Scary news out of Iowa City today, as Josh Koeppel was struck by a truck while riding his motorcycle to class this morning:

Iowa City Police Sgt. Denise Brotherton said Koeppel was westbound on Burlington Street, crossing the intersection with Gilbert Street, at 7:25 a.m. today. Koeppel was driving a small Yamaha motorcycle.

At the same time, a Ford F150 pickup was eastbound on Burlington. A police officer who witnessed the crash said the driver of the truck attempted to make a left-hand turn onto Gilbert Street and collided with Koeppel in the intersection. The driver was cited for failing to yield.

Koeppel was hospitalized with unspecified "non-life-threatening" injuries, and the word "fine" was used twice in the P-C's writeup of the crash. If he got anything worse than some road rash or whatever, we'd be surprised.

Not fine, however, was the F-150; it burst into flames upon impact, then Koeppel got up from the wreck and kicked it out of the earth's gravitational pull. Residents who witnessed the truck leaving orbit called the sight "beautiful."

At any rate, though the accident is likely minor, its proximity to the season opener likely seals James Ferentz as the starting center for Week 1. So it goes.