Hawkeyes lose top rusher, O-lineman for rest of regular season

Adam Robinson threw down his crutches and celebrated with his team Saturday night. That was the adrenaline talking.

Robinson, Iowa's leading rusher with 629 yards, most likely is finished for the regular season after suffering a left high-ankle sprain in Iowa's 15-13 victory over Michigan State. The injury happened with about four minutes left when MSU defensive end Colin Neely caught Robinson from behind near the goal line. Neely's 250 pounds landed on Robinson's left ankle, twisting his foot outward.

Robinson thought he just rolled it. That was the adrenaline talking.

“My adrenaline was really going,” said Robinson, who was fourth in the Big Ten in rushing this week (78.6 yards a game). “I just thought I rolled it. The next morning it was really swelled and hurt pretty bad. I came in and the doc took a look at it and he told me it's a high-ankle sprain.”

Going into Saturday's home game against Indiana (4-4, 1-3 Big Ten), Robinson's ankle leaves the No. 7 Hawkeyes (8-0, 4-0) with freshman Brandon Wegher, who now leads Iowa with 321 yards on 87 carries, junior Paki O'Meara and a pair of freshmen still in red-shirt mode, Brad Rogers and Josh Brown.

Iowa also lost offensive lineman Dace Richardson for four to six weeks with a broken bone in his right leg.

Rogers is a 5-foot-10, 225-pounder from Toledo, Ohio. He had an injury-plagued career at Toledo Central Catholic, finishing with 1,228 career yards. He committed to Iowa, his only offer, in April 2008 before signing in February 2010.

“Really, he's impressed us over the last eight weeks,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday. “He came in a little heavy and a little out of shape but that's not unusual for first-year players. He's really worked hard and he looks 100 percent better than did he two months ago, so I'm really impressed with his attitude and his work ethic.”

Brown, 5-11, 220, did just about everything for Dixie Hollins High School (St. Petersburg, Fla.). As a senior, he racked up 1,697 rushing yards with 10 TDs, 1,364 passing yards with four TD passes and had 244 receiving yards while serving as team captain his junior and senior years.

Both came in overweight, Ferentz said.

“He needed a little extra fitness program,” Ferentz said about Brown.

Ferentz hopes it doesn't get as far as taking red-shirts off freshmen. He loves the toughness Wegher, a 5-11, 206-pounder, has shown this season. He might even still use him on kick returns, even though he's the second-to-last running back standing.

“That (Michigan State) was a hard hitting game ... Brandon survived,” Ferentz said. “He got smacked by Arizona on that screen pass (Sept. 19). If he can survive that, he can take a lot of things. I was sold on his toughness there.”

Wear and tear is an issue with Wegher. He came out of the Wisconsin game with a bruised hand. He sat out a quarter against MSU after taking a shot to the ribs on a screen pass.

His rushing numbers have dipped. In the last three weeks, he's rushed for 52 yards on 30 carries, 1.73 yards an attempt. In that span, he's caught five passes for 54 yards.

Ferentz was asked if Wegher is a 20- to 25-carry back. “We'll find out,” he said.

Wide receiver Colin Sandeman suffered Saturday's scariest injury, a concussion on a hit from MSU's Jeremy Ware with about seven minutes left. He hit left Sandeman's arm in the air and his body went limp.

Ferentz said his availability will “take the week to determine,” but he's not overly optimistic.

“Everything has checked out fine,” Ferentz said. “They examined him with CT scans and all that stuff. He's clear there. So that's all good news.”

Sandeman's main deal is punt returns. Since taking over for Paul Chaney Jr., who's out for the season with a torn ACL, Sandeman has averaged 10.6 yards on eight returns. He's been an asset there and will be difficult to replace.

Right now, safety Tyler Sash and cornerback Amari Spievey are in the running.

Safety Brett Greenwood should be good to go, Ferentz said. He took a helmet-to-helmet shot from Sash in the second half Saturday and was carted off the field. Apparently, it was nothing more than a stinger.

“He's a little sore right now but we expect him to be full speed,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz meets with Iowa's medical staff Tuesday mornings. This week, it had to feel like a root canal with a blunt object.

“It wasn't that much longer,” he said. “I think I already had all the bad news.”