It’s amazing that Kirk Ferentz’s team is 7-2 after nine games. Not just because of the offensive numbers, but also due to every injury the team has suffered this season. On Saturday, the situation up front deteriorated.
The city of Iowa City It’s amazing that Kirk Ferentz’s team is 7-2 after nine games. Not just because of the offensive numbers, but also due to every injury the team has suffered this season. The starting quarterback was hurt in the fifth game, all three of Iowa’s running backs have missed time due to injury, and all three of the team’s tight ends have sustained injuries. Up until this past Saturday, the offensive line was one of the few units that remained steady.
Center Logan Jones, offensive guards Rusty Feth, Beau Stephens and offensive tackle Mason Richman all went down with an injury. Stephens will not be back this week, but the rest of the are ‘up in the air’ according to Ferentz.
“Yeah, time will tell. We’ll see how the week goes here. It’s November, so we’re dealing with all that stuff. We had a lot of it going into the bye. The bye got a lot of guys cleaned up pretty well, so that helped mentally. We don’t have the luxury of taking a week off now. The guys are working back. We’ll see who can do what on Saturday. But keep our fingers crossed.”
Junior lineman Tyler Elsbury has been all over the line throughout his career. He has been listed as backup tackle, guard and center, but he stepped up when Jones went down with an injury. There didn’t seem to be any hiccups during his time at center. On Tuesday, Iowa tackle Gennings Dunker called Elsbury ‘a dictionary’ and called him the smartest lineman in the room.
“We’ll get some super-goofy look. And I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what I’m looking at.’ And (Elsbury) will give us the call for it and who’s doing what and why we’re doing it,” Dunker said. “He knows everything. He’s pretty impressive. That’s who you want at center.”
“Yeah, he did it last year a couple times, too. He’s been practicing pretty steady. So, yeah, first things first. He did a really nice job stepping in. That’s tricky, tough position, a lot of pressure. Thought he did overall a really good job. Anytime you do that, helps get confidence first for yourself and then also I think the coaching staff, the teammates feel better anytime they see a guy out there working with them and they have confidence.”
Nick DeJong has been all over the offensive line and could step up if any of the starters aren’t a full-go on Saturday. Keep an eye on true freshman Kade Pieper, who made his first appearance on the two-deep this week. Pieper is listed at 255 pounds, but Dunker says that he has bulked up to around 285.
“You never have enough depth. You never have enough guys that can play successfully. Hopefully this will help move him forward. I thought (Elsbury) did a nice job, handled himself well, played with poise,” Ferentz said. “We’ll see how it goes with Logan. He may be in there again at center or, to your point, he’s really a versatile guy. He can probably play all positions on the line. Just really proud of what he did Saturday.”
With an unproven passing game, Iowa’s play at the line of scrimmage could be a huge factor against Rutgers, who ranks No. 32 in rushing defense. The Hawkeyes continue to try to find answers to make the offense somewhat efficient and the injuries upfront aren’t going to help.
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