Canzeri knows opportunity can be fleeting

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla., — It's kind of a weird factlet, but it does underscore the ultimate struggle against the forces of nature that is Iowa running back.

Junior Jordan Canzeri has two career starts. His first came in the 2011 Insight Bowl, a game Iowa lost, 31-14, to Oklahoma. His second start was week 4 this season at Pittsburgh.

The 5-9, 192-pounder won't start in Friday's TaxSlayer Bowl against Tennessee, but he'll play and he'll play as close to 100 percent healthy as he has all season.

'I'm feeling a little better, but I wouldn't say completely healed,' said Canzeri, whose season was punctured after a high-ankle sprain at Maryland on Oct. 18. 'It's good to have the time off and the practices have done me well, just getting back to the basics. I'm definitely better than where I was, but not where I want to be.'

Canzeri ended the 2013 season on the rise. He averaged 7.74 yards on 50 carries in the final five games. This season started with a knee injury in camp, something with a heel on a kick return against Ball State and then the ankle injury.

Canzeri never had a chance to find rhythm in the offense. He finished with 374 yards on 90 carries (4.16 yards per carry). The TaxSlayer Bowl is a chance to perform and, perhaps, plant a flag in the position for next season.

Remember, Canzeri went 28 games between starts (by the way, he was a 170-pound true freshman against Oklahoma in that Insight Bowl). He knows opportunity is fleeting probably better than anyone.

'You've got to be ready for it,' Canzeri said. 'It came fast for me my freshman year. We tell the younger guys that can happen for them, too. It's something you always have to be ready for.'

Shark hunt

... If you follow this team at all, you know that offensive tackle Brandon Scherff is a huge outdoorsman. So, you knew he would make his way to some sort of fishing while on the Atlantic coast.

Scherff and fellow O-lineman Andrew Donnal hooked into a few sharks earlier this week. Not Great Whites, but sharks nonetheless.

'We let the guides take them off the hook,' Donnal said.

Good call.

Speaking of opportunity ... Even though he came into the program as a U.S. Army All-American Bowl participant in 2010, Donnal had to wait for his turn. When it looked as though he had a breakthrough in 2012, the 6-7, 305-pounder suffered an injury playing guard against Penn State.

He blew out a knee, suffering a torn MCL, PCL, meniscus and a fractured tibia, he said.

Donnal bounced back in 2013 and rotated in and out of the lineup mostly at guard, but did play some tackle. This year, he has started all 12 games at right tackle.

'It's tough when you have to be patient and wait for your time to come,' Donnal said. 'It's not easy and it's easy to get down on yourself, but you have to remember that you're part of something bigger than yourself. Whatever I could in the position I was in to help the team, I was going to do that.'

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