(photo by Sean McNamara)

West Virginia’s young receiving corps might be a bit thinner next week when the Mountaineers host Iowa State.

Freshman Sam James left Saturday’s loss to Texas following the final play of the third quarter and did not return. WVU coach Neal Brown said James’ injury was, “a bit of an upper-[body] injury” and would be addressed in more detail at Brown’s Tuesday press conference in Morgantown. Against Texas, James finished with six catches for 66 yards and one touchdown.

Sophomore Sean Ryan, a transfer from Temple, could be out for a while. Ryan, who had five receptions for 70 yards on Saturday, came down hard while hauling in a 39-yard pass in the fourth quarter and return to the field after. Brown did not get into the specific details of Ryan’s injury, but indicated the receiver will likely miss some time.

“Sean, it doesn’t look good,” Brown said. “I hate it for him, because he played really well. He had his best week of practice and a really good bye week. But it looks like he’ll be out for a few weeks.”