Penalty provides teachable moment for Iowa defense

IOWA CITY - In some respects, Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby provided Iowa defenders with a teachable moment in last Saturday's game.

Roby was ejected for targeting Iowa tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz after Roby's helmet smacked into Fiedorowicz's jaw. If Iowa defender had questions about how officials would address the topic, they had their answer on Saturday.

“That's not necessarily something that I worry about,” Iowa linebacker James Morris said. “That's not really my style. I try not to be a head-dropper type guy or a headhunter. When I go to make a tackle, I'm just more or less worried about getting the guy to the ground.

“But for people that maybe do tend to find themselves in those sort of situations, it's certainly a learning opportunity.”

Morris said players can avoid most helmet-to-helmet penalties by practicing the proper fundamentals.

“You just try to have a strong base and squat down and sort of let them run sort into your chest and see if you can stalemate them and then run your feet,” Morris said. “Things happen so fast. Most of what you do reverts to muscle memory. It's almost an unconscious thing.

“A lot of that comes down to how you practice, what kind of technique are you constantly reinforcing in practice. And the hope is that's what you default to in a game.”

Injury update

Iowa will withhold defensive end Dominic Alvis this Saturday, causing the senior to miss his first game in two seasons.

Alvis, who has 27 career starts, has left the last two games early with injuries. Saturday at Ohio State, Alvis appeared to have suffered a back injury in the first quarter and did not return.

“Dom came off the two deep,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We'll rest that for a week and see where we're going.”

Iowa running back Mark Weisman injured a foot against Michigan State and played somewhat sparingly against Ohio State. Weisman logged four games of 20-plus carries but has combined for 17 the last two games.

Weisman said there's no lingering effects from the injury.

“I'm not really fighting through it,” Weisman said. “It's there, but it's not affecting me in any sort of way.

“It's nothing really.”

Running back Mike Malloy remains out with an undisclosed “medical issue.” Sophomore defensive end Riley McMinn has returned to practice after an undisclosed injury.

“It's been a week-by-week process for him,” Ferentz said.

Depth chart

Ferentz listed red-shirt freshman Cole Croston as the second-team right tackle behind senior Brett Van Sloten. Another red-shirt freshman, Ryan Ward, was listed in that spot the entire season. But Ferentz said the depth change was an oversight on his part.

“Cole is doing a good job,” Ferentz said. “Ryan was on the (Ohio State) trip; Cole wasn't. That's probably me not paying attention to detail. I tell my players I'm guilty of that because I get on them about it.”