Ferentz says Scherff will be hard to replace - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

The Hawkeyes lost two starting offensive linemen on Saturday. Brandon Scherff and Andrew Donnal are both done after season-ending injuries. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says Scherff, a sophomore tackle from Denison, broke a bone in his leg during Saturday night's 38-14 loss to Penn State.

The loss of the two lineman is a blow to an offense that has scored just 26 points in the past two weeks. Junior Nolan MacMillan will move into Scherff's starting spot at tackle for this weekend's game between the Hawkeyes and Northwestern. Redshirt freshman Austin Blythe will likely replace Donnal at guard.

The left tackle spot might be the most important on the line and Ferentz says Scherff will be hard to replace.

"He's improved every week," said Ferentz. "So the good news is he's got a couple years left.  He's got a great attitude.  It was disappointing, certainly.  Most disappointing any time a player is injured.  They work extremely hard 12 months a year to play 12 games.  To have that taken away is really a hard thing. But his attitude was tremendous Saturday night, everybody saw that in the stadium, saw him Sunday right after he got that thing repaired and his attitude is going to be better."

Iowa (4-3) and Northwestern (6-2)  play at 11:00 AM Saturday on ESPN 2.