Alabama's Dont'a Hightower suffered ligament damage in his left knee during the Crimson Tide's win over Arkansas on Saturday.
Coach Nick Saban has not revealed the specific nature of Hightower's injury other than to say that the standout linebacker is expected to be out three to four months as he recovers from surgery.
"Dont'a Hightower did have successful surgery," Saban said. "(The doctor) thinks he'll make a full recovery, and he'll be OK."
Hightower had 64 tackles and started 12 games for Alabama as a freshman.
"He played a lot of roles for us, more than anybody on our defense" Saban said. "Inside backer, nickel backer, defensive end, pass rusher . . . There may not be one person that can fulfill all those roles, it may take several people."
The Tide (4-0), who visits Kentucky this week, have options for replacing the 6-foot-4, 250-pound Hightower.
Sophomore Jerrell Harris was battling for a starting linebacker spot this fall, but has missed the first four games because of an NCAA suspension.
Alabama found out Saturday that Harris would be allowed to return in three weeks against South Carolina.
Sophomore Chris Jordan has played in every game this year and had six tackles against North Texas. Freshman Tana Patrick has not played yet but is expected to redshirt.
Razorbacks to play in new Cowboy Stadium: Arkansas will step out of the Southeastern Conference this week to play Texas A&M in the new Cowboys Stadium.
UA coach Bobby Petrino said he likes the idea of playing a neutral-site game in Texas.
"It's huge for our fans," he said. "Since I got here, they've talked about the old Southwest Conference rivalry with Texas A&M. We're excited to rekindle it, and playing in Dallas will help our recruiting. We've got 20 kids from Texas on our roster."
Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones was co-captain of Arkansas' 1964 national-championship team.
When is the game over?: In light of Tim Tebow's injury Saturday against Kentucky, SEC coaches debated when it's time to call off the dogs on Wednesday's SEC teleconference.
"That's always a tough question because the issue is you want to finish the game in a sound, solid fashion how you started it," LSU coach Les Miles said. "It's something where the coach weighs the responsibility of getting your starters out before they get hurt."
Saban opted to leave his players in longer against Arkansas.
"I think it's the game, I think it's the team you're playing," Saban said. "We didn't take our starters out until we were ahead of Arkansas 35-7 halfway through the fourth quarter."
Players and Twitter: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach made waves earlier this week when he announced he had prohibited his players from using the social-networking site Twitter.
Miles said that while he won't ban his players from using the site, he strongly discourages it.
"It's a pain in the tail, is what it is," Miles said. "The focus has got to be how you represent your schools and how you represent your team."
Miles has his own Twitter page but said he doesn't update it often during football season.
