Kentucky starting quarterback Terry Wilson was carted off the field in the Wildcats’ 38-17 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday and the University of Kentucky announced the exact extent of the injury Sunday afternoon.

Wilson will be out for the season with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee, and will require surgery, according to coach Mark Stoops.

“I’m very sorry about Terry’s injury,” said Stoops. “He has done so much for our program over the last two seasons, both in leadership and his production on the field. As a team captain, he will continue to be an important part of our team and we look forward to him returning to the field when he has recovered.”

This is a huge blow for a team looking to follow up a historic 10-win season in 2018 without several key players from a season ago, including running back Benny Snell and linebacker Josh Allen, both of whom are currently playing their rookie seasons in the NFL.

The junior from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma went down in the third quarter against Eastern Michigan when he was brought down by an illegal horse-collar tackle on a quarterback keeper.

Last season, Wilson completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 1,889 yards and 11 touchdowns, while running for 547 net yards and four touchdowns en route to the best season in modern Kentucky football history.

In less than two games of action in 2019, Wilson completed 33 of his 52 pass attempts for 360 yards and two scores, adding 44 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Backup quarterback Sawyer Smith entered the game and played well after Wilson’s injury on Saturday, completing five of nine passes for 76 yards and two touchdowns. The junior looks to be Kentucky’s starter for the rest of the season, unless anything changes in the near future.

If he is indeed the new starting quarterback, Smith’s first career start will be a primetime SEC East matchup, as Kentucky hosts ninth-ranked Florida at Kroger Field on Saturday.