Filed under: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Big 10
Only one running back, Wisconsin's John Clay, has more carries this season (160) than Iowa's Adam Robinson (153). But when you consider that the Badgers have run the ball 59 more times than Iowa this year (340 to 261), you realize that no back carries more of the load for his team than Robinson (58.6 percent, as opposed to 47.1 percent for Clay).The question is why? Two reasons: the absences of Jewel Hampton and Brandon Wegher (right).
Hampton, who set a school freshman rushing touchdowns record two years ago with seven, was lost for this season with an ACL tear in the Hawkeyes' third game at Arizona. Hampton missed all of 2009 for the same reason.
Wegher's absence is more cryptic. Last season, the Dakota Dunes, S.D., native had 967 all-purpose yards as a true freshman, including a team-high 113 rushing yards in the Hawkeyes' Orange Bowl win. However, Wegher has been AWOL from Iowa this year. Wegher is still enrolled there, though, and the most that coach Kirk Ferentz has said in regard to his absence is, "He's not feeling it, for lack of a better term."
Attempts by FanHouse to reach Wegher in Iowa City were unsuccessful.
Wegher's father, Rick, is a former All-American running back at South Dakota State. "All I can tell you is that it's a family matter," said Wegher, who runs a construction company in Sioux City, S.D. "Brandon is down in Iowa City, taking care of what he has to. He's there and we're here."
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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2010/10/27/big-ten-harvest-whither-wegher/
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