Paying the toll

The Hawkeyes drained their physical and emotional gas tanks Saturday night at Michigan State.

Running back Adam Robinson's left foot was proof. The redshirt freshman tried to put a brave face on it. The boot he wore gave him away. When asked about it, he didn't have an answer.

He did something to his left ankle/foot. He doesn't know what for sure.

"I'm not concerned at all, something minor," said Robinson, who had career highs of 27 carries and 109 yards in the Hawkeyes' 15-13 victory Saturday night at Michigan State. "They (medical staff) are not sure what's wrong with it. I'll go get it checked out tomorrow."

The line to get checked out is going to be long today in Iowa City.

Robinson was in the boot after injuring his ankle/foot late in the game. Wide receiver Colin Sandeman likely suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter, drawing a personal foul penalty on MSU's Jeremy Ware. Iowa is now fresh out of punt returners, with the other, Paul Chaney Jr., lost for the season two weeks ago with a torn ACL.

Sandeman walked off the field. Offensive lineman Dace Richardson and safety Brett Greenwood didn't.

On Iowa's first series, Richardson suffered a break somewhere on his lower-left leg. Coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game Richardson, who missed the two previous seasons and eventually underwent knee realignment surgery, might only miss two weeks, but he was on crutches and had couldn't put weight on the leg.

"That hurts," offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga said. "And it's not so much what we're missing, it's more for him. Everything he's been through with his knees, to have this happen, it's awful. We all feel really terrible for him. It's not, oh God, we lost a great offensive lineman. It's we lost Dace. It's more feeling bad for him, because he's been through some stuff. It's too bad."

Greenwood went helmet-to-helmet with teammate Tyler Sash in the third quarter. He went off on a cart, but was walking around the lockerroom after the game. It might be an upper-body injury or a neck injury. There was no official word.

"I talked to him on the field for a second and he said, go get 'em, just like he would normally," safety Tyler Sash said. "Then, I saw him on the sidelines and that was a good sign." 

Running back Brandon Wegher went to the sidelines for a quarter after getting whacked after a 23-yard gain in the first half. He eventually returned. True freshman running back Brad Rogers made the trip. If he plays, he'd burn his redshirt.

"Our team didn't seem to be affected," said Ferentz, who didn't rule anyone out for next week's game with Indiana (4-4, 1-3). "When somebody comes out, somebody goes in and gets the job done."

The emotional toll is less tangible, and it's also one that these guys seem to have total control of.

The Hawkeyes (8-0, 4-0) have trailed in seven of their eight games, including all four Big Ten victories. Last season, Iowa lost its four games by a total of 12 points. This year, the Hawkeyes have won four of their eight games by a total of eight points.

"The next four Big Ten games are as important if not more important than the four we just got done playing," linebacker A.J. Edds said. "We've got to know that the target keeps getting bigger.

"I'm sure people just talk about how we're falling into stuff and getting lucky and that's fine. They're right. We're just getting lucky. So, just let that kind of keep growing."