Hawai'i quarterback Greg Alexander's collegiate football career has come to a sudden end.

Alexander said he has been diagnosed with tears to the anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and meniscus in his left knee.

He said he will undergo season-ending surgery today. He said he was told the recovery period is between six and nine months.

"I'm pretty disappointed," Alexander said. "It's the way it goes sometimes."

Alexander suffered the injury when he was hit at the end of a scramble in the third quarter of Wednesday's 27-6 road loss to Louisiana Tech.

"It was one of those plays," Alexander said. "I tried to get extra yards. (The left cleat) got caught in the ground, and the guy got a good shot on me. It happens sometimes. It's part of the game."

Because Alexander is a senior and the injury occurred in UH's fourth game, his Warrior career is over. He exceeded the three-game limit needed to apply for a medical hardship.

"I'm going into surgery, and then I'll start rehab," Alexander said. "There's no sense talking or thinking about it. There's nothing I can do."

The damage was shown on the MRI, which was taken Thursday night, after the Warriors returned from their road trip.

Today's operation will be to repair the torn ACL and MCL.

During the procedure, Alexander said, surgeons will determine whether the quarterback will need further surgery on the meniscus and other cartilage.

"I feel really bad for the kid," UH head coach Greg McMackin said. "He's worked so hard. He put in his blood and sweat into it, to become one of the better quarterbacks in the country. Then that happens."

McMackin had remained hopeful when the initial diagnosis limited the injury to Alexander's MCL. But then yesterday afternoon, the doctors interpreted the MRI results.

"It wasn't good news," McMackin said. "I pray his knee comes out good, and good things happen to him. He's given us everything he's had. He's a great competitor, a great person. I'm just devastated. He sacrificed for the program."

Entering the Louisiana Tech game, Alexander was leading NCAA Division I-A in total offense (446 yards per game).

McMackin said Bryant Moniz, a walk-on who joined the Warriors in January, will be the No. 1 quarterback.

McMackin said Shane Austin will be No. 2.

Seven assistant coaches return from Mainland recruiting trips today. A coaches meeting is scheduled for tomorrow to determine how the Warriors will fill the No. 3 quarterback's spot.

Inoke Funaki, who moved to running back in spring training, was the starting quarterback when the Warriors defeated Fresno State last season. Fresno State is UH's upcoming opponent.

"At this point, I honestly don't know" if Funaki will move back to quarterback, McMackin said. "I haven't thought about it. I'm going to wait until I get my staff together. I don't want to say something, and not be right."

Funaki said he has not taken a snap at quarterback since the 2008 Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl.

The other possibility would be to activate a freshman quarterback. David Graves, Cayman Shutter and Corey Nielsen are redshirting this season.

Brent Rausch, a fourth-year junior, was the No. 2 quarterback before suffering a broken right pinkie on his throwing hand three weeks ago. He is not scheduled to resume practicing for at least another two weeks.

McMackin said he supports Moniz, who has completed six of 12 passes for 145 yards. He has not been intercepted.

"Right now, I've got complete confidence in Bryant," McMackin said. "He doesn't have as many reps, obviously, as the other guys, but you know he has it. You just look at him, and you know he has it. He's a quarterback. He has those intangibles. He's cool. He's a gamester."

As a high school sophomore, Moniz led Leilehua to the state championship game.

He played for Fresno City College in 2007.

Last fall, he attended a local community college to accumulate transferrable credits.

Moniz is a third-year sophomore.

He said he pays for his tuition and college expenses from family support, student loans and a part-time job delivering pizza in Mililani.

Austin also is a third-year sophomore. After an impressive spring, he was placed on scholarship in May.