Auburn Tigers running back JaTarvious Whitlow is expected to miss four to six weeks as he recovers from knee surgery, coach Gus Malzahn announced Tuesday afternoon.
Whitlow suffered the injury during Saturday’s 24-13 loss at No. 7 Florida. He had surgery Tuesday.
The redshirt sophomore and former SEC All-Freshman selection leads the conference with seven rushing touchdowns this season. His 544 rushing yards rank second in the SEC.
With Whitlow out, the Tigers could turn to a number of running backs, including Kam Martin, Shaun Shivers and DJ Williams.
No. 12 Auburn (5-1) is off this week before traveling to Arkansas (2-3) on Oct. 19.
While Malzahn’s timetable for Whitlow’s recovery means the star running back will miss a pivotal Oct. 26 trip to No. 5 LSU, it does allow for the possibility that he could return in time for the final three contests of the regular season, which will feature home games against No. 3 Georgia on Nov. 16 and No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 30.