ASU’s Carlos Mendoza out for season
Sep 11, 2012, 8:17 PM | Updated: 9:32 pm
Arizona State fans got a small taste of what true freshman linebacker Carlos Mendoza was capable of during the Sun Devils’ 45-14 rout of Illinois last Saturday.
Mendoza had three tackles and two interceptions despite being pressed into duty by the absence of senior linebacker Brandon Magee.
That small taste is all ASU faithful will get from Mendoza this season. After leaving the contest with a shoulder injury, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season by head coach Todd Graham Tuesday.
“Carlos Mendoza will be out for the season,” Graham said. “We thought he was going to be fine, and he’d be able to just strengthen and they went and did an MRI and he had a little bone chip, so he’s going to go ahead and have surgery, but he’ll be able to get a medical redshirt.”
The Oxnard, California product had battled the shoulder injury through fall camp as well.
“He was really down about it, and we were too, but I told him we’ll be real happy five years from now,” Graham said.
Arizona Sports’ Craig Grialou contributed to this report
