Hlas: Dark clouds in Hawks' opener -- literally

IOWA CITY - There are no such things as omens.

That said, you couldn't blame the residents of Kinnick Stadium for getting nervous Saturday when Marcus Coker's first rushing attempt of the season ended with a fumble Tennessee Tech recovered.

Coker didn't exactly live up to the billing Sports Illustrated gave him as the Big Ten's preseason Offensive MVP. Not with 11 rushes for 41 yards and two fumbles. He'll be better. He has to be, because ...

You couldn't fault anyone for slipping into superstitious mode and thinking 2011 might be cursed when freshman running back Mika'il McCall was lost for the season with a broken ankle. McCall had begun his collegiate career with nine hard-nosed carries for 61 first-half yards.

McCall made it look like the Hawkeyes had a genuine two-headed monster at running back this season. His dad, former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver McCall, was called the “Atomic Bull.” It seemed we'd soon be hanging a similar nickname on his son. The part about being a bull sure seemed to fit.

And speaking of ominous signs, what about a rainstorm that seemed biblical by college football standards? Fortunately, there wasn't accompanying strong wind or we'd have had a Grade One tropical storm. Or something mildly similar, anyhow.

The game was suspended for 84 minutes because of the threat of lightning and then, actual lightning. Maybe it was from a football god irritated with a Big Ten team playing a team from the Ohio Valley Conference. The powers that be here on Earth acted wisely in halting the game and showing patience during the delay. Kinnick's bleachers are made of aluminum.

But there are no such things as football gods, either. Even though one sure seems to take sadistic delight in removing running backs from Iowa's roster in all sorts of ways ever since Shonn Greene left for the NFL after the 2008 season.

How about a simple scientific fact? Namely, after starting slowly, the Hawkeyes methodically handled the FCS Golden Eagles of Cookesville, 34-7, in a game that will be forever remembered more for what came from the sky than from the Hawkeyes.

Omens, superstitions, whatever. If the Hawkeye believed in such tripe, they would put a muzzle on senior cornerback Shaun Prater right away.

Prater iced a game that probably didn't need much icing when he returned an interception 89 yards for a touchdown with 10 seconds left in the first half. That made the score 27-0, and all that was left was lightning, hard rain, and 30 minutes of forgettable football.

After the game, Prater did what athletes aren't supposed to do. He publicly announced a personal goal. One that sounds like pure fantasy. He wants to collect 12 more picks this season to become Iowa's all-time leader in that statistic with 19. Devon Mitchell and a lad named Nile Kinnick had 18 apiece.

“I need 13 this season,” Prater said. He probably doesn't even know no major-college player has had 13 interceptions in a season in the last 50 years. The FBS record is Al Worley's 14, in 1960.

“It's a pretty big goal,” Prater admitted. “But I just want to focus on setting goals for myself.

“Everything's possible.”

The pick-six was the second for Prater. The first came last year against Penn State on a 33-yard return that effectively laid the Nittany Lions to rest in Iowa's 24-3 win.

I asked him how many of those 12 remaining picks he wants to return for touchdowns. Take a wild guess on the answer.

“Hopefully, I can score all of them,” he replied.

The FBS record for interceptions returned for touchdowns in a season is four. For a career, it's five. I suggested to Prater that 13 INTs for TDs would be fairly legendary stuff.

“Let's hope so,” he said. “That's the plan.”

You would think teams would stop throwing to Prater's side of the field altogether after, say, his eighth or ninth interception return for a touchdown this season. But given the crazy way the Hawkeyes' 2011 campaign began Saturday, who's to rule anything out?

“Really had a strange feel to it, every part of it,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said of the game and the day.

By the way, should someone tell Prater that 13 is an unlucky number?