Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight out for the season

If the loss to Mississippi State wasn’t enough, Texas A&M will now have to do without quarterback Trevor Knight for the rest of the season.

As a one-loss team, the Texas A&M Aggies were a much-debated No. 4 in the first College Football Playoff rankings for this year last week. Saturday’s 35-28 loss to Mississippi State dismissed any idea they’d stay in that spot this week, and quarterback Trevor Knight also came out of the game with a right shoulder injury.

Knight’s status for the rest of the season was an immediate question, and Tuesday brought bad news.

Knight was injured while diving for a touchdown during the second quarter of last Saturday’s loss. He briefly returned to the game, but did not play in the second half and was wearing a sling on the sideline.

Knight’s injury to his throwing shoulder will reportedly not require surgery, so he could return for Texas A&M’s bowl game if he can get healthy fast enough. That would be the final college game for the fifth-year senior graduate transfer from Oklahoma, so Knight would surely like to get back on the field in time to play in whatever bowl game the Aggies wind up in.

Jake Hubenak will start the final three regular season games for Texas A&M, which will all be at home against Ole Miss, Texas-San Antonio and LSU. The junior signal caller has started one game in his career, a 27-21 loss to Louisville in the 2015 Music City Bowl, and he is 23-for-38 for 350 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in three games played this season.

Next: College football conference power rankings: Week 11

Texas A&M’s chances for a spot in the playoff are obviously gone now, but a 10-2 record followed by a marquee bowl bid are still possibilities. Not having Knight available puts that best-case scenario in doubt, but Hubenak should be able to keep the ship afloat well enough to win at least two of the final three regular season games.