Depth at linebacker ankle-deep

IOWA CITY -- When one linebacker sprains an ankle, all of Iowa's linebackers kind of sprain their ankles.

Senior outside linebacker Tyler Nielsen suffered a sprained ankle during the first series of the Iowa State game. He tried to give it a go last week against Pitt, but only made it a couple of series before yielding to . . . that's when the dominoes tumbled.

Sophomore Christian Kirksey, who's had all of three starts in his career, slid from weakside to replace Nielsen on the strongside. Sophomore Anthony Hitchens, who struggled after replacing Nielsen at Iowa State, filled in for Kirksey and earned praise from head coach Kirk Ferentz for his improvement. Sophomore James Morris stood his ground in the middle.

In review, Iowa's defense played most of last week's game with three second-year players at linebacker.

"[Linebackers coach Darrell Wilson] always says when you're off the field and you're looking at another player, you need to get mental reps," Kirksey said. "I always would look at Tyler and the things he did in practice."

Those mental repetitions became reality last week. The three true sophomores combined for 28 tackles, with Morris' 13 leading the team.

"It turned into reality and I found myself out there thinking, it's happening," Kirksey said. "You don't have time to think. You just have to react and get the job done."

Iowa's defensive coaches saw this coming. They knew Nielsen's ankle was iffy at best. So, they prepared. All three sophomores took some time on the outside last week.

"Switching from Mike [middle] to Will [weakside], that's not bad," Morris said. "But when you go from inside to outside, it's totally different positioning. Most of the time, you're walked out. Your progressions are a lot different and your assignments in pass coverage and on blitzes are totally different."

The shuffle could be ongoing. On his radio show Wednesday night, Ferentz said Nielsen will play Saturday, even with an off week in front of the Hawkeyes after today. Also, Nielsen is now the backup middle linebacker after senior Bruce Davis left the team Monday citing personal reasons. Ferentz added that he hoped to keep the redshirt on freshman linebacker Quinton Alston.

"That's why we have great coaches, that's why we have guys who are dedicated and who study their playbooks and put in their time," Morris said. "That gives us a chance to be able to do both."