Mabin out for season, Croston out for the Hawkeyes vs. Illinois

IOWA CITY — Senior cornerback Greg Mabin suffered a lower leg fracture and will miss the rest of the regular season, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday.

Iowa also will be without offensive tackle Cole Croston for Saturday's game at Illinois (3-7, 2-5 Big Ten). Senior tight end George Kittle also was listed as doubtful.

The trio missed the Hawkeyes' 14-13 upset of No. 3 Michigan last weekend.

Mabin was injured in practice late last week. The three-year starter was replaced by true freshman Manny Rugamba, who intercepted a pass and broke up two more to earn Big Ten co-freshman of the week.

Offensive tackle Ike Boettger and strong safety Miles Taylor left the Michigan game after suffering injuries. Ferentz said they are questionable for Illinois.

'Miles came out of the game, Ike Boettger came out of the game,' Ferentz said. 'They're OK. They're not OK, but they're able to go if they can go. We'll take that day-by-day, but we can't count on them to be ready to go.'

Kittle, who's been in and out of the lineup since a foot/ankle injury at Purdue on Oct. 15, finally sat out an entire game last week. Ferentz said, 'George Kittle hasn't been ruled out, but hasn't done much this week, so I'm not overly optimistic on that front.'

Croston has now missed four games this season. Change has been the norm for the offensive line. This unit has now seen six different lineups in Iowa's 10 games. Sophomore Keegan Render, generally considered the No. 6 lineman going into the season, will make his sixth start this season for the Hawkeyes (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) this weekend.

Without Kittle, Iowa's offense doubled down on blocking TEs. Junior Peter Pekar and redshirt freshman Nate Wieting earned starts against the Wolverines, with Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) beginning the game in a two-TE formation.

They combined to play 85 snaps, with Wieting, a walk-on from Rockford, Ill., playing a career-high 34 snaps. Peker, also a walk-on, saw 54. True freshman Noah Fant, more of a pass catcher, played just 11 snaps.

Boettger missed the final series after suffering what looked like an ankle injury. Redshirt freshman Levi Paulsen replaced him. Taylor was knocked out of last week's game after two snaps. He went through concussion protocol, according to the Iowa radio broadcast, and didn't return. Senior Anthony Gair replaced him and finished with seven tackles and a half tackle for loss.

Gair is listed as the starter against the Fighting Illini.

'He's done a great job, will graduate here in December, Graduate school in the spring,' Ferentz said of Gair. 'But to have that opportunity, you talk about a showcase moment for him, that's something he'll remember all his life.'

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