Iowa Football: Hawkeyes Release Depth Chart Ahead of Matchup with Purdue

The Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves in relatively uncharted territory this week. After taking home a 23-20 win over then #4 Penn State on Saturday, the Hawkeyes jumped up to #2 in both the AP and Coaches Poll this week. That’s the highest Iowa has been ranked since late in the 1985 season when the Hawkeyes peaked out at #1 in the nation.

Much of the narrative around Iowa’s big time win on Saturday has been focused on what might have been if Penn State didn’t lose starting QB Sean Clifford to injury in the second quarter. But the Nittany Lions weren’t the only team to sustain injuries during the game.

The Hawkeyes saw a pair of starters exit Saturday’s matchup due to injury. The Big Ten and national (tie) leader in interceptions Riley Moss departed late in the second quarter after intercepting a Ta’Quan Roberson pass near midfield. Meanwhile, fullback and general bada$$ Monte Pottebaum exited in the second half. Neither player returned for the Hawkeyes on Saturday.

With those injuries looming, Iowa released a fresh depth chart for their week seven matchup against the Purdue Boilermakers.

Image via HawkeyeSports.com

Noted Notables

• The biggest notable item this week is Riley Moss is nowhere to be found. We won’t get answers on the severity of his injury until Tuesday’s media availability, but at this point it seems unlikely he plays against Purdue on Saturday. That moves Terry Roberts into the starting lineup, where he performed well in relief of Moss against Penn State. UNI transfer Xavior Williams slides into the two-deeps as the backup to Matt Hankins on the other side (the spot previously held by Roberts). Jermari Harris remains the backup to Roberts at RC.
• Unlike Moss, Monte Pottebaum is still listed as the starter at FB this week. That seems to bode well for his availability. Again, we’ll look for details on his injury come Tuesday.
• No changes to the depth chart on the offensive line despite some changes in the game. Connor Colby is again listed as the starter despite playing just 10 snaps last week. Justin Britt remains his backup despite playing more snaps (67) at guard than either Colby or fellow starter Kyler Schott (55). Hawkeye fans are still looking for Iowa to lock in a rotation on the OL and build some continuity so we’ll continue to keep an eye on this.

Fortunately for Iowa, those are the only real changes from a week ago. For a team that has clawed its way to 6-0 and a #2 ranking, there’s no need to mix things up outside of injuries and tightening down this rotation along the offensive line. We’ll look for more information on the former during this week’s media availability and keep our eyes on the latter come Saturday.

The Hawkeyes will play host to Purdue in a 2:30pm CT kick from Kinnick on Saturday. This week is Homecoming in Iowa City. The game will be broadcast on ABC.