Bryce George injury update: Kirk Ferentz reacts to surprise pregame setback

Bryce George was injured pregame and did not participate in Iowa’s 34-7 win over Albany to open up the season. Head coach Kirk Ferentz was, frankly, stunned at the freak accident.

George reportedly had an arm injury and was taken to the locker room. However, it was unclear what actually happened to the offensive lineman.

George just transferred to the program from Ferris State this offseason. He was listed as the third-string left tackle on the depth chart going into the game.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a first for me,” Ferentz said postgame. “As a line coach or just any coach, but yeah, it was a freak thing. He was obviously devastated. It hits hard. I think he’ll be back. I don’t know how soon, but anyway, he was just not counting on that, to your point.”

While George didn’t play, Iowa soundly got the win to open the season. Ferentz was pleased, especially following training camp.

“To start out, just obviously good to get the win,” Ferentz said. “Happy to get that done. I thought the players’ effort was good, and good to see them get rewarded for that.

“I thought the team had a really good camp, preseason camp, and I think some of the good things we saw tonight are probably the result of that, and then the flipside, too, is there’s always work to do, and I think certainly tonight we’ll have a lot of good teaching examples tomorrow to go off of and just some situations that we’re going to have to do a better job with.”

Bryce George has weird pregame injury, Iowa wins 34-7

It’s unclear what George’s role would’ve been had he been able to play. But despite the injury, Iowa pressed on.

“The bottom line, just good to be 1-0 right now,” Ferentz said. “Going to enjoy tonight, I told the guys to do that, and then tomorrow we’ll go back to work. Sunday is all about taking a look at the tape and trying to take something out of it, and I think it’s every bit as important after a win as a loss.

“Certainly a lot of things that we can get better at, and that’s going to be the focus as we move forward here this week. That’s kind of our plan right now.”

Iowa has a rivalry game next week on the road against Iowa State, with a trophy on the line. The game kicks off in Ames on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. ET.