Spotlight on Larry Blue - 1993 Iowa Football Media Guide - Summary of Iowa football and basketball games

REPUBLISHED NEWS and ARTICLES

This article has been republished for historical purposes. Exact publishing date may vary. If you'd like us to repost a related article that is no longer online (or pre-internet), please contact us!

Spotlight on Larry Blue - 1993 Iowa Football Media Guide

7/1/1993 by Erica Weiland of University of Iowa Athletics Department

This article originally appeared in the 1993 Iowa Football Media Guide in the Summer of 1993.

Around this time last year, Larry Blue was worried. Every time he saw his name - in football guides, newspapers - it said "Senior Larry Blue," but he was a junior. Wasn't he?

"A lot of thing had me listed as a senior," Blue said. "I guess they didn't know I had redshirted. Anything I read, I was a senior. I was getting kind of scared; I thought I was done. I think Coach Fry even thought I was a senior. After the Minnesota game last November, he said, 'You had a great career,' I was like, 'Oh. It's true; I'm done.' But it's okay now. I think everbody's caught up."

In his teammates' case, they've done more than catch up; they elected Blue to be one of the Hawkeye tri-captains this season. And that is something of which the defensive end from Hempstead, NY, is very proud.

"It's a great honor," Blue said. "I think I felt kind of enthused that my teammates chose me as one of the leaders for the season. I have a great deal of respect for them, and it showed in their voting that they have the same respect for me. It shows that you’re a leader in some way. Me, personally, l think I lead by example more than speaking and talking to my teammates. I was happy that I was chosen, and I’ll try to do my best to live up to that title."

Blue has been earning respect on the field throughout the past four years. Last season he led the team with 10 sacks for -72 yards and ranked 10th on the squad with 51 tackles. He also forced one fumble, recovered another and had two pass break-ups. The 6-2, 235-pound sociology major earned Defense Mr. Hustle honors against North Carolina State and Illinois.

In his career, Blue has recorded 17 sacks for -119 yards and 125 total tackles. He is listed as first team left defensive end heading into this season.

But some things stuck out in his mind more than others.

"Scoring my first touchdown, against Iowa State my freshman year," Blue said about his fumble recovery in the end zone. "That was one highlight. I think another one would be seeing Leroy (Smith) break the sack record (in 1991). I was out there when he did it, and I think it was an emotional thing for him. As soon as he did it, he pumped his fist in the air and then he threw up right after that. He was excited, and any time he gets excited, he gets sick. Those are the two main highlights."

Although he has a lot of statistical accomplishments, Blue said his biggest achievement has been playing two consecutive seasons without getting hurt. Blue's career has hardly been injury prone, but knee surgery during his sophomore year, which caused him to take a medical redshirt, did put a question mark over his college career for a while.

After playing as a true freshman, he took the field for a few plays in one game during his sophomore season then realized that his knee wasn’t going to perform up to speed. Blue underwent an operation to sew up a slight tear in a tendon and clear out some debris under his kneecap.

But Blue was determined not to let it stop him.

“It was real tough," he said “I went into the surgery having the idea that I'd be back in a few weeks. But it was like night and day. I was in pain after the surgery, and l thought it didn’t help at all. I think l was discouraged. It took months for the pain to go away; I guess I needed to get strength back in my legs. In my mind, I was telling myself that if I had another surgery, like two on one knee or something I was done. I didn't want to go through the pain and rehabilitation again. But I definitely wasn't going to quit after one surgery. Plus, it wasn’t really a major knee injury, so l was definitely going to come back."

As for this season. Blue plans to do whatever he can to lead the team - to live up to his title of captain - and have a good time.

*We've got to go to a bowl game; I want to go to my third bowl game in five years," Blue said. I just want to be a leader out there and make plays I can make and hopefully make some that people would say, ’That was incredible.' I want to lead the guys and have fun with them. This is my last time around, and I’ve made a lot of good fnends here. We have a lot of fun out there, and that's what I want to do."

University of Iowa Athletics Department The University of Iowa Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is to provide the administrative and coaching support, facilities, resources and equipment necessary for student-athletes to graduate from the University of Iowa while competing successfully in broad-based championship-caliber athletic competition. You can visit them at HawkeyeSports.com

View all republished articles from University of Iowa Athletics Department >>>

View all republished articles >>>

HAWKEYE RECAP ARTICLES

Bob Stoops New Book A Great Read For Iowa Fans
Former Iowa player and assistant coach Bob Stoops recently published a new autobiography called "No Excuses: The Making of a Head Coach" The book explains his rise from undersized football player t...9/13/2019
Hawks Good at Turnovers, But Can Do Better
We know how important turnover margin is to winning in football, and the Hawks have been really good at it over the past few years TeamRankings.com - Turnover Margin 2021: 5th (+0.9) 2020: 6th (...8/30/2022
Will Jordan Bohannon Tie or Break the Big Ten 3-Point FG's Made Record?
In a blowout win against Nebraska last night, Jordan Bohannon made eight 3-pointers and scored 26 points. I remembered that he had a chance to be the all-time 3-point shooter (based on number of 3's m...3/5/2021