For more than two months, Ivory McCoy kept peddling.
While his teammates pounded each other on the field, McCoy - who had surgery Aug. 22 for a fractured bone in his right foot - maintained his conditioning on a stationary bike.
“It was rough,” the senior linebacker said. “I was on that bike for an hour each day.”
But McCoy’s days of biking in place are over. He has fully recovered from the injury and is expected to see his first action of the year against Iowa on Saturday.
And the Spartans are counting on McCoy to help disrupt the Hawkeyes’ potent passing game with his speed and power.
“Obviously he provides great burst,” MSU secondary coach Troy Douglas said. “The guy can run. We just have to ease him back in there. He’ll help us definitely, he’s a big play guy.”
Ironically, big plays are exactly what Iowa quarterback Kyle McCann is used to.
He has put on a passing clinic this year, completing 68 percent of his passes for 758 yards and seven touchdowns.
But McCoy welcomes the challenge of testing his health against a formidable conference foe.
His progress since the Spartans’ April 7 spring scrimmage has been going well, he said.
“The only thing that has really hurt me is contact,” said McCoy, who had a sack and an interception in the scrimmage. “Making contact and taking it has been an adjustment. My speed on the field is gradually coming back and that’s something that set me back as well.”
But there’s no doubt McCoy is in game condition, Douglas said.
“I don’t know how much we have worked him because you don’t want to get him hurt again before the game, but he looks fine to me,” Douglas said.
Junior tailback T.J. Duckett, who lined up with McCoy when he was a part-time tight end last year, said he is excited about his teammate’s return.
“He will add more depth to the defense and the ability to make more plays,” Duckett said. “We saw that from him last year when he went both ways. He would go on defense for a couple of periods and keep making more and more plays. It got to the point where we all wanted to see him over there (on defense).”
McCoy’s return could be a huge lift against for the defense, since it suffered two heavy blows last week - broken ankles to starting cornerbacks DeMario Suggs, a senior, and Jason Harmon, a redshirt freshman.
Both are expected to be out eight to 10 weeks and will be replaced by junior Broderick Nelson and senior Duron Bryon.
McCoy, the team’s co-captain, has given advice to both Suggs and Harmon about overcoming injuries.
“I’ve told them that there are some things that they are going to be facing and they have to go through the day as if it didn’t happen,” McCoy said.
“That’s about the only thing you can do.”
In overcoming his own setback, McCoy said he has remained positive.
Although he didn’t participate in practice during his injury, he attended all team meetings and extensively studied the Spartans’ defensive scheme he said.
“It happens and there’s nothing you can do about it,” McCoy said of his injury.
“It’s a challenge, a hurdle that you have to get over in your life. And the way you attack it and the way you come out of it is going to determine how you overcome adversity in your life again.”
