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Photo of the Day: SC Players Visit Stafon

From left to right: Matt Barkley, Alex Parsons, Stafon Johnson, and Jeff Byers. Photo from the official blog.

Quick Update: Kristofer O'Dowd Officially Out for San Jose St.

Scott Wolf is reporting that Kris O'Dowd will not be ready for the opener. In terms of how that'll affect the starting line-up, Jeff Byers will take over the center spot and Alex Parsons will move to RG.

Injury Update: Kristofer O'Dowd Expected to Be Out 3-4 Weeks With Dislocated Knee-Cap

From LATimes.com:

Starting center Kristofer O'Dowd, regarded as a linchpin for an experienced line expected to ease the transition of a new quarterback, suffered a dislocated right kneecap during the first series of a scrimmage Monday night at the Coliseum.

O'Dowd, a junior coming off shoulder surgery, went down at the end of a mistake-prone first series on a running play that ended with Joe McKnight's fumble.

Senior Alex Parsons replaced O'Dowd, who is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks.

If 3-4 weeks is the right amount of time for this to heal, which in my zero medical knowledge seems hard to believe, that means Kris could possibly be back in time for the Ohio State game.

There is inevitably some drop-off when a potential All-American like Kris goes down with an injury, but I'm more than confident of Alex Parsons as a back-up.  Alex has been solid on both sides of the line since his freshman year.

Quick Update: Alex Parsons Moved to O-Line

 

Pretty shocking to me.  I thought Alex looked great at DT, but I guess the coaching staff thinks he'll make a better OT.  I really liked his motor at the Spring scrimmage, maybe he'll have a nasty streak much like Baker.