The recruiting analysts thought so when they dubbed him the top player in the nation at his position coming out of Warrenville South (Ill.) High School in 2005. The Syracuse defenders whom he burned for eight catches, 112 yards and three touchdowns early last season probably thought so, too.
For everyone else, though, Moeaki’s potential remains just that — potential. That’s because injuries have kept him on the sideline almost all of the past year.
“He wants to play. He wants to play,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz repeated Tuesday. “He’s a little frustrated, obviously.”
Moeaki, a senior who probably will be granted another year of eligibility at the end of this season, was not available to the media this week. Perhaps he was icing his head … or his foot … or his elbow … or his wrist. The list of injuries goes on and on.
Last season, two weeks after his dominant performance against Syracuse, a game in which he had scoring catches of 52, 5 and 6 yards, Moeaki broke his wrist and dislocated his elbow in a game at Wisconsin. He was lost for the season.
He wasn’t able to practice in the spring because he still was rehabbing from wrist surgery.
Moeaki finally was healthy and at full strength when training camp opened in early August, but, less than a week into camp, he suffered a foot injury, a fracture, which required surgery and several weeks of rehab. He missed the first two games of the season.
“It’s definitely taxing,” said senior wideout Andy Brodell, who also was lost to injury in that Wisconsin game last year and spent the rest of the season rehabbing with Moeaki. “Just what I went through last year was taxing enough. I can’t imagine what he’s been through.
“When he hurt himself in camp, I felt really bad for him, but Tony’s a tough guy. He was upset about it, but he’s been in there wearing out the training staff, and that’s what you’ve got to do when you get an injury like that. He’s just anxious to get back.”
Moeaki made it back for Saturday’s Iowa State game and got in late in the first half. He didn’t have an opportunity to make a catch until late in the third quarter, and when he did, the injury bug reared its head again. Moeaki caught a short pass on an out pattern and was drilled, helmet-to-helmet, by Iowa State cornerback Leonard Johnson. The blow knocked Johnson unconscious and knocked Moeaki out of the game.
“That was a rude welcoming, a tough way to start it out,” Ferentz said. “But he’ll be fine.”
“He keeps coming back strong,” sophomore tight end Allen Reisner added. “He works hard. He does the right work in the training room and just keeps coming back. He wants to be 100 percent. We want him at 100 percent. He’s just had some bad luck right now.”
On the sidelines, in practices and games, Moeaki has been like a student coach for a tight end unit that has evolved into a deep and talented group. Brandon Myers has continued to fill in admirably in Moeaki’s absence, and Reisner has matured into a viable second option.
Moeaki didn’t practice Tuesday, but he is expected to play Saturday when Iowa (3-0) plays at Pittsburgh (1-1).
His teammates expect him to be ready and to start proving on the field just how good he can be.
“He’s been through a lot. But I don’t think he’s going to let something like this tear him down,” Brodell said. “The biggest thing for him is he’s going to be in there eventually. He’s going to be healthy and in there, so he’s watching film just like everyone else and preparing just like everyone else, because he knows he’s going to be in there eventually.”
Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
