Iowa kicker Daniel Murray waits for another opportunity

IOWA CITY - Halfway into a senior season that began with his name etched on an award watch list, Iowa kicker Daniel Murray has yet to kick one football in a game this year.

Six days before Iowa's first game Murray injured his right hip flexor where it intersects with his quad muscle at practice.

"I did a kickoff and it popped on me and shot a shooting pain through my whole leg," Murray said. "That was kind of the end of it there.

"Unfortunately it's the only muscle that I have to use. It doesn't help me out too much."

Murray was named to the preseason Lou Groza Award watch list after connecting on 19 of 26 field-goal attempts in 2009. He kicked a last-second 31-yard field goal to beat then-No. 3-ranked Penn State 24-23 in 2008. But he has spent his 2010 season rehabbing his leg and looking for another opportunity.

"I was hoping I'd be back in a week or two, but that didn't happen," Murray said. "It just kept hurting. It would feel better to walk around, and then I'd take one swing and it would be back. It was kind of frustrating .

"I think there was a little bit of scar tissue built up in the leg, and that was causing a lot of the pain. ... It was just frustrating for the five or six weeks that it's been to sit there and not be able to really do anything."

Originally red-shirt sophomore Trent Mossbrucker stepped in for Murray and attempted the season's first 14 extra-point attempts. Mossbrucker had the 14th attempt blocked, and Iowa then opted for true freshman Michael Meyer to handle all kicking duties.

Murray said he's healthy and available to kick, but the injury has cost him the rhythm necessary to kick consistently. He's not listed on the team's depth chart, and Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz was coy Tuesday when asked about Murray's status.

"He's doing better," Ferentz said. "We're doing OK. I'm not saying great, I'm not saying bad, but we're OK."

Murray said he still hopes to play this season.

"I'm just trying to make the best out of it that I can right now," Murray said. "I hope that I can get back out on the field. If Mike continues to perform better, if Trent starts to perform better, as long as we're winning games, that's fine with me."