Brandon Wegher Is Not Expected To Return To the Iowa Hawkeyes

The hold-your-breath storyline of the preseason for the Iowa Hawkeyes has been the mystery regarding the status of running back Brandon Wegher.

Wegher has been "MIA" from the team for a couple of weeks now, and no official word or decision on his future in Iowa City has been given to this point until now.

Wegher was a key piece of the offense last season for the Hawkeyes as he stepped up early on when there was a lot of doubt in the running back situation. The comeback thriller against Indiana was most likely the best game of the year for Wegher as he rushed for 118 yards on 25 carries and got an astounding three touchdowns.

Coach Kirk Ferentz told ESPN.com in regards to the situation that he basically feels like the team should look to move forward this year without Mr. Wegher and get ready for the Panthers of Eastern Illinois.

“He may return sometime during the year; he may not and he may never come back,’’ Ferentz said. “Right now, we have to move forward, and I’m just hopeful that he’ll immerse himself in his classes and keep moving forward academically."

Kirk Ferentz, who's Hawkeyes are expected to be a front-runner for the Big Ten title and some say national title, is seemingly trying to downplay the possible loss of Wegher. With Adam Robinson returning and Jewel Hampton returning from injury, the loss of Wegher may in fact not be as big of a blow as it would be on other Hawkeyes teams in the past.

Even last season many wondered how the Hawkeyes would survive with the early exit of Shonn Greene and preseason injury to Jewel Hampton. Robinson and Wegher more than picked up the slack, and they were a part of what many consider to be possibly the best season in Hawkeye football history.

Whether Wegher does come back or not, he has already made his mark on the Hawkeyes in his brief career thus far at Iowa with his touchdown in the Orange Bowl and various goal-line leaps during the regular season. That 32-yard scamper was one of the main highlights in a classic that had many hoping that he would have many repeat performances this season.

Also announced were the departures of two other players from the team almost a week before the opening kickoffs. They were backup fullback Wade Leppert and backup linebacker Austin Gray. Gray did not get much playing time at Iowa, but Leppert did. He mostly blocked for Shonn Greene in 2008 and was on special teams the past couple of seasons including being the guy leapt over by Derrell Johnson-Koulianos on the cover of Sports Illustrated.