You probably need to forgive Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz if he thinks there is some kind of voodoo curse on his tailbacks.
Shonn Greene rushed for 1,850 yards and 20 TDs in 2008, when Iowa went 9-4 and hammered South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. But since Greene left early for the NFL after that season, injuries and transfers have wreaked havoc.
Jewel Hampton was Greene's top backup and was set to start in 2009. Instead, he missed the 2009 season with a knee injury and Brandon Wegher and Adam Robinson filled in.
Wegher then quit the team for personal reasons before the 2010 season, leaving the job totally to Robinson because two other backs had transferred after the '09 season.
Robinson was booted from the team after the '10 season following a drug arrest. But sophomore Marcus Coker stepped up and rushed for 1,384 yards and 15 TDs. Following the season, though, Coker transferred to FCS member Stony Brook after he was the subject of an investigation into a sexual assault for which he never was charged.
Coker's departure left the job wide open, and presumptive starter Jordan Canzeri suffered a severe knee injury during spring practice in 2012 and missed last season. Then, during summer drills, true freshman Barkley Hill -- in the hunt for the starting job -- suffered a severe knee injury of his own and also missed the season. Sophomore Damon Bullock then won the job -- but he was injured in Game Three and ended up missing six games. He eventually returned and finished with 513 yards and three TDs.
The leading rusher last season was Mark Weisman, who began the season as a walk-on fullback and finished it by leading Iowa with 815 yards and eight scores as the starting tailback.
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That means Iowa has its top two rushers returning. That's good, right, Coach?
"I never feel too good about that position," Ferentz said Wednesday during Big Ten Media Day in Chicago. "But we're certainly further ahead than we were last year. Last year at this time, quite frankly, we didn't know if we had a Big Ten running back."
Ferentz also said that Canzeri is back and had a good spring.
Still ...
"All that being said, from experience, it's hard to feel too good or too comfortable," Ferentz said.
