Return of oft-injured Jake Remsburg boosts Iowa State’s hopes for improvement

AMES — Jake Remsburg beamed on media day.

The highly-touted Iowa State offensive lineman was finally fully healthy after a season in which various injuries relegated him to special teams duties, but 2022 would be different.

“My body has never felt this good before,” the Cyclones right tackle said in August.

But Remsburg’s rare clean bill of health status vanished abruptly a couple weeks later after he suffered a lower leg injury. So it was back to rehab — albeit a short one — and Remsburg is slated to make his second start of the season Saturday at 11 a.m. against No. 22 Texas in Austin.

“When it first happened, I was like, ‘Ah darn,’” said Remsburg, who hopes to help ISU (3-3, 0-3) upset the heavily-favored Longhorns (4-2, 2-1). “I’m not gonna lie. It was a tough couple hours, but we’ve got it figured out.”

The good news?

He could recover reasonably quickly.

The bad news?

The mere fact that an injury had struck the 6-foot-6, 317-pound redshirt junior yet again just when he was playing his best football.

“Jake was playing incredible in fall camp and I think that was one thing that was like, dang, you lost a guy who was playing so good, just because he had already come off an injury,” Cyclones head coach Matt Campbell said. “And really, the plays that he played on Saturday (in ISU’s 10-9 loss to No. 17 Kansas State), were really high-end, so I think he gives us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

That’s necessary for a Cyclone offense that ranks last in the Big 12 in rushing yards per game at 106.3. Part of the reason for that lack of production stems from injuries to the top two tailbacks, Jirehl Brock and Cartevious Norton, but missing Remsburg for almost four full games had an impact, as well.

Campbell said backup Grant Treiber played well in Remsburg’s stead — and Remsburg himself said seeing him develop served as a silver lining to yet another sidelines-only situation for him early this season.

“He really played awesome,” Remsburg said. “I was super proud of him. He’s my roommate, so we’d help each other, and he did really well. For him and me now to work together, it’s been really fun.”

It will be a lot more fun if ISU can start compiling big plays on the ground, which will help with its ongoing problem with unfinished drives.

The Cyclones may or may not have Brock and/or Norton back this week, Campbell said on Tuesday. But whenever Norton — a true freshman — does return, he will be expected to contribute consistently, so there’s no notion of limiting him to four games in order to preserve a redshirt.

Not when ISU is 0-3 to start Big 12 play for the first time since 2016 and still aiming to extend its streak of consecutive bowl berths to six. Not when Remsburg is finally fully healthy (again) and helping lead the way for an offense that’s moved the ball with regularity, but has simply not been putting up many points.

“I think we’re all fired up this week to come back to practice and working again because we see that we’re right there,” Remsburg said. “I think if we focus on those little details, we’re gonna be just fine.”

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