IOWA CITY, Ia. — As if losing Brandon Smith for Saturday's 11 a.m. game at Northwestern alone wasn't enough, the 19th-ranked Iowa football team will be without its top wide receiver for much longer.
Smith will miss three to five weeks, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday afternoon, with a right-leg injury doctors initially hoped was a bone bruise before further tests came back. That timetable also rules Smith out of the Nov. 9 game at Wisconsin, a matchup that could hold the key to the Hawkeyes' West Division championship chances.
Even if Smith is able to return before the end of the regular season, there's no guarantee he would instantly return to the dynamic form he's shown of late. That's a significant bummer for a touchdown-strapped offense.
A 19-game starter, Smith is leading the Hawkeyes with 33 catches (for 407 yards and four TDs) but had truly come into form of late. He racked up 16 catches for 192 yards in the past two weeks, against Penn State and Purdue, before suffering his injury with 4 minutes, 21 seconds to play against the Boilermakers.
Smith will miss three to five weeks, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday afternoon, with a right-leg injury doctors initially hoped was a bone bruise before further tests came back. That timetable also rules Smith out of the Nov. 9 game at Wisconsin, a matchup that could hold the key to the Hawkeyes' West Division championship chances.
Even if Smith is able to return before the end of the regular season, there's no guarantee he would instantly return to the dynamic form he's shown of late. That's a significant bummer for a touchdown-strapped offense.
A 19-game starter, Smith is leading the Hawkeyes with 33 catches (for 407 yards and four TDs) but had truly come into form of late. He racked up 16 catches for 192 yards in the past two weeks, against Penn State and Purdue, before suffering his injury with 4 minutes, 21 seconds to play against the Boilermakers.
