COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT / WEEKDAY UPDATE : USC : Griffin Has Surgery, Out for Season

Tight end Frank Griffin underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a torn ligament in his left knee and is out for the season.

A 6-foot-4, 235-pound senior from Cordova High School in Rancho Cordova, Calif., Griffin is tied for second among the Trojans with 12 receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown. Last season, as a backup to Scott Galbraith, a two-time All-Pacific 10 Conference selection, he caught 14 passes.

Griffin was injured near the end of Saturday’s 30-17 victory over Washington State, when another player fell on his leg.

“The last three weeks, he was just outstanding,” Coach Larry Smith said of Griffin, whose blocking aided in the resurgence of USC’s running game, which has produced 638 yards and eight touchdowns in the past two weeks. “It’s such a loss because he was playing the best football of his career. He was on his way, I thought, to an all-conference type of year.”

Griffin will be replaced in the starting lineup by Yonnie Jackson, a 6-2, 235-pound sophomore from Tokay High in Stockton who has caught five passes for 51 yards. Brad Banta, a 6-5, 240-pound redshirt freshman from Baton Rouge, La., has moved up to No. 2 on the depth chart.