For Iowa football, one step up and one step back Tuesday

I'm not counting junior Riley Reiff's decision to enter the 2012 NFL draft as a loss for Iowa's football program, though Reiff obviously was a considerable asset to the Hawkeyes.

We knew Reiff was leaving ever since all the projections had him as a first-round offensive tackle in the draft months ago. You have to go pro if you're in his situation, especially if you could be a top 10 or 15 pick. The upside of spending another year in college, in his case, is probably minimal. So, yeah, of course it's a loss for the Hawkeyes. But it was already projected as one. No need to keep entering it in the loss column.

Reiff became a very good player in a hurry for Iowa, and served his team well.

In the meantime, Iowa officially lost one running back and gained another Tuesday. Freshman Mika'il McCall said with certainty that he's leaving the Hawkeyes, while top recruit Greg Garmon of Erie, Pa., said he's going to be a Hawkeye.

Last August, Ed Podolak told me McCall was going to be a good one. Podolak had seen a lot of Iowa practices and said McCall was a pounder. He was proven correct in Iowa's first game, when McCall rushed nine times for 61 yards against Tennessee Tech with a force that excited the Kinnick Stadium crowd. But he broke an ankle in that game, and was out for several weeks.

He had two more carries after that, for four yards and one lost fumble. Then some stuff he wrote back on Facebook, if suspicions are to be believed, weren't viewed favorably by his head coach. Then he got suspended for the bowl game. Then he went home and decided he was no longer a Hawkeye.

So out goes McCall and in comes Garmon, and we get the usual dance of fans (and some media) embracing the new guy as a star-in-waiting. Like McCall was. And Jeff Brinson. And many who panned out, and many who didn't.

But most of Iowa's recruits from Erie have been serious ballplayers. Try to come up with a trio of better players than Bob Sanders, Ed Hinkel and Jovon Johnson from a city four states away that's the size of Erie (100,000 city limits, 280,000 metropolitan area). Maybe Garmon will be added to that list in a few years.

Yet, let's try to wait for Garmon to, you know, spend two full active seasons with the Hawkeyes before he's deemed a savior. Marcus Coker almost got to the end of his second year, and says he'll be back to resume his career next season. He's needed. A lot.

We all know you can't assume anything when it comes to Iowa running backs. Someday, however, we will again see one of importance trot out to midfield on Senior Day and embrace his family members. The law of averages says it has to happen for someone. Maybe it will be Coker. Or Jordan Canzeri. Or Garmon.

Or all of them. Wouldn't that be something?

In the meantime, Nebraska got a verbal commitment Tuesday from Avery Moss, a defensive end from Tempe, Ariz. I saw Moss play basketball last Thursday night for his Corona del Sol High School team against Mike Gesell's South Sioux City, Neb., squad. There were many fans at that game wearing Nebraska shirts. Those people take their football seriously.