Kirk Ferentz held his weekly press conference today and, as expected, we found out a bit more about the fallout to the drunken escapades (and I use the term "escapades" very loosely) of Micah Hyde, Ray Hamilton, and Drew Clark.
Ferentz: Reiterates that three arrested players will be handled by student code of conduct. Says first offense for all three guys.
— Rittenberg/Bennett (@ESPN_BigTen) October 9, 2012
Hyde will play. Escapade cost him captaincy. Curfews will be adjusted.
— marcmorehouse (@marcmorehouse) October 9, 2012
Kirk Presser notes: Hyde, Hamilton will play this week if they practice well. Diff levels of offenses, take past history into account
— Jon Miller (@HawkeyeNation) October 9, 2012
Kirk praised Hyde all the way through presser, great student, leader, said he might have jaywalked once or twice.this is first thing
— Jon Miller (@HawkeyeNation) October 9, 2012
So: barring any setbacks during practice or new incidents, it sounds like Iowa will very likely have Hyde and Hamilton on the field in East Lansing on Saturday. (Possibly Clark, too, but he hasn't played all year anyway.) Whatever punishments they serve as a result of the incidents last weekend won't involve game suspensions.
There's also this tidbit from Hyde:
Hyde inferred that there's more to story regarding wknd arrest that could be told as legal process plays out. Could be vindication.
— Rob Howe (@HawkeyeInsider) October 9, 2012
That said, Hyde suiting up on Saturday doesn't eliminate the possibility of Greg Castillo also suiting up as a starter at cornerback. In non-discipline related news from the presser, Ferentz indicated that regular starter B.J. Lowery suffered a setback during practice last week and was "iffy" to play on Saturday.
Lowery and Blythe touch and go...Lowery had injury setback in practice last week, Kirk did not sound optimistic
— Jon Miller (@HawkeyeNation) October 9, 2012
That would not be ideal, although Michigan State may not have the passing game to really exploit Castillo, either. And, certainly, having Hyde and Castillo as starting corners is vastly preferable to having Castillo and a true freshman (Sean Draper or Kevin Buford) as starting corners in this pivotal game.
UPDATE: Morehouse has a transcript from Ferentz's presser available here (scroll down).
He's also got video from Hyde here:
(via)