Michael Jolivette UA junior cornerback

Three days before the biggest non-conference game of the season for the Wildcats, junior cornerback Michael Jolivette, the team's best player in the secondary, injured his knee in the final practice before heading to Madison to take on Wisconsin.

At the time, the injury was thought to be a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, which would have forced the junior to miss the rest of the season.

However, yesterday, head coach John Mackovic said the injury wasn't as serious as previously thought, but will still force Jolivette to miss considerable time this season.

An MRI on Jolivette's knee revealed a stretched ACL, a sprain of the medial collateral ligament and damage to the posterior cruciate ligament. Of the three, the most damaging is the injury to the MCL, which keeps the interior of the knee joint stable.

Mackovic said surgery won't be needed, but Jolivette will be placed in a cast that immobilizes the knee for three to five weeks. After the cast is removed, Jolivette will need at least two weeks of rehab before being cleared to play.

Mackovic said a return in November would be "highly optimistic" but feels there is a good chance Jolivette could play this season.

"He might be good to play in the last month of the season during the stretch run," Mackovic said.

Jolivette's likely replacement will be fifth-year senior David Hinton, the team's No. 1 nickel back before the injury to Jolivette. However, Mackovic said he will employ a rotation at the position with juniors Luis Nunez and Gary Love, a converted wide receiver. Also, freshman cornerback Jason Martin might see the field for the first time this year.

"The first thing you try to do is put somebody else in there and play," Mackovic said Saturday. "If you're not comfortable with that, you have to decide what you're going to do.

"That's one of our issues in evaluating our secondary play. Do we have someone who will play as close as possible to (Jolivette)? If we don't, we have to decide what to do about it."

Hinton started and played considerable minutes Saturday at the corner spot, with mixed results. On one series, he committed two pass interference penalties against Wisconsin in the red zone.

The loss of Jolivette also means redshirt freshman Darrell Brooks will be assigned to cover the opposing team's top receiver, a tough task for a player who has only played in three career games. Brooks has been solid so far this season, accumulating 17 tackles, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups but was beaten on a couple of plays against Wisconsin when he matched up with sophomore receiver Jonathon Orr.

Brooks said he was sorry to see his teammate go down, but is ready and willing to step in and perform in Jolivette's absence.

"It's something I have to accept. The upperclassmen on the team are expecting me to step in and perform," Brooks said.