Kirk Ferentz had his first of 12 Tuesday game-week press conference yesterday. He had the usual things to say about Eastern Illinois: "well coached," a "tough contest," etc... There were a couple of insightful things mentioned though, so let's get into those.

Injuries

• Josh Koeppel, who was hit by a truck Monday morning has "a lot of scrapes, and as you might imagine, he’s pretty sore right now." A video of the accident is making it's way around the internet after originally being posted on Hawkeye Lounge. If you haven't seen it, here a link to the video on YouTube. And, holy hell, Koeppel is extremely fortunate he's not in worse shape. Needless to say, he's probably missing the first game.
• Prater has been dealing with a lingering hamstring injury for months now. Currently it is a day-to-day thing. He's currently not listed on the depth chart, but it sounds like he could play. I think it's probably best to rest him week one to be safe and have him ready for bigger tests against Iowa State and Arizona.
• The offensive line has a "couple of guys nicked up right now" but it doesn't sound like any are serious. Gettis is rumored to have a sprained ankle.
• Tarpinian has a broken hand, which we knew already. He has been practicing but has"a splint and a padding over the top of it" so has been somewhat limited in what he can do.
• DJK missed some time in practice with an undisclosed injury. He should be fine though.
• Coker, who's been out with a broken collar bone is still a week or two away from returning. I still think he'll red-shirt.

Captains
Clayborn, Klug, Stanzi, and Vandervelde. No surprises there. They are all seniors with starting experience.

Special Teams

• Kickoffs - There was an interesting development, though not exactly surprising, in the kicking game...true freshman Mike Meyer will be handling kick offs. The only reason I am kind of surprised is that Iowa already has 2 place kickers, Murray and Mossbrucker, so it would kind of make sense to red-shirt Meyer so space the 3 out a little bit more. Meyer, however, has a big leg that could definitely be used to spruce up the kick offs, which have been a little underwhelming in length lately. As a senior in high school, Meyer had 92% of his kickoffs go for touchbacks (he also kicked a 56-yard field goal, so we know his leg is strong).
• Field Goals - Meyer could also be in be in the mix for field goals, though it's not very likely. The good news, maybe the best of the day, is that the kicking "got a little better last week." Hopefully one of the guys will separate himself, but likely we will see all three place kickers play this Saturday.
• Kick Returns - Ferentz mentioned that DJK and Keenan Davis will be the two for kickoff returns. The punt returner will be Colin Sandemann. Marvin McNutt is also in the mix, which is something he asked to do. All these choices makes sense, though it's kind of interesting that it's the top 4 wide receivers on the team handling the return duties. DJK was the most explosive kick returner on the team last year (see game: Ohio State) and Sandemann was one of the most consistent punt returners in the big Ten.

Goners

• No change on Wegher. Let's drop this already.
• Austin Grey leaving was not a big surprise. There may have been some injury issues and "he had a girlfriend at home."
• Cody Hundertmark, who was reported as gone on Monday, is now classified by Ferentz as in a "gray area." I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'd guess that he's not practicing.

Quick Hits

• Ferentz wants to red-shirt De'Andre Johnson. Robinson and Paki will be 1 and 2 on Saturday and the #3 running back is Jason White (who keeps switching between running back and defensive back).
• Ballard will shift back to defensive end for the game this Saturday while Binns is suspended. Mike Daniels will take the starting spot at tackle.
• Fiedorowicz has done well in camp and will be used situationally (i.e. passing downs) and also play on special teams.
• Morris and Kirksey were mentioned again as true freshmen who will play (mostly special teams).
• After leaving the team last year, Tillison is back and has worked his way into the mix at linebacker. He will probably see most of his time on special teams, but will relieve Hunter when necessary.
• Reisner, Robinson, Hampton - all got mentions from Feretnz as playing well in camp.

A couple of last cool things: on Friday, the road right outside Kinnick Stadium which is currently named Stadium Drive will be renamed Evashevski Drive in honor of the Hall of Fame coach. And, no link here, but look for the Big Ten divisions to be announced today. Yesterday morning there was a live special program on the programming schedule for the BTN. It was, however, mysteriously removed later in the day. Still, I believe that the conference officials want to get this over with before the season starts, and today is their last chance. For the record, I believe that the divisions will be:

• "West" - Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Illinois, Northwestern
• "East" - Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Purdue

So, Iowa will probably end it's yearly rivalry with either Wisconsin or Minnesota until the league goes to 9 conference games in 2015. With some creative scheduling, they could probably keep both intact over the next 4 years though, but we'll see. It could be a very interesting night tonight.

There are only a couple of days until the football season gets underway and there is no shortage of news. So, let's jump right in.

Josh Koeppel hit by truck
First off, the good news: Koeppel is doing "fine" and his injuries are not critical. He was however, hit by a truck that was turning left while Koeppel was on his motorcycle. Koeppel was rushed to the emergency room, but as I said, he's doing just fine.

Koeppel was listed as a co-starter with James Ferentz on Iowa's depth chart. It is unknown at this time if he'll be able to play this weekend against Eastern Illinois. If I had to guess, then I would say that Ferentz will be the starter on Saturday.

Hundertmark leaves team
This is being reported by @HawkeyeInsider on Twitter. We should know for sure later today during Kirk Ferentz's presser. Hundertmark was listed as the 2nd string right offensive guard and was likely to play this weekend in the opener (especially if those ankle injury rumors are true about Gettis). His reasons for leaving the team are currently unknown.

Now, all of the sudden with Koeppel possibly missing some time and Hundertmark leaving, the depth along the offensive line is looking rather slim. A group that I thought would gel early and perform better than its previous year's counterpart now does not look quite as stable.

The depth chart for Saturday was released at the end of last week as part of the game notes [pdf]. There are a couple of noteworthy items about the depth chart.

• Jewel Hampton and Broderick Binns are both suspended for 1 game and thus are not listed. However, they will likely be the first or second string running back and starting right defensive end respectively for the Iowa State game next week.
• As a result of Binns suspension, either Christian Ballard or Mike Daniels, both defensive tackles, will be sliding out to play defensive end.
• Shaun Prater, who has been battling a leg injury, is not on the depth chart. In his place is Greg Castillo who does have a good deal of experience. I don't think Prater's injury is too serious. He has been practicing to some extent.
• Kyle Steinbrecher, who previously was listed as a receiver, has moved to the defense and made his way onto the 2-deeps as a free safety.
• And, last but not least, DJK still has an "or" between his name and Colin Sandemann. I wouldn't read much into this. Both will see plenty of time.

For the Iowa Hawkeyes, the first week of the season starts today. We're now just 5 days away from kickoff. Many of the commits from the 2011 recruiting class, however, started their seasons last week.

Ray Hamilton
L Euclid 9 - Strongsville 5 | (0-1)
Hamilton started off the season all wrong. Not only did his team lose in the sloppy, defensive game, he struggled to make plays against a cornerback 9 inches shorter. On a 4th and goal he had a ball batted away in front of him and had another one intercepted in front of him on the 6 yard line with less than 2 minutes remaining.

Next Game: vs. Mentor - 09/03

Austin Blythe
W Williamsburg 55 - Center Point-Urbana | (1-0)
Blythe helped his team to an easy victory on Friday night. He can be seen in this KCRG video pass blocking on a few plays and in on a tackle on defense.

Next Game: vs. Mt. Pleasant - 09/03

Austin Vincent
W De Soto 56 - Leander 35 | (1-0)
Vincent had a quite night in a victory over Leander. He did however have one really big catch for a 45-yard touchdown that sparked a 36-point fourth quarter for De Soto.

Next Game: vs. Bowie - 09/06

Jake Duzey
W Mott 19 - Athens 31 | (1-0)
Duzey led the way to an opening week win for Athens. He was a big contributor in both the running and passing game, and even had a 53-yard kickoff return to start the second half. He carried the ball 7 times for 70 yards and had 3 receptions for another 49 and a TD.

Next Game: at Pontiac - 09/03

The Season Primer has been on hiatus a couple of days, but makes its triumphant comeback today. Today's topic is about the biggest stories of the off-season. If you have been following Iowa Football in any capacity, none of this will be news to you. But, if you need a quick refresher, here we go:

Nebraska Joins the Big Ten

Conference realignment was the biggest story of the off-season for all of college football. Rumors rampantly spread, teams were unsure where they would land, and the chaos has yet to subside. Thus far the changes have been:

• Nebraska: Big XII → Big Ten
• Colorado: Big XII → Pac-10
• Utah: MWC → Pac-10
• Boise State: WAC → MWC
• Nevada: WAC → MWC
• Fresno State: WAC → MWC
• BYU: MWC → Independent (hasn't happened officially yet)

Obviously Nebraska joining the Big Ten has the biggest impact on Iowa. Not only will it serve as a huge rivalry for the Hawkeyes as the states border one another and the teams have a history, the addition brings the Big Ten up to 12 teams thus introducing conference divisions and a conference title game.