Kirk Ferentz has used the term ‘resilient’ to describe this year’s Iowa Hawkeyes.  That word can mean a lot of things, and one meaning can be overcoming adversity.

That’s like what he means, as this team has been doing just that since spring practice.  Tony Moeaki and several other would be starters didn’t go in the spring drills.  Julian Vandervelde injured his arm in June.  Jewel Hampton injured his knee in early July.  Tackles Kyle Calloway and Bryan Bulaga missed more practices than they participated in during the month of August.  Jordan Bernstine broke his ankle in August.  Colin Sandeman & Derrell Johnson-Koulianos missed a great deal of practice in August.  Paul Chaney tore his ACL against Michigan.  Pat Angerer has been battling an issue with his thumb.  Shaun Prater tweaked his knee and missed the Arkansas State game. Dace Richardson and Adam Robinson will miss the rest of the regular season with injuries suffered against Michigan State….

I can keep going, but here is a look at the players that were likely starters that have not missed a start and/or have not been carted off the field this year:

OFFENSE: Rick Stanzi, Rafael Eubanks, Brett Morse, Trey Stross
DEFENSE: The front seven, Amari Spievey & Tyler Sash

That’s just 13 of the 22 starting positions that haven’t missed significant time.  Given that Iowa began the year minus two starters that were done for the season in August, the list is really staggering, especially on the offensive side of the ball.  Even then, Stross, Spievey, Angerer and a few others have dealt with the flu, especially leading up to Iowa’s game at Wisconsin.

One has to wonder: is it really possible that this sort of attrition and adversity WON’T catch up to this team at some point?

For Iowa to start a season 8-0 is an amazing accomplishment.  Healthier teams and better Iowa teams have not done that.  I’d favor the 2002 Iowa Hawkeyes by at least 10 points over this year’s version, and they missed relatively few starts to injuries; D.J. Johnson & Bob Sanders being the only two that I can recall off the top of my head, yet they lost their third game of the season to Iowa State, at home.  Now, Fred Russell did miss much of the second half and Brad Banks tweaked his thumb in that game, but that loss was more about Seneca Wallace’s witchcraft than anything else.

Much like the 2004 Iowa team that was beseiged by injuries at the running back position yet won eight straight games to END that season, this year’s team is answering the bell each week, with a different lineup on the offensive side of the ball seemingly every time they step onto the field.  It’s no wonder the offense has yet to find any sort of cohesiveness.

Losing Jewel Hampton before the year was a tough blow, but better to know that right out of the gate so that you can adjust and plan during training camp than for that to happen at two-thirds of the way into the season.  Robinson is going to be a huge loss to this team; he was the Big Ten’s third leading rusher and he has been the only tailback that resembles a Big Ten running back that Iowa has put on the field this year.  That’s not a shot at Brandon Wegher; he is just a different kind of back.  He’s not a power guy that you can feed the ball to 22 to 25 times.  At least, I don’t think he is.  As great as Dace Richardson has been playing this year, I think Iowa will be able to replace him a little easier than they will Robinson, which is mainly due to the depth Iowa has along the offensive line.  Much of that depth has been built this year with younger players having to step on the field to fill in for starters such as Bryan Bulaga, Julian Vandervelde and Kyle Calloway when they had to miss time.

I asked Kirk Ferentz about Brad Rogers at Tuesday’s press conference, as to whether or not the redshirt may come off.  “Oh yeah, we are running out of bodies in the backfield,” Ferentz said.  “It’s not a real crowded room right now.  We are down to two tailbacks, so we are open to anything right now.  It’s not like we have a lot of directions to turn to.”

Rogers is a 5-10, 225-pound true freshman who arrived on campus overweight and out of shape, according to Coach Ferentz.  However, Rogers was on the trip to Michigan State last week. “We traveled him last week and told him he may be going in the ballgame so be ready.  We did not envision the complications we had.  If he has to go in, he will do a good job.  He’s really impressed us over the last eight weeks, as he looks 100% better than he did two months ago.  I am impressed with his attitude and work ethic.”

Well, that’s a good start.

It’s not like Iowa was tearing up the league running the ball; they were 10th in the Big Ten in conference play at just over 112 yards per game.  But Robinson was starting to pick up steam in the backfield, getting more and more comfortable behind Iowa’s zone blocking scheme and he was picking up the hard yards.  Patience in the zone scheme is the second toughest thing to overcome as a young player, with the first being pass protection.  Both Robinson and Wegher have excelled in that area, playing well beyond their years in pass protection since the moment they stepped on the field.  Seriously, those two deserve a standing ovation for their work in that department.

Neither of them has lost a fumble this year, either, which is an amazing statistic.

I suspect Paki O’Meara will get a few carries to see if he has any success this week, plus he is more experienced in the blocking schemes.  That being said, I am not sure that Ferentz is going to have the luxury of holding on to Rogers’ redshirt, because even if he is not needed this week, you have to think he will be needed over the final three games.

Winning these next two home games is now a bit harder than it seemed a week ago, and the importance of these two games has grown immensely.

Minnesota’s star wide receiver Eric Decker is done for the year with a foot injury, and he is literally their entire offense.  I can see Tim Brewster giving QB Marquis Gray more looks the rest of the way, as he brings a running dimension to their offense and the passing game will sputter without Decker; we saw that happen last year, too.  Still, can you envision Iowa losing the last game of the year with a trip to a BCS Bowl game on the line?  If they beat Indiana and Northwestern, that’s likely going to be the scenario, whether or not they win or lose at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes play Penn State the same week Iowa hosts Northwestern.  If Ohio State should lose that game, and if Iowa gets to 10-0, the Hawks would have to lose their last two games at Ohio State and home against Minnesota in order to NOT go to Pasadena.  That’s called playing with house money, and I think that is a very real possibiltiy.

It all starts this weekend at home against Indiana.  Wegher is a tough kid, and he has shown some flashes of brilliance this year.  He’ll get a big chance to make a big time name for himself if he can help carry the Hawks to a 10-0 start.

These next two games sure seem a lot more difficult right about now.

Tags: Adam Robinson, Big Ten, Dace Richardson, hawkeye football, Hawkeye Nation, hawkeyenation.com, Indiana, Iowa football, iowa hawkeyes