Prater headed in right direction for Hawkeyes

IOWA CITY - Iowa cornerback Shaun Prater had 10 tackles and one interception Saturday in a 37-6 win against Michigan State to earn the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Award.

Prater, a junior, is tied for the league lead in interceptions with three.

“Shaun has always been a very competitive guy,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I think he cleaned some things up, came up with the big interception, which was great, and actually ran it toward their goal line. That's two in a row now. He's learning on that front, too.”

Prater picked off Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins midway through the second quarter and returned it 42 yards to the Spartans' 43. Iowa scored three plays later to take a 23-0 lead.

Ferentz teased Prater this year for not running upfield after previous interceptions totaled 1 yard. Then he returned an interception for a touchdown against Penn State Oct. 2. Saturday, Prater sprinted up the sideline and decided to run past Cousins rather than cut back across the field. Prater might have scored had he cut it back.

“(Ferentz) always talks about that,” Prater said. “Last week when I got the interception he said, ‘Well, you finally ran it straight but you should have cut it back.' From here on out, whenever I get an interception, I'm scoring.”

Prater, an Omaha native, looks forward to this week's match-up against Indiana's trio of receivers. Sophomore Demarlo Belcher leads the Big Ten in receptions with 58. Terrance Turner is tied for second with 42, and Tandon Doss has 40. Doss leads the league in all-purpose yardage and hauled in 15 catches for 221 yards against Michigan this year.

“I like that challenge,” Prater said. “I like going against good competition. Belcher and Doss, those are two good guys. Belcher has good size so I'm looking forward to it.”

Parker not traveling

Defensive coordinator Norm Parker is still in a rehabilitation unit and will not travel to Indiana with the team this week. Parker, 69, was hospitalized in September with diabetic complications. He later had his right foot amputated.

Parker attended last week's game and sat in the coaches box. He has yet to work again.

“I think we're getting real close to him coming back home,” Ferentz said. “The next step will be getting him in the office a couple hours a day, that type of thing. But he won't be here Saturday.”

Parker did meet with some of the defensive players two weeks ago, which safety Tyler Sash described as emotional.

“He was emotional, and there were guys in there that were emotional,” Sash said. “It was just something that I'm very happy that we had the opportunity to see him and just let him talk to us, even if it was just for a couple minutes.”

Coker to spell Robinson

Ferentz said freshman running back Marcus Coker will continue to spell Adam Robinson in the lineup. Coker rushed for 40 yards on 16 carries last week against Michigan State.

“We'll just keep pushing him forward,” Ferentz said. “It was a good outing. That was the varsity out there hitting him. I thought he did a good job in those circumstances. That was a tough situation. A lot of times he was carrying the ball, (and) they knew we were going to run the ball.”

Coker has played in two games with 100 yards on 26 carries.