Torn ACL ends Barkley Hill's season

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Iowa's string of running back problems continued on Tuesday when the school announced that freshman tailback Barkley Hill would miss the season with a torn ACL.

Hawkeyes coach Kirk Ferentz says Hill will have surgery later this week.

Hill, who injured his knee in a Saturday scrimmage, was a candidate to start for the Hawkeyes this season after enrolling early and participating in spring practice. His loss further clouds a running back position that has been marred by so many departures and injuries in recent seasons that Iowa fans joke it is cursed. Since the end of last season alone, leading rusher Marcus Coker transferred to FCS Stony Brook, backup Mika'il McCall left the team, Jordan Canzeri tore his ACL in spring practice and De'Andre Johnson was dismissed days before fall practice began.

Sophomore Damon Bullock and true freshman Greg Garmon are now the most likely candidates to carry the ball when the Hawkeyes open the season Sept. 1 against Northern Illinois in Chicago.

Ruben Lile will also redshirt the 2012 season because of injury. Ferentz says that Lile, a freshman defensive back from Detroit, suffered a similar injury to Hill's without getting into further details.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Brian Bennett | email

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• ESPN.com Big Ten blogger
• Joined ESPN.com in 2008
• Wrote for The Courier-Journal