IOWA CITY - The talented understudy was ready for his moment in the spotlight.
Then came a knee injury to Jewel Hampton, the precious possession of the University of Iowa's running game.
Hampton participated fully in the opening practice of the fall Friday as the Hawkeye football team looks to build from last season's 9-4 campaign.
The record-breaking freshman in 2008 as the backup to Shonn Greene tweaked his knee in June to put a scare into everyone in or following the Hawkeye program.
"If anybody in my position was told their season could be taken away that would be heartbreaking, as it was to me," Hampton said during Iowa's media day. "I just kept a good head about it."
The shoes Hampton and fellow backs Paki O'Meara, Jeff Brinson and Brandon Wegher must try to fill are enormous.
Greene rejoined the Hawkeyes last season after being kicked off the team the year before. Greene went from an unknown to the nation's top running back as he won the Doak Walker Award. The consensus All-American rushed for a school record 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Hampton showed he could do some damage as well behind the powerful Iowa offense line as he rushed for 463 yards and scored seven touchdowns - the most by a freshman in school history.
"At this point last year we didn't even know we had Shonn Greene, where it was going to go and how it was going to end up," said offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe.
Hampton said the knee was fine after the first day of practice and he was 90-95 percent healthy.
"It's full speed ahead, there's nothing holding him back that we can see," O'Keefe said.
The Hawkeyes are No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches preseason poll released Friday.
"We're coming off some big wins last year and we have a lot of good guys coming back, so we're looking to have some great wins this year," said junior wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. "Now we're ranked nationally, so we just need to really stay focused and get the job done. We have a lot of young guys that are showing a lot of promise and a great group of older guys that have been in the system a while. I think now is the time that we can really get over that hump."
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz sees the opportunity in front of his team this fall, but also knows what the schedule holds - Big Ten road games with Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State.
"It's really conceivable we have a better team than last year and have a record that doesn't indicate that because winning on the road is tougher, there's no question about that," Ferentz said.
Six starters are back on the offense and that includes junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi, who was 8-3 as a starter last fall. Stanzi was fourth in the conference in passing efficiency and threw for 1,956 yards and 14 touchdowns in Iowa's run-heavy offense.
"We feel good about Ricky and his development," Ferentz said. "Last year he was just trying to play, trying to compete for a job.
The offensive line has a pair of anchors at tackle in Bryan Bulaga and Kyle Calloway. The receiving group could be a surprise led by a pair of additions. Converted quarterback Marvin McNutt is listed as the No. 1 split end on the depth chart, while talented tight end Tony Moeaki is healthy.
"With Tony our fans haven't had a chance to see the same guy we've seen," Ferentz said. "He's an excellent football player, couldn't be a better team leader or team member. It would be a great boost to our whole football team if he has the kind of year we think he's capable of."
Somewhat lost with all the attention given to Greene last year was how great the Hawkeye defense performed.
Eight starters are back from the unit that led the Big Ten and ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense (13 points per game) and was second in the conference and 12th nationally in total defense (291 yards per game).
Linebacker is the heart and soul of the group as Pat Angerer, A.J. Edds and Jeremiha Hunter return.
"Pat Angerer I think is one of the great stories on our team last year," Ferentz said of last year's team leader with 107 tackles. "He was number two (on the depth chart) coming in. I don't think many linebackers played much better. There are some good linebackers in our conference. But Pat did an awful lot for our football team in a lot of different ways."
The secondary has Amari Spievey back at corner as well as safeties Brett Greenwood and Tyler Sash. Sash was a freshman All-American as he led the Big Ten in interceptions with five.
All of the conference is in the same boat as Iowa with a large group of returning performers. Ten of the 11 teams return at least half of their starters from a season ago.
Iowa opens the year with Northern Iowa coming to Kinnick Stadium - which has a new field turf playing surface - on Sept. 5.
