Boom goes the lightning (and another running back)

IOWA CITY -- Kind of a mixed bag this weekend for Iowa running backs coach Lester Erb.

Friday night, he welcomed a son into the world. A.J. is his fourth child and second boy. In the grand scheme, Erb had to be on top of the world. Then, Saturday happened and his professional life turned into a shattered ankle.

Yes, the Hawkeyes won their season opener 34-7 over Tennessee Tech on Saturday at drenched Kinnick Stadium. Quarterback James Vandenberg took a clean hand off of the baton from Ricky Stanzi and completed 13 of 21 for 219 yards and two TDs.

"It's the first step of many," Vandenberg said. "We have to keep pushing forward."

Wide receiver Marvin McNutt put his name in the hat for the first round of the NFL draft with an 88-yard TD reception that he sprung with a hurdle of a Tech defender and a sideline tip-toe. Cornerback Shaun Prater did him one better, with an 89-yard interception return for a 27-0 halftime lead.

"I knew it was a touchdown," McNutt said after replay officials took a look at his sideline dance.

McNutt finished with six catches for 142 yards and two TDs, making a few nifty moves and taking a tunnel screen in from 19 yards to make it 34-0 early in the third quarter.

And the defense, the preseason consensus as the hot spot, held Tech in check after giving up a 17-yard gain on the first play. Tech's lone scoring drive came against Iowa's second-team defense late in the fourth quarter.

"We'll see offenses like this again," Prater said. "It was great to get a look at it and see what we need to fix."

Even the Kinnick Stadium operations crew negotiated a wonderfully organized evacuation, sending the crowd of 70, 585 out into the concourse and out of the stadium for a lightning delay that officially lasted 84 minutes.

"It was obviously an unusual situation," Iowa athletics director Gary Barta said.

Seven true freshman began their Iowa careers. Overall, a generally positive day for the Hawkeyes.

"I hope our players can learn a lot from the Iowa kids because that's how I teach them to win games," TTU coach Watson Brown said. "It's not big plays all of the time, it's consistent football."

Then, there was running back.

Sophomore Marcus Coker fumbled on his first carry, which was understandable considering the open-air dishwasher that engulfed Kinnick late Saturday morning. It was the second fumble that sent him to the bench in favor of true freshman Mika'il McCall.

McCall looked bent on starting a running back controversy, rushing nine times for 61 yards and bringing some stability to the offense.

Oh, but wait. We're talking Iowa running back. Remember that heart-of-midnight black cloud that has hovered over Iowa running back since 2009? It didn't go anywhere. It's still there and still raining down misery.

McCall made a cut, took a hit and ended up with a ruined right ankle in the second quarter. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed broken ankle and out for the season in the postgame. The second it happened, Ferentz was mentally going down the depth chart.

"Anytime any player gets hurt at any position, I sure do," he said, "especially when it's a serious injury, which unfortunately this one was."

Coker's performance was sluggish and he wasn't happy about it.

After the two fumbles, Coker's first half just never took hold. He ran high -- as he did last season -- and tentative. Coker refused to lean on the weather as an excuse and said he wasn't happy with the performance.

After middle linebacker James Morris returned an interception 52 yards to TTU's 9, Coker appeared to go the wrong way on third-and-2, missed a block and ran into Vandenberg.

Coker finished with 11 carries for 41 yards and the two fumbles.

"You start thinking to yourself, don't fumble, and then you're thinking about it," said Coker, who's fumbled three times in eight career games. "You just try to get that fog out of your head."

Iowa running back has been a torrent of torn ACLs and early departures since Shonn Greene ran to the NFL in 2008. After Saturday's sleepy blowout against an FCS school, Iowa is back on red alert for the next 11 weeks.

Run the roll call and it's Coker, who also refused to blame the very little contact he had during camp, junior walk-on Jason White (one carry for 1 yard), redshirt freshman De'Andre Johnson (eight carries for 32 yards) and true freshmen Damon Bullock and Jordan Canzeri.

Bullock played in the first half, so he's in. Canzeri didn't play and still could redshirt. White was primarily a special teamer Saturday.

The Hawkeyes will need them all.

"It feels like it's inevitable sometimes," White said.

Sure does.

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