There's good, there's fumbles with Coker

AMES -- Nine games isn't enough catalog to put a label on Iowa running back Marcus Coker. At this rate, it's probably safe to say the sophomore is boom or bust on any given carry.

Coker went boom a bunch of different times Saturday in the Hawkeyes' 44-41 triple-overtime loss to Iowa State. He carried a career-high 35 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns. The bust came on second-and-6 from Iowa's 9-yard line.

Coker ran to the right and just as he made a cut Iowa State cornerback Leonard Johnson put his helmet on the ball. Linebacker Jake Knott recovered the fumble. It was Coker's third fumble this season and it turned into Steele Jantz's 11-yard TD pass to Darius Reynolds to pull ISU within 10-7 with 7:40 left in the second quarter.

Iowa stuck with Coker. Of course, it kind of had to. Freshman Mika'il McCall suffered a broken ankle last week and is out for the season. Saturday was a brawl from the opening gun. It wasn't a time to break in any newbie.

"I thought he took a positive step today," coach Kirk Ferentz said. "I thought he ran better as the game wore on. We're certainly going to need him and we're also going to need to get other guys involved, too. We just can't put it on his shoulders and [wide receiver McNutt] Marvin's shoulders."

Another fumble and another round of pretty much unanswerable questions for Coker, who now has four fumbles in nine career games. He also has three 100-yard games.

There's good and there's bad, but there still seems to be trust.

"I don't know if they ever lost trust in me," said Coker, referring to Iowa coaches. "I'm part of the team and I have to do my job. Today to open up the pass, we had to be able to run the ball.

"They know that, I know that and that's what we had to do."