Football: Gautier to have surgery, will be out at least 4 weeks 10/1/12

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, October 1, 2012

UL quarterback Blaine Gautier will undergo surgery, probable this week, to to insert pins into his left hand, Ragin’ Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said tonight.

Gautier, a fifth-year senior who set UL’s single-season record for passing yards and passing touchdowns in 2011, broke two bones in the lower part of the hand when he was hit hard and arguably late by defensive lineman Andre Pound in the first quarter of UL’s 48-20 win over Florida International on Saturday at Cajun Field.

He’s expected to miss at least four weeks even if the difficult surgery goes perfectly, but – according to Hudspeth – may not be able to throw until either “very late in the season” or perhaps not until a potential bowl game.

In other words, Gautier faces the possibility of no quarterback play for the remainder of a regular season that ends almost nine weeks from now with a Dec. 1 visit to Florida Atlantic.

He’s already appeared in four games this year, which is one over the usual NCAA standard for being granted a medical-hardship season – meaning this season is expected to be his last with the Cajuns