RB Willis sidelined for season with injury

A knee injury has sidelined IU sophomore starting running back Darius Willis for the rest of the season, the team announced Thursday.

Willis, from Indianapolis, will undergo surgery for a patellar tendon injury next Wednesday.

The running back didn’t play during last Saturday’s 38-10 IU loss against Big Ten foe Ohio State, a scratch from the lineup made late after the team had hoped he would be ready to go. Willis was listed with a groin injury.

The knee injury is a separate issue, however, and it is something Willis has been trying to play through, IU associate director of media relations Jeff Keag said.
IU is currently 3-2 with the annual Homecoming game scheduled for noon Saturday against Arkansas State.

Prior to sitting out at Ohio State, Willis had played in the first four games of the season, totaling 278 rushing yards — 45.9 percent of which came after
contact.

Willis had carried the ball 64 times and scored four rushing touchdowns.
As a receiver, Willis caught 11 catches for 102 yards and a score while also serving as a key blocking back for IU senior quarterback Ben Chappell.

Injuries are nothing new for Willis since he’s been at IU.

Last season, Willis started six games and played in nine, missing three full games and parts of others with an assortment of injuries. Still, Willis led the team with 607 yards on 123 carries.

In an effort to keep the 6-foot, 224-pound running back ready to play this season, IU coaches were careful with Willis during preseason and had him sit out several practices.

“We’re going to be smart with him,” IU coach Bill Lynch said in August. “He’s obviously had different things — from ankles to knees to hamstrings — throughout his career. We’re going to be smart through camp.”

“I feel good,” Willis said then. “It’s just getting back in the flow from a long summer and after last year.”

Willis came to IU after a senior season at Indianapolis’ Franklin Central High School that produced 1,728 yards and 28 touchdowns. He was the runner-up for the title of Indiana Mr. Football.

A patellar tendon rupture is an “infrequent injury” but one that is a “disabling injury in the active person, resulting in an ability to actively obtain and maintain full knee extension,” according to a 2009 article on the website emedicine.com written by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Christopher C. Annunziata,

Annunziata is listed as the team physician of the NFL’s Washington Redskins and MLS’ D.C. United, and he writes that “immediate surgical repair is recommended for optimal return of knee function and power.”

The article states that following surgery, the individual should be able to resume “complete weightbearing” and full movement for rehab within 12 weeks.

Last week at Ohio State, IU used three separate running backs for six or more carries.

Those players — senior Trea Burgess, freshman Antonio Banks and freshman Nick Turner — are expected to carry a similar load this weekend.