Without Sam LaPorta available, Iowa football avoids overlooking 3-8 Nebraska

IOWA CITY — Some of the details are a little foggy for Spencer Petras — “it feels like a long time ago” — but Iowa’s fifth-year quarterback remembers watching the 2021 Wisconsin-Minnesota football game as the Hawkeyes’ path to a Big Ten championship was on the line.

“I was cheering hard for Minnesota,” Petras said Tuesday. “Even though it’s great that Minnesota won, it’s not as fun just sitting on the edge of your seat the whole game thinking, ‘Do I practice Sunday or do I have Sunday off?’ … You’re hoping for practice Sunday.”

Petras and the Hawkeyes do not need to endure a painful wait Saturday to go to Indianapolis this year. Iowa can clinch its spot in the Big Ten championship with a win over Nebraska, and that is no secret on Evashevski Drive.

“I think we all know what’s at stake,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Yet the Hawkeyes have tried to focus more on Nebraska and less on the possibility of a trip to Indianapolis.

“My encouragement has been to them we have to focus on this week purely,” Ferentz said. “The worst thing we can do right now is start thinking about things on the outside, other stuff. We have to worry about getting ready for a tough opponent.”

Iowa is a 10.5-point favorite, as of Wednesday morning, but the Hawkeyes’ last four games against Nebraska have all been one-possession wins.

“Most of them have gone right down to the wire,” Ferentz said. “That's what you have to expect. That's how you look at it. Typically nothing is easy for us. That's kind of the way of life. It's just to find a way to win at the end.”

At 3-8, getting the chance to possibly beat Iowa for the first time since 2014 is the closest thing Nebraska will have in 2022 to a postseason game.

“This is their bowl game, and it’s for a trophy,” tight end Luke Lachey said.

Iowa will have the added challenge of being without a key weapon on offense.

Tight end Sam LaPorta — “arguably our best guy on offense,” Ferentz said — is not expected to play Friday after he exited the Minnesota game with an injury. Fullback Monte Pottebaum also is out.

“It kind of limits what we have to do,” Ferentz said. “We have to be smart about it.”

LaPorta, a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award, has 53 receptions — more than what Iowa’s top three wide receivers have combined — and 601 receiving yards.

Iowa is optimistic about its No. 2 and No. 3 options at tight end, though.

Lachey is third on the team in receiving yards, tied for third in receptions and has a team-high two touchdown receptions despite being behind an All-America candidate on the depth chart.

“He’s almost been second fiddle to Sam,” Petras said. “But I’ll be the first to tell you he’s a really, really talented player, and excited to see what he can do.”

Lachey is coming off a game in which his 33-yard reception set up a game-winning field goal.

“Just knowing that Spencer has the confidence in me and that he could trust me in that moment, it was really comforting,” Lachey said. “It’ll help me going forward.”

Addison Ostrenga, meanwhile, has moved up the ranks behind LaPorta and Lachey despite being a true freshman. The Sun Prairie, Wis., native has been “very impressive,” Ferentz said.

“Some guys don't seem to be overwhelmed. Maybe they should be, but they don't act that way,” Ferentz said. “(Ostrenga has) kind of done that in practice. He's taken shots from guys like (Jack) Campbell and some of those other guys. He just gets up and keeps going. That's an impressive thing.”

As for the person delivering passes to Lachey, Ostrenga or anyone else in the receiving corps, Petras is in the midst of one of his better stretches of his Iowa career.

The fifth-year senior has completed at least 60 percent of passes in three of his last four games. His four-game streak without an interception is tied for the longest of his career.

“He’s doing well,” Lachey said. “If he could just keep doing that, it would really help our team.”

Iowa’s final week of the regular season is a little more pleasant this year for Petras, not just because of the uncomfortable wait to see if Minnesota could topple Wisconsin.

“Jeez Louise,” Petras said. “I was talking to Alex (Padilla) about that today. … This practice last year, we were both at home. And yeah, it’s a lot better not having the flu. It’s rough.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com