On his weekly radio show Wednesday evening, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed that junior left tackle will indeed be sidelined for the Hawkeyes’ contest at No. 5 Penn State on Saturday.
The Crystal Lake, Ill., native has already missed the past two games against Iowa State and Arizona with an unspecified illness, which is what is keeping him out against the Nittany Lions this weekend.
On this week’s two-deep, redshirt freshman Riley Reiff was listed as the starting left tackle for Saturday’s game. Reiff has started the past two games in Bulaga’s place, but this marked the first time Bulaga had not been listed ahead of the Parkston, S.D., native on the two-deep. Currently listed as Reiff’s back-up at left tackle is senior Dace Richardson, who is also listed as the Hawkeyes’ first-string left guard.
Earlier in the week, Bulaga, along with senior tight end Tony Moeaki and junior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, were all listed by Ferentz as “day-to-day.” All three were inactive for Iowa’s 27-17 win over Arizona on Sept. 19. Ferentz also said both Moeaki and Johnson-Koulianos have a chance of playing against Penn State, but that their statuses remain unknown.
— by Brendan Stiles
