ISU loses pound Bacon forever after leg surgery

• Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior WriterSep 3, 2024, 04:58 PM ET

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  • College football press reporter.
  • Signed up with ESPN.com in 2008.
  • Graduate of Northwestern University.Iowa State will be

missing one of its top defenders as linebacker Caleb Bacon is out indefinitely following surgery Sunday to repair a lower left leg injury.Cyclones coach Matt Campbell said there’s a possibility Bacon could return later on in the season however did not put a timetable on when the redshirt junior might see the field. Bacon, a former walk-on who finished second on the group with 60 deals with in 2023, sustained the injury in the very first quarter of Saturday’s win versus North Dakota. He was hauled to the ISU locker room.Campbell stated Bacon’s diagnosis is in fact much better than what the group’s medical staff at first feared.”I do think he’ll be back at some point later this season, or have the chance to return later on in the season

, based upon healing, “Campbell said.” Obviously, that’s a tough blow for Caleb, even if he’s done such an excellent task, but the terrific news is from what it might have been and what it was, there’s a lot of positivity around it, too.” Junior Zachary Lovett and sophomore Jack Sadowsky V substituted Bacon following the injury. The 6-4, 245-pound Bacon had 3 sacks and 6.5 deals with for loss last season, and averaged 7.7 deals with throughout his last three games.Iowa State will visit No. 21 Iowa on Saturday.