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Iowa’s struggling offense will be without two of its largest playmakers this week, as receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette and running back Ivory Kelly-Martin have both been ruled out of today’s game against UNI.
On @hawkcentral: #Hawkeyes will be without their hyphenated duo.
— Dargan Southard (@Dargan_Southard) September 15, 2018
Ivory Kelly-Martin (ankle) & Ihmir Smith-Marsette (shoulder) both officially out, as is Cole Banwart (leg): https://t.co/DxCNFCE69u
It appears Cole Banwart will miss this game along the offensive line, Dalton Ferguson sliding in to take his place.
Ivory Kelly-Martin sat the entire Iowa State game last week after a very nice performance against Northern Illinois in his first career start. He’s believed to have suffered a minor leg injury.
Ihmir Smith-Marsette has been relatively quiet this season, but had a huge 45-yard catch against ISU last week that eventually led to Iowa’s only touchdown of the day. Smith-Marsette exited the game grabbing his leg following that catch.
I don’t suspect either injury to be too serious — Kirk Ferentz sounded like both players may miss this game for precautionary reasons, no doubt keeping an eye on Wisconsin next week.
In the meantime, expect to see heavy doses of Toren Young, Mehki Sargent (and hopefully Henry Geil) in the backfield, while Matt Groeneweg and Max Cooper will fill ISM’s shoes.
Go Hawks.