At his weekly press conference to preview the Hawkeyes‘ trip to No. 7 Penn State, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed the bad news fans were hoping they wouldn’t have to hear.
Star tight end Luke Lachey is likely done for the 2023 season.
“Certainly, not happy about losing Luke Lachey. I feel most badly for him obviously. He’s the person most affected and it’s just an unfortunate development, but he’ll be fine here in time. But, it is, it’s a significant injury, so he’s going to be out for quite a while here,” Ferentz said.
Asked to clarify whether or not it was a season-ending injury for Lachey, Ferentz indicated it probably would be.
“Most likely, yeah. Yeah, most likely, so just unfortunate, but he’s going to be fine, but it’s just a tough development,” Ferentz said.
Lachey was Iowa’s second-leading pass-catcher last season, reeling in 28 grabs for 398 yards with a team-high four touchdown catches. The 6-foot-6, 253 pound junior registered 10 receptions for 131 yards across his action in the Hawkeyes’ first three contests this season.
Ferentz also revealed that running backs Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson would be unavailable versus the Nittany Lions, too.
Kirk Ferentz says Lachey out. Also out this week are Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson. pic.twitter.com/2hqxIHWXQr
— Tom Kakert (@HawkeyeReport) September 19, 2023
“And then, on the more week-to-week type basis, both Jaz and Kaleb won’t be available this week, so we’ll evaluate that with each week as we go forward. But, they’re both going to be out Saturday, so we’ll go with the guys that we finished up with the other day,” Ferentz said.
At tight end, Iowa turns to seniors Erick All and Steven Stilianos and sophomore Addison Ostrenga to handle the bulk of the workload.
In the backfield, junior Leshon Williams is coming off a career performance versus Western Michigan where he carried 12 times for 145 rushing yards. Freshman Kamari Moulton also tallied 50 rushing yards and a pair of scores on eight carries, while fellow freshman Terrell Washington Jr. rushed six times for 31 yards.
“And that is a positive, certainly the tight ends as a group I think stepped up and did a good job. Erick obviously is a quality player and Ostrenga’s a good young player coming up the ladder. Stilianos, we talked about him being a much-improved player in the spring and camp and did a good job in there, too. And then John Pascuzzi jumped in, helped us out.
“And then, Kamari and T.J. on the offense in the backfield did a good job, so we’ll just go with the guys that we got like you always do and the next man in opportunity for them. Just wish Luke the best in terms of his recovery coming back,” Ferentz said.
Iowa kicks off at Penn State at 6:30 p.m. on CBS for the Nittany Lions’ annual White Out game. The Hawkeyes are wearing alternate uniforms for the occasion.
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