BREAKING: Indiana left tackle Coy Cronk needs surgery, will be lost for the season

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It was obvious Saturday that something very serious had happened to Indiana left tackle Coy Cronk when he went down early in the first quarter. And now we know for sure. He's done for the season with a lower leg injury that's going to require surgery this week.

"It's just a tough break for him,'' Indiana coach Tom Allen said. "I love that guy, and just everything he brings to our program and has brought to our program as one of our captains, one of our leaders.

"You saw the guys rally around him and you can just tell by the way the team responded in an impromptu way to him on the field, and I thought it was pretty awesome. I got out there and he grabs me and I'm just checking on him. He's like,'Coach, it's way too far from my heart to kill me' was first thing he said. And the second thing he said, he's like, "Coach, it's a big one, we've got to win this game, make sure these guys finish.' All he cared about was his teammates and us getting a win.''

The 6-foot-5, 325-pound senior from Lafayette, Ind., has started every game he's played in for the Hoosiers since he arrived on campus in 2016, a streak that reached 40 games on Saturday. With a game against Michigan State and its No. 3-ranked rushing defense on Saturday, his loss is huge.

Replacing him with one guy is nearly impossible. That was even obvious on Saturday in the 38-3 win against Connecticut. Right tackle Caleb Jones flipped over to the left side for a while and DaVondre Love and true freshman Matthew Bedford got plenty of snaps as well. All three played well there, but none of them are Cronk, both from a talent and experience level.

"Caleb's going to have to be able to do both. We've got to keep him ready to play both sides,'' Allen said. "A guy like Matt Bedford, we will just focus him on left tackle because he's so young. That's why you recruit and that's why you develop your guys, and I just think it's a great opportunity for somebody to step up and take advantage of it.

"But that's how we're going to approach it right now and how we'll approach this week. Obviously, we have the bye the following week, so it gives us a chance to continue to get important reps. But all the focus right now is getting those guys ready to play against Michigan State.''

Because Cronk only played four games this season, he will be eligible to redshirt and return for a fifth season if he so chooses, thanks to a new redshirt rule that was changed in 2018.

Allen said it hasn't been discussed, because now is not the time. His health and pending surgery comes first.

"Obviously there are a lot of different things out there as possibilities, but right now the No. 1 focus is getting surgery, getting through that, supporting him 100 percent,'' Allen said. "We'll make, we'll have those discussions with him and his family when it's appropriate and make the best decision possible for him.''

His teammates hated to see him get hurt. He's a leader on this offense, someone that everyone looks up to.

“Coy’s a leader. He’s a senior. Anything he says we listen to it 100 percent and take everything he says to key,'' Indiana running back Stevie Scott said Saturday. "We just wanted to play for him after that injury. It was sad seeing him go down, but we got the job done and finished it for him.”