Notebook: Shontrelle Johnson will miss Liberty Bowl

AMES —Shontrelle Johnson just can’t catch a break.

Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads delivered some sad injury news on Sunday night when he told reporters that Johnson had suffered a knee injury on Saturday that will keep him out of the 2012 Liberty Bowl vs. Tulsa.

“It was actually a 7-on-7, no contact what so ever,” said Rhoads. “He planted and you know how violently he plans and something gave.”

Rhoads said that Johnson will eventually have surgery on the knee. Johnson ran for 504 yards and two touchdowns during the regular season. After suffering a neck injury vs. Texas in 2011, Johnson thought that his career might be over. He scraped and clawed his way back into playing shape.

Johnson, a junior, still has a medical redshirt year available if he would need it for 2013. 

In addition to Johnson, Rhoads announced that freshman defensive end Nick Kron recently broke a bone in his foot. Kron has already had surgery on the foot and will not play in the Liberty Bowl. 

Rhoads shoots down Wisconsin chatter

When asked about the flurry of rumors connecting his name to the open job at Wisconsin, Rhoads said, “I am right here at Iowa State. I had no conversations with those people and I am very happy to be right here.”

Bowl prep schedule

The Cyclones will begin preparing for Tulsa on Monday. However with Christmas and travel to Memphis on the horizon, Iowa State’s bowl prep as a whole will be a bit choppy over the next week.

“The next three days will not be fully dedicated (to Tulsa),” said Rhoads. “They won’t be a normal Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday type of practice for a game week. But we will get a lot of things exposed." 

“Our philosophy is what can we delete? What don’t we like? What do we need to see more of? Yeah, add that to the plan.”

As for when Iowa State arrives in Memphis…

“And then the day we arrive is a Monday practice which is normally our day off. So we’ll knock the rust off and have a normal Tuesday practice down there,” said Rhoads. “A good bit of it will be hashed out before we leave down.”

Rhoads hopes that his staff’s last day in the office before Christmas will be on Dec. 21.