Banged-up Iowa turns to RB Wegher
October 29, 2009
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP)—Last October, Brandon Wegher was starring for BishopHeelan High in Sioux City, Iowa, and dreaming of leading the Crusaders to thestate title game.
On Saturday, he’ll be the starting tailback for No. 7 Iowa (8-0, 4-0 BigTen), which still has dreams of playing in the BCS national title game inPasadena, Calif.
No pressure, kid.
Wegher, who split carries with fellow freshman Adam Robinson for most of theseason, is now Iowa’s No. 1 back. Robinson sprained his ankle in last week’s winat Michigan State and will likely be sidelined for at least the rest of theregular season, leaving Wegher to carry the load.
Asked if Wegher was ready for the 20 to 25 carries he might get startingwith Saturday’s game against Indiana (4-4, 1-3), Ferentz tried his hand atgallows humor.
“We’ll find out. He’s the next guy in,” Ferentz said.
And perhaps, the last guy in.
Wegher has rushed for 321 yards and three touchdowns this season and is theonly running back with more than 10 carries left for the Hawkeyes, who’ve reeledoff the best start in school history despite significant turmoil in thebackfield.
The woes started in January, when Shonn Greene announced his intentions toenter the NFL Draft just moments after leading the Hawkeyes to a win over SouthCarolina in the Outback Bowl.
It was a big blow, but the thinking was that the Hawkeyes would be OKwithout him. They returned a standout offensive line and promising sophomoreback Jewel Hampton, who rushed for 463 yards and seven touchdowns spellingGreene in 2008.
Hampton never made it to this year’s opener, felled by a knee injury thatsidelined him for the season. He was joined on the sidelines by redshirtfreshman Jeff Brinson, who hasn’t played all season and likely won’t because ofan undisclosed injury.
Iowa turned to unheralded junior Paki O’Meara for the season opener, butthat lasted about a half. O’Meara was ineffective and has rarely played since.
The Hawkeyes eventually settled on Robinson and Wegher. Though neither wasspectacular, Robinson and Wegher solidified Iowa’s backfield and gave theHawkeyes just enough pop in the run game to keep defenses honest.
Robinson slowly emerged as Iowa’s No. 1 back, with career highs of 27carries and 109 yards against Michigan State. His injury leaves the backfield asjust Wegher, O’Meara and freshman Brad Rogers, whom the Iowa coaching staff hadplanned to redshirt.
“We are running out of bodies. In the backfield it’s not a real crowdedroom right now,” Ferentz said.
Though Iowa isn’t sure how Wegher will perform in the top spot, they’ve beenexcited about his potential even before he set foot on campus.
Wegher was one of the Hawkeyes’ most ballyhooed recruits in recent memory,having rushed for 3,238 yards and 54 touchdowns in his senior year of highschool.
Though he wasn’t expected to play right away, he rushed for 101 yards and atouchdown in his backfield debut against Iowa State. He’s been up and down eversince, with just 30 yards on six attempts against the Spartans.
But Ferentz has said all year that Iowa’s youngsters have played a majorrole in the winning streak and he believes Wegher can continue that trend.
“I’m really impressed with him and based on the limited exposure we havehad so far, my guess is he’ll rise to the challenge,” Ferentz said. “He’s thatkind of football player. Very tough-minded.”
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