I was wondering today what the most impactful injuries have been in Iowa history? At least recent Iowa history. From my limited brain space, I can come up with a few obvious ones:
2009 - Ricky Stanzi
Was injured during the Northwestern game, which we lost, and then went to Columbus and lost again (which we may have lost anyway). Altogether, might have only cost us one win, but also a chance at a Big Ten title.
2006 - Drew Tate
Not sure when the injury occurred, I remember some rumors of the hay bale toss at Solon Beef Days before the season. But it ended up almost costing us a win at Syracuse, and against Northern Illinois when Christensen started. We didn't lose those games, but later in the season, he did not play well and we finished at 6-7.
Thankfully, we haven't had too many QB injuries over the years.
Obviously the running back injuries in 2004 might have cost us a win or two, but it's hard to argue with 10-2 and a big ten title anyway that year.
Another one that sticks out is Drew Ott in 2015, which might be forgotten about because of the 12-0 start, but later in the season, you could see the defense starting to break a little bit, and the lid came off during the Rose Bowl.
I know there are many others that I am missing that might be obvious or not. It seems like almost every year, there is a RB that gets injured. Or a guy in the trenches whose impact might not be immediately felt but ends up mattering later in the year.
2009 - Ricky Stanzi
Was injured during the Northwestern game, which we lost, and then went to Columbus and lost again (which we may have lost anyway). Altogether, might have only cost us one win, but also a chance at a Big Ten title.
2006 - Drew Tate
Not sure when the injury occurred, I remember some rumors of the hay bale toss at Solon Beef Days before the season. But it ended up almost costing us a win at Syracuse, and against Northern Illinois when Christensen started. We didn't lose those games, but later in the season, he did not play well and we finished at 6-7.
Thankfully, we haven't had too many QB injuries over the years.
Obviously the running back injuries in 2004 might have cost us a win or two, but it's hard to argue with 10-2 and a big ten title anyway that year.
Another one that sticks out is Drew Ott in 2015, which might be forgotten about because of the 12-0 start, but later in the season, you could see the defense starting to break a little bit, and the lid came off during the Rose Bowl.
I know there are many others that I am missing that might be obvious or not. It seems like almost every year, there is a RB that gets injured. Or a guy in the trenches whose impact might not be immediately felt but ends up mattering later in the year.