Hogan questionable for Oregon State

Stanford's upset win over USC might have come at a cost.

Cardinal quarterback Kevin Hogan is questionable for Stanford's Friday meeting with Oregon State after suffering an ankle injury during the first series of the second half against the Troans. Hogan was able to complete the game - albeit in noticeable discomfort - but he did not participate in Monday's practice.

"He probably won't practice until late in the week," Stanford coach David Shaw said.

"It is an ankle sprain. It's not as bad as it could have been. He's already progressed in the last 24 hours pretty nicely. It's undetermined what percentage and all that stuff - not really sure. So some combination of Keller Chryst and Ryan Burns will be taking basically the majority of the reps all week. If Kevin is ready to play on game day he's going to play. If he can't play then some combination of those other two guys will play."

Due to a short week of preparation, Stanford will hold its customary Thursday walkthrough on Wednesday and its usual Friday practice - a non-padded, high-speed session - on Thursday.

Stanford probably won't have Hogan do much in the way of activity until that Thursday. A final decision on his status for Oregon State may not be made until kickoff.

"We're not talking about a kid here," Shaw said. "We're talking about a fifth year senior who has played a lot of football. We filmed a lot of stuff today on our virtual reality that he'll be able to go through and make sure that he gets those visual reps. So I'm not worried about him mentally or emotionally. It's just physical. If he can do it he'll play. And there might be some combination in there between where maybe he can play and maybe not do everything. We'll see how that goes."

Fortunately for Hogan and Stanford, the injury was not as serious as it might have appeared on first glance. The Cardinal might have the brace Hogan wore on his left knee to thank for that.

"(It's) hard to say for sure, but probably," Shaw said. "(The brace) allowed it to be just an ankle but no issues at all with his knee whatsoever. And he was able to play on it. He played great. But we know adrenaline is something special on game day. So he's sore, but at the same time in his mind, he's playing. But we're going to do the smart thing for him medically. We'll know more at the end of the week."

"It looks worse than it was, thank goodness. It could have been really bad. No broken bones - it's an ankle sprain. But it's significant."

The injury's relative severity did cause a change in Stanford's play calling, however.

"After the injury we didn't call any more bootlegs, we didn't call any more of those gun runs," Shaw said. "I made him run on the sidelines to see if he could run as a scrambler just to protect himself. If he couldn't run then he can't play. But I knew he could run straight ahead so if he dropped back and there was a lane, he could run. But it was hard watching him between plays limp back to the huddle, but we made him run up and down the sidelines and he could do it so we left him in."

And, despite the physical limitations, Hogan found a way to finish the game and lead the Cardinal to a key victory.

"It was extremely gutty," Shaw said. "I won't name any names but I've gotten texts and emails from some of the toughest football players I've ever been around and some of those guys have called and texted me and said that they were inspired by watching Kevin. It was a great performance."