Brothers:?1?happy,?1?not so much

IOWA CITY - Little brother Micah Hyde and big brother Marcus Hyde met briefly on the field following Iowa's 37-6 win against Michigan State.

Marcus Hyde, a Michigan State senior safety, barely spoke to Micah, Iowa's sophomore cornerback, and just told him to hurry up so they could talk to their dozens of family members - including their mother - who watched the game in person Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

“I went over there (after the game), but he was mad, of course,” Micah Hyde said.

The pair didn't speak this week during preparation for their teams' game against one another. Marcus Hyde finished with a team-high nine tackles but had one critical penalty on Iowa's first scoring drive. Micah Hyde, however, scored his first touchdown at Iowa on a 66-yard return after a Tyler Sash interception. Sash pitched the ball to Micah Hyde, who was trailing on the play.

“I'm happy for him,” Marcus Hyde said. “I was kind of mad (after the return).”

Sash laughed when he talked about the lateral because of how the Hyde brothers communicated during the week.

“All I heard all week was Micah and his brother spouting off to each other through their mom,” Sash said. “They wouldn't talk to each other, but they would talk to their mom. Micah would say, ‘Hey mom, tell Marcus this,' and they'd go back and forth. I think Micah had some bragging rights on this one.'”

The brothers considered themselves enemies during the week. Marcus Hyde even suggested Micah wouldn't smile after the game.

“If I was the older brother, and my little brother beat me twice, yeah, I would be really disappointed,” Micah Hyde said.

- Scott Dochterman

Parker returns

Norm Parker didn't just sit there during his return to the Kinnick Stadium press box.

Iowa's 69-year-old defensive coordinator made his way into Kinnick (see photo, 5B) for the first time since the opener against Eastern Illinois. Parker was checked into the hospital Sept 10, just before the Iowa State game. Later that month, he had his right foot amputated because of complications from diabetes.

He made it back for the Michigan State game, where Parker served as an assistant coach for 12 seasons.

“He chirped in there a couple times,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “He hasn't been in on the day-to-day, so it's a little tougher, obviously. It's sort of like the story about the guy who knows where to tinker. But he was being very respectful and wasn't trying to back seat drive, but it was just good to have him on the phones and hear his voice.

“He threw a couple tidbits in here and there. We're hoping in under a week he'll be back in Iowa City and will be able to start climbing the ladder a little.”

Ferentz even joked about a victory cigar.

“Rumor has it he was going up I-380 and smoking a cigar on the way back,” Ferentz said. “That's strictly a rumor. I don't think his doctors would appreciate him smoking cigars right now.”

The Hawkeye defense didn't get to speak with Parker at Kinnick, but the players knew he was in the house.

“I know he had some things to say up there,” defensive lineman Christian Ballard said.

“We knew he was up there. We certainly miss him.”

- Marc Morehouse