No LaPorta, Luke Lachey will have to step up in possible Big Ten West clincher

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - The Iowa Hawkeyes will be without their top offensive weapon on Friday.

Sam LaPorta will be out with a leg injury. His backup, redshirt sophomore Luke Lachey, had five receptions last Saturday against Minnesota, including a fourth quarter grab that set up Drew Stevens’ game-winning field goal.

“Just knowing that Spencer has the confidence in me, that he could trust me in that moment, it was really comforting,” Lachey said.

LaPorta has 53 receptions for 601 yards on the year, the rest of the team has combined for 108 receptions and 1,147 yards.

Beating Nebraska is always important in the Hawkeye state, but if Iowa wins on Friday, they clinch the Big Ten West.

“It feels different in the sense that, since I’ve been here, we haven’t had this opportunity to control our own destiny,” said senior quarterback Spencer Petras. “After the Ohio State game we had five games left and coach (Kirk Ferentz’) challenge was to go 5-0.”

“You had to do it one week at a time, and really I think the key is to look at this more of a game 5 of a five game stretch.”

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