When Byron Bennet and Tony Conner of Ole Miss got up after making the tackle, it was immediately clear that something happened to Drake. He was still on the ground, clutching his left leg.
Trainers sprinted on the field to stabilize his lower leg. Minutes later, he was carted off the field. He gave the crowd a thumbs-up as tears ran down his face.
Drake was already in Birmingham with a broken leg during the post game press conference.
“They’ll do all the things they need to do, but he probably will need surgery,” Saban said. “Don’t know exactly how long that will keep him out. I’m sure most of the season, if not all.”
Drake is fourth on the team in yards rushing with 112. He averages 5.1 yards a carry and 22.4 yards per game on the ground.
As a receiver, he has the second-most yards with 159. He averages 31.8 yards per game.
Drake tweeted Sunday morning: “I appreciate all of the love & support via texts, calls & social media. I can’t begin to explain how thankful I am. God bless & Roll Tide”
Injuries piled up for Alabama. Linebacker Denzel Devall left in the first drive of the game with what Saban said is a high ankle sprain. Devall has seven total tackles with two unassisted through five games.
“Don’t know how bad that is,” Saban said. “We’ll MRI that in the morning.”
Saban said Ryan Kelly left with a sprained knee and doesn’t know how long the center will be out.
“A couple critical losses in the game today that certainly affected what we wanted to do a little bit, especially with Kenyan Drake who has been a very explosive player for us, but there’s other opportunities now of other players to make plays, and we definitely need to do that,” Saban said.
