One of the worst things that could have happened to Iowa’s offensive line all season happened in the first quarter of the first game.

With 4:58 remaining in the first of Iowa’s 38-14 season-opening win over Miami (Ohio), star left tackle Alaric Jackson went down. Team doctors looked at his knee, and he jogged off the field, allowing Hawkeye fans to breathe a sigh of relief.

That didn’t last long.

Jackson was spotted on the sidelines shortly after walking on crutches, barely putting any weight on his injured knee.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said Jackson was doing well I the locker room after the game, but the team doesn’t know the extent of the injury.

Whether he’s back next week not, Iowa plans to keep plugging along up front.

“It’s really unfortunate what happened to A.J., and he knows we’re all behind him,” offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs said. “He’s going to be back quick, but I think he would say the same thing if any of us went down: we got a job to do. We still got a game to play.”

That’s exactly how the Hawkeyes played in the trenches.

Despite a player with the talent of a first-round NFL Draft pick getting hurt early, Iowa still rushed for 213 yards on 5.2 yards per carry from getting plenty of push up front.

Running back Mekhi Sargent took advantage, compiling a game-high 91 yards on 14 carries. He also caught four passes for 65 yards, including a 41-yard screen pass that saw his offensive line getting up field and making key blocks to set up a 9-yard touchdown catch for Brandon Smith.

“Coming off the Mississippi State game, we didn’t do too well rushing,” Sargent said. “We had a mindset of coming into this one to run the ball really hard, run the ball tough.”

Plenty of new faces saw action when Jackson went down, but that was planned. Jackson’s injury, however, wasn’t planned, so the rotations were a little different.

Wirfs moved to the left tackle slot where Jackson originally played. From there, sophomore Mark Kallenberger, sophomore Kyler Schott, redshirt freshman Cody Ince, and freshman Justin Britt entered throughout.

Despite all the fresh faces, Iowa didn’t miss a beat.

“I mentioned Tristan going left — he hasn’t done a lot of that in practice, he does some, so that was a big part,” Ferentz said. “Then, Levi [Paulsen] and Kallenberger were in there, too. We kind of rotated guys around a little bit and played a lot of guys inside. Britt played, Ince played — that’s the first time they’ve ever played. Obviously, both Paulsen’s were in there, [Schott] was in there getting some reps.

“So, some young faces, but I thought overall those guys played well.”

After posting 465 yards of total offense, it’s clear the entire offensive line came ready to play. Still, the Hawkeyes would love to have Jackson back.

Whether that happens soon or not, Iowa knows it can put up numbers offensively either way.

“If we need them in a bigger situation, they can come in and be ready to play,” Wirfs said. “I think it’s good getting them to have some meaningful snaps early, so later on, they can make an impact.”