Injuries really decimated that 2010 team. I have gone through it before, but Tarp and Nielsen were perfect compliments for the dink and dunk spread teams. Had they remained healthy, I think Iowa beats NW and runs the table the rest of the way and goes 10-2.
Here is something I wrote at the end of the 2010 season...that team was as talented 1-22 as any of the best Iowa teams of my lifetime...but the depth was thin:
AUGUST
-Brandon Wegher shows up for a couple of practices, then leaves the team for personal reasons, never to return. What effect did this have on team chemistry? We know what effect it had on the depth chart.
-A few days into camp, Marcus Coker breaks his collar bone, keeping him on the sidelines all of camp and the early portion of the season, which is significant for a young player who would later be called upon. Very significant, especially in areas like pass protection, where trust is most definitely earned.
-RG Adam Gettis injured, something that would linger
-PK Dan Murray injures his hip, would not play in 2010.
SEPTEMBER
-Backup OL Josh Koeppel was hit by a truck while riding his moped. He was in a battle for the starting center position, and this was just before the season opener
-OG Cody Hundertmark leaves the team. He was listed as the reserve right guard behind Adam Gettis on the Eastern Illinois two-deep roster which came out on August 27th. Iowa’s first practice of the EIU game week was Tuesday the 31st. On Wednesday September 1st, Iowa released a statement saying Hundertmark was leaving. This was in part because Nolan MacMillan had passed him by and was going to start the EIU game. This was something that didn’t seem big at the time but would have consequences eight weeks later.
-Norm Parker undergoes surgery and has a foot amputated following the Iowa State game. He never returns in full capacity as Iowa’s Defensive Coordinator
-Jeff Tarpinian suffers an injury that would reverberate throughout the rest of the season. The staff had incredibly high expectations for Tarp, who would have been nails in pass defense situations.
-His backup, Bruce Davis, suffers a season ending knee injury against Arizona
-Jewel Hampton injures his knee against Arizona, lost for the season
-Jason White injured covering a kick. He was an emerging kickoff coverage star
-Mike Meyer wins place kicking job, affects his distance on kickoffs later in the year
OCTOBER
-Brett Morse misses Michigan game due to injury suffered against Penn State
-Jeremiha Hunter is injured and misses a game, never 100% after
-Tyler Nielsen cracks a vertebrae, lost for the year; he had been doing an excellent job in pass coverage and open field tackling on the edge
-Troy Johnson injured, was in and out of the lineup the rest of the year
-James Morris and Shane DiBona pulled from kickoff coverage due to being on LB depth chart
-Iowa starts a true freshman MLB for majority of season due to Tarp & Davis injuries; Morris was good beyond his age, but pass coverage was an issue late
-Gettis and Nolan MacMillan injured, did not return to action the rest of the regular season
-Walk on Josh Koeppel starts RG for final third of season. With Hundertmark gone, Iowa was starting their 4th string RG for the final four games of the year.
-Adam Robinson suffers first concussion, misses Indiana game, never really the same afterward; is it coincidence that Ricky Stanzi’s performance tailed over his last four games, the four games after the injury to Robinson, which occurred with Robinson getting hurt in the fourth quarter of the MSU game up 37-6? Robinson is one of the best blocking running backs I have seen play at Iowa.
-Dakota Getz injured, had been a key player on special teams coverage units and might have been a factor later in the year at Iowa’s ‘LEO’ LB position after Tyler Nielsen was injured along with Troy Johnson’s injuries. Kirk Ferentz said the week before the Indiana game that Getz would have been the LEO option had he not been injured.
-Adrian Clayborn injures leg against Wisconsin; was he the same after that injury? Check out this photo of the play I am speaking of
-Julian Vandervelde injured, forced some reshuffling of the line for a brief period
NOVEMBER
-Ross Peterson began playing a role at linebacker in the Indiana game, as well as against Ohio State and Northwestern. He was at least the 10th linebacker Iowa was forced to use this year in plays from scrimmage.
-DJK & Marvin McNutt both suffer injuries in at least two games, but don’t miss any games
-Colin Sandeman injured against Northwestern, missed Ohio State game & taken off punt return game for Minnesota.
-Robinson concussed for second time against Ohio State, misses game against Minnesota
-Iowa loses both starting cornerbacks in game vs Minnesota, including 1st Team All Big Ten Shaun Prater
COACHING DECISIONS
-End of game situation against Wisconsin, of which Kirk Ferentz said the following: “Well, in retrospect, I wish we had clocked it quite frankly. And we had an 11‑seconds play in there, which is interesting, the one where Reisner ran out of bounds, that took 11 second, part of our thought and for whatever, the sneak took one second, I’m not so sure that happened. We thought the clock was going to be down under ten when ‑‑ after the sneak. That was our thinking. Retrospect, I wish we had clocked it. I think we ended up with 12 on the clock after the sneak. I’m not sure how that happened. But anyway, that was part of the thinking. Retrospect, I wish I had done it over, could do over. I can’t. So, live with it.â€
-Ferentz would also joke later in the year that he needed to read the book on time management.
-The fake punt that Wisconsin converted late in the game after the defense had forced a second straight stand in the fourth quarter
-The decision to have Adam Robinson in the game in the fourth quarter of the MSU game up 37-6, which is when he suffered his first concussion.
SPECIAL TEAMS
-Blocked PAT’s vs Arizona (could have taken a 28-27 4th quarter lead) and Wisconsin (one-point loss)
-Offsides on a kickoff against Wisconsin where Iowa covered Gilreath inside the Badger 20, only to rekick and he returned it to the 50
-Blocked punt against Arizona
-Kickoff return for TD vs Arizona, poor kickoff coverage for most of the year. Injuries affected this later in the season
-Missed 40 yard field goal against Ohio State in a three-point loss
