Injuries: Bad luck or results of our recruiting styles?

[Luth4Cy]

I don't have any numbers, but I would guess that we are probably on par with the rest of college football. The problem at ISU is that these become glaring problems because we don't have a whole roster of 4 star guys to just fill in the next spot. When a lineman goes down and our next best option is a Freshman, it partially says a lot of good about that Freshman, but also is a good indicator of how little quality depth we have on the line.

Exactly, and CPR has more depth then Cyclone football has ever had in my memory, so he can get away with a couple more injuries now, but unless recruiting improves to the middle of the pack in the conference, there will always be a couple injuries that will make a huge difference. Even this year he was able to have what I consider a quality football team with injuries to Gannon (yes, I call that an injury), Bundrage, and West. Problems really started to arise though when guys like Harris and Medders went down. It's good to know they can now often handle one injury at a position, but two or three are still going to be problems.

 

[Luth4Cy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the only injuries I'm counting on defense this season are Ayeni's and Luna's? There was some other stuff too, but it was things that kept players out for part of a game, not multiple games or the whole season.

 

[ajk4st8]

Something else that I have wondered about, knee braces. Do we have the same brace as other schools? Are there better ones out there?

A study on Big 10 offensive linemen showed there was no more increased incidence in ACL tear with or without braces. I wouldnt put it on that.

Knee braces can help... they just often dont.

 

[isu81]

I really wish somebody could find a list of number of starters who miss playing time throughout the season. It's possible we have more injuries than other programs, but until I see the numbers proving it I have to question whether it's true or not.

Agree with this. I think injuries are part of the game. Even last year on our OL, most of the injuries were ones guys played through. Obviously, Farniok hurt. But I watch games all day and teams are missing critical players or losing them during the game. No data, but would guess we are on par with college football as a whole. Look no further than our next opponent. Lost both their QB and RB who was averaging 9 yards/carry.