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PROVO — Injuries come for every college football team, including BYU as it prepares for its first season in the Big 12 Conference.
But the Cougars had been fortunate with injuries through two weeks of fall training camp, before receiving harsh news Thursday morning: Micah Harper will miss the season with a knee injury suffered in the first two weeks of fall camp, saying his career will "be continued in 2024."
"I walk by faith and not by sight," Harper wrote on social media, "and know that God's plan and timing is > than mine."
I walk by faith and not by sight and know that God's plan and timing is > than mine. To be continued in 2024… #gocougs 🤙🏽
— Micah Harper (@micahharper_) August 17, 2023
Romans 8:28 pic.twitter.com/UlGRxB1Kc1
Harper was among the Cougars' highest-rated defensive players, the fifth-highest grade by Pro Football Focus among safeties from across the 14-team Big 12. The Phil Steele Magazine All-Independent second-team selection finished last season as BYU's third-leading tackler, totaling 62 stops (35 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, three pass breakups and two forced fumbles en route to an 8-5 finish.
Entering his fourth season, the sophomore missed the entire 2021 season following a knee injury he suffered during spring practices earlier in the year. That setback followed a strong freshman debut, when the former Basha High star played in 11 games in 2020, started five, and finished with 25 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.
Harper was a regular projection to start at strong safety, with senior Malik Moore playing free safety. Other rising defensive backs that fit the position coached by new defensive coordinator Jay Hill include freshman Chika Ebunoha, sophomore Ethan Slade and sophomore Talan Alfrey, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Auburn, Washington, who impressed with his tipped-ball interception in Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Alfrey, who played in one game in 2021 following his return from a two-year church mission in Uruguay and Fresno, California, totaled 41 tackles, two pass breakups and a fumble recovery in 13 games last year, including nine starts.
Harper's injury is the first significant injury of BYU's fall camp, though it comes a week after tight end/fullback/H-back Masen Wake announced he was stepping away from football via medical retirement.
