Kamari Moulton injury update: Kirk Ferentz provides potential timeline for return

The Iowa Hawkeyes opened the season with a solid win against Albany. However, the Hawkeyes also seemed to suffer a loss, with star running back Kamari Moulton going down with an injury.

Kamari Moulton is now officially missing from the Iowa two-deep for the Hawkeyes’ upcoming game against rival Iowa State. That’s because, as head coach Kirk Ferentz shared with practice underway leading into that game, Moulton is going to be forced to miss some time. While he didn’t put an exact timeline on the issue, he did admit it’s likely going to be multiple weeks.

“Probably a couple of weeks,” Kirk Ferentz said. “I’m guessing, but yeah. I don’t want to pin it down because I really don’t know. Definitely not this week, and he’s doing fine but it’s just gonna take some time.”

Injuries have become an issue for Kamari Moulton so far this season. He would miss time in Fall Camp with a hamstring issue. The week before that opener against Albany, he returned to practice, though. However, he would leave that game with an injury issue. That, notably, appeared to be a shoulder issue and unrelated to the hamstring issue he was dealing with during Fall Camp.

In the game against Albany, he had three carries for 22 yards before leaving with an injury. In the end, Xavier Williams led Iowa in rushing with 11 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown. Terrell Washington also had 15 carries for 69 yards. As a team, Iowa would have 310 rushing yards to 48 passing yards on the day, scoring 34 points.

Kamari Moulton came to Iowa as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2023. He was the 1,306th-ranked recruit and the 90th-ranked running back in that recruiting cycle. Going into the 2025 season, expectations were high for the star running back too. Ahead of the season, he would be named to the Doak Walker watchlist.

In 2023, Kamari Moulton took a redshirt, playing in four games. He’d then breakout in 2024, playing in 12 games for Iowa. He had 84 carries for 473 yards, for 5.6 yards per attempt, and three touchdowns on the season. He also had one reception for 12 yards.

Kirk Ferentz does have some interesting options to turn to at running back. In the team’s latest two-deep, Iowa lists Terrell Washington as the starter. He had previously been listed as the co-starter. Xavier Williams, who had his own breakout game against Albany, is listed second. Then, the Hawkeyes are rounding out their depth chart with veteran back Jaziun Patterson and freshman Nathan McNeil.

Iowa and Iowa State will renew their rivalry on Saturday, September 6th at 12:00 p.m. EST. This season, the Cyclones are set to host.