Motivation is always used in sports to prepare for an upcoming game. From a coach’s message to the team to becoming more determined, there’s that little something used every week for inspiration in football.
When Iowa came away with a 30-28 win over Michigan on Oct. 10, the Hawkeyes paid a price in losing wide receiver Paul Chaney Jr. for the season with an ACL injury.
Wanting to win for a fallen comrade gave the Hawkeye offense a bit of a booste, during the Hawks’ 20-10 win over Wisconsin last weekend.
Players were thinking about no longer having the services of Chaney — not just inside Camp Randall Stadium on Oct. 17 but also back in Iowa City during the days leading up to the tilt with the Badgers.
Chaney ended his junior campaign with 316 all-purpose yards for the Hawkeyes.
Most of the damage came on kickoff returns, which accounted for 161 of his yards. The St. Louis native also had 64 yards rushing, 50 yards receiving, and 41 yards on punt returns.
His versatility on the field — whether running a route, an end-around, or returning a kick — won over Chaney’s teammates.
“Paul’s a great guy and a great teammate. Everyone respects him, and we all get along with him very well,” junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi said. “When a guy like that goes down, who has contributed so big this year for us, guys tend to rally.”
And rally the Hawkeyes did. Iowa was trailing 10-0 to the Badgers before reeling off 20 unanswered points to come away with its seventh victory of the year.
Among those to have an enormous impact on the Hawkeye offense in last weekend’s victory in Madison, Wis., was another junior wideout, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. The Campbell, Ohio, native tied a career-high with eight receptions against the Badgers.
But when talking about both his own individual outing and the masterpiece the entire team put together inside Camp Randall Stadium, Chaney sat at the forefront of Johnson-Koulianos’postgame thoughts.
“I really recognized a difference in his approach this off-season and how much more he wanted it compared with the years before,” he said. “He really busted his butt to get out there and contribute.”
Now at 7-0, the seventh-ranked Hawkeyes are going to continue their pursuit of a date in Pasadena without Chaney. And certainly, there will be more motivation coming their way each passing week.
But when it comes to reflecting on beating Wisconsin, one thing is clear: That one was for Paul.
“We know that Paul was watching, and we wanted to give him a good victory,” Stanzi said. “It’s never easy to go through what he’s going through. I can’t speak for him. I don’t know what it’s like to go through that, but he’s a tough kid.
“He’s got a lot of character, and we know that he could be a big contributor for us when he comes back.”