By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – 16 September 2023.

Iowa tight end Luke Lachey will always remember this day because the game he loves was taken away from him due to injury.

Lachey suffered a lower leg injury late in the first quarter of the third game of the 2023 season against Western Michigan. The injury brought an abrupt end to what was shaping up to be a spectacular season for Lachey, as when it happened he had 10 pass catches for 131 yards in just under nine quarters.

The pain and sadness of that day are still in Lachey’s mind, but he knows how to deal with the tragedy.

“It also helps that it’s one of my best friends’ birthdays,” Lachey said Tuesday. “So, it helps. But of course, it’s going to stay in the back of my mind for a long time.”

Lachey will make his highly anticipated return when Iowa faces Illinois State in the season opener at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

“I’m super excited to get back out there for the first time,” Lachey said. “I feel like I’m going to be a whole different kind of nervous when I get back out there.”

“But at the end of the day, it’s just football. That’s why I’m really happy to be back out there.”

Lachey was injured on an incomplete pass by Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara on a third-down attempt late in the first quarter, one play before kicker Drew Stevens missed a 41-yard field goal. There was silence at Kinnick Stadium as Lachey had to be escorted off the field because he was unable to put weight on his right foot.

Lachey was considered one of the best college tight ends in the country when he sustained the injury, and there was speculation that he might declare for the 2024 NFL Draft.

And while Iowa fans didn’t want to keep the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Lachey from entering the draft for that reason, they are thrilled to have him back for another season, and Lachey is thrilled to be back for another season.

He was recently named team captain for the game against Illinois State and is expected to play a significant role in Iowa’s offense under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

“I’m really excited about it,” Lachey said of Saturday’s season opener. “No timer on my phone. But it’s all over the building. So I see it there. I just can’t wait.”

Lachey has never gone this long without playing football since he started playing the sport as a young boy in Ohio.

As the son of former NFL All-Pro offensive lineman Jim Lachey, Luke grew up playing the game.

So it felt strange and lonely at times when it was withheld from me for so long.

“I’ve never had an injury like this that has kept me out of action for so long,” said Luke Lachey.

Lachey said his teammates and coaches at Iowa did everything possible to include him in team activities during his injury.

He traveled to all but one away game and continued to attend practices, team meetings and training tables with his teammates.

But he also felt lonely and isolated at times, especially on game days.

“Sure, you struggle with it,” Lachey said. “But my teammates were really good about getting me involved. And being able to go to every game except Penn State made it easier. I was with my teammates and I was still able to eat and have dinner with them.”

The hardest part for Lachey was probably watching the games alone in the press box.

“So it’s been a little lonely,” Lachey said. “It’s been really weird.”

It will also be strange for Lachey and his teammates not to have Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz on the sidelines for Saturday’s game.

Kirk Ferentz and receiver coach Jon Budmayr are both suspended for one game due to a recruiting violation related to Cade McNamara.

Kirk Ferentz tried to downplay his suspension and said that everything would be business as usual on game day.

“Really, seriously, and I don’t mean to downplay this, but I think it’s probably more important what you do during the week, and then certainly during camp and just throughout the year. We just try to make sure everyone keeps their eyes on the goal, what we think is important,” Kirk Ferentz said. “When game day comes, I’ll say this in all honesty, the players win the games. They’re the ones out there competing. We can’t do that. There are times when we might do something that’s helpful, but overall it comes down to how the players play. That’s really the case.”

However, it will probably take some time for the players to get used to not having the country’s longest-serving head coach on the sidelines on matchday.

“It’s tough,” said Lachey, who has caught 46 passes for 662 yards and four touchdowns in his career. “But we’re really trying to focus on what we have in front of us in the game this week.”

Iowa associate head coach Seth Wallace will serve as acting head coach on Saturday.

“This week was business as usual,” Lachey said. “We approached it the same way and I have complete confidence in Coach Wallace and the way he’s going to handle things.”