Coker the man once again

IOWA CITY - It was definitely a surprise to see Marcus Coker get the start last week against Ohio State. The bigger surprise, though, was the results.

Coker, a 6-0, 230-pound freshman, led the No. 24 Hawkeyes (7-4, 4-3 Big Ten) with 70 yards on just nine carries in Iowa's loss to No. 8 Ohio State. With sophomore Adam Robinson benched for an academic indiscretion, Coker rushed for 43 yards in the first quarter.

Coker fueled Iowa's lone touchdown drive of the first half with 30 rushing yards and an 11-yard reception. It was an impressive performance for a freshman, but the fact that it was against Ohio State gave Coker some style points.

Coker gets a shot at an encore this week when the Hawkeyes travel to Minnesota (2-9, 1-6) for their first appearance in TCF Bank Stadium. Robinson suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter against OSU and is out this week.

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz was told by Iowa's medical staff Tuesday that Robinson's concussion should be cleared before the bowl game. It was Robinson's second concussion in less than a month. He missed Iowa's game Nov. 6 at Indiana after suffering a concussion against Michigan State the week before.

Ferentz added that Iowa has more gametime lost this season because of concussion (Robinson, running back Paki O'Meara and others, according to Ferentz) than in any other year. He contends head injuries are part of the game.

“Concussions are part of football,” Ferentz said. “I know they're talked about more than they were before, but I don't want to turn this into ‘Days of Our Lives,' ‘General Hospital,' ... It's just part of the game.”

This opens the door for Coker, who'll get his third career start against the Gophers. In his first start at Indiana, Coker rushed for 129 yards. He scored his first touchdown when he ran for 26 yards on one play and then busted in from the 1 on the next against the Buckeyes.

“He's doing a good job of learning the gameplan and understanding defenses a little bit better,” Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi said. “He's still very young and that's a tough thing to do, but each week he's improved and you can see it on the field.”

The Buckeyes were allowing just 2.9 yards a carry, but Coker averaged 7.8 yards, the most this season against the Buckeyes for any running back with five or more carries. Wisconsin's John Clay is the only back to break 100 yards (104) against OSU.

Coker broke his collarbone in the first week of fall camp and missed nearly four weeks. Ferentz considered that a huge setback, calling it more like “10 weeks” at some point this season.

“I don't mind telling you I had an ominous feeling when Marcus fractured his collarbone,” Ferentz said. “Somehow, some way, I thought that was going to impact us a little bit and it did. I don't know if all coaches, but I always tend to think the worst. I've got that black cloud in my head on certain things.”

Coker was the second Iowa running back to fall this season. Sophomore Brandon Wegher walked away from the team two or three days before Coker's injury. Then Jewel Hampton tore an ACL. Then Robinson's concussions.

Ferentz said Hampton's rehab from surgery is on schedule. He also took a question about Wegher, who's still in Iowa City and attending classes.

“If he joins our team in January, I don't know,” Ferentz said.

“To do so, you have to be academically eligible and all those things. I'm really not thinking about that right now. I'm worried about making sure Marcus is ready to go Saturday.”

Coker showed last week he's ready to go.