to be lost for the season to a knee injury, joining reserve running back Jeramie Griffin, who was injured during fall camp. Hightower earned Freshman All-SEC honors in 2008, starting 12 of Alabama’s 14 games at weakside linebacker and contributing 64 tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries for one of the nation’s top defensive units.
“(Hightower’s) such a great player it’s really hard to replace him with all the different things that he does, but the depth that we have now makes it a little bit easier to adjust to something like that,” Reamer said after the game. “We had guys stepping up and really filling roles like we needed them to.”
