Life looked like it was already mighty hard on the Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend when they trudged their way to just 10 points on the road against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a 13-10 loss. Things might have just gotten even harder for Kirk Ferentz and offensive coordinator Tim Lester.
When Iowa released its Week 9 depth chart, speculation began about the running back situation with the shake-ups for both the starter and the backups. That speculation has been proven true, and unfortunately, worse than hoped for, with the injury bug finally getting to the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Kamari Moulton exited the game against Minnesota and was taken back to the locker room. When that occured, things didn't look great, as he exited the field with his arm stationary and immobilized, creating the scene that caused the speculation.
Today, head coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed what many had come to believe after witnessing that scene, along with Moulton's name nowhere to be found on the depth chart. Kamari Moulton will miss the remainder of the Iowa Hawkeyes' season with an injury.
Kamari Moulton was Iowa's leading rusher through seven games. Moulton totaled 541 yards on 86 carries, a strong average of 6.29 yards per carry. He had found the end zone four times. He also had 9 receptions for 31 yards on the year.
Losing Kamari Moulton is a big loss for the Hawkeyes. There's no way around that. And I hate to use the term of there being a "silver lining" around an injury, but if there is a position group that can absorb an injury, it may be Iowa's fully loaded running back room.
Kamari Moulton was Iowa's top back and was very versatile, getting carries when Iowa went under center or out of shotgun. I expect Iowa to replace Moulton in the aggregate, as opposed to pushing his workload onto just one back.
Xavier Williams is going to get the most work as the most similar back to Moulton, but L.J. Phillips Jr., who Iowa brought in from the transfer portal, should see plenty of action when Iowa goes under center with his physical running style and low center of gravity.
Look for Nathan McNeil and Braeden Jackson to be the two running backs tasked with replacing Moulton's burst on the outside or through Iowa's patented zone-scheme toss play. Those two have the burst to hit a crease or get to the edge.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/iowa as Iowa Football Injury Update: Hawkeyes Lose Offensive Star For Rest of Season .
