CHICAGO - Jewel Hampton wasn’t one of the 33 players in Chicago last week for Big Ten football media days, but that didn’t stop the Iowa running back from making headlines.

Hampton finally spoke out about the knee injury he suffered earlier this summer, one that sent Hawkeye fans into a message-board frenzy.

“The results are in from the MRI,” Hampton wrote on his Facebook page, according to the Des Moines Register. “Sorry for the suspense ladies and gentlemen but dun dun dun its ‘HEALING’ am GOOD TO GO!!”

And just like that, Iowa’s biggest question mark heading into the season was, at least partially, answered.

Hampton is expected to replace Shonn Greene as Iowa’s feature running back this year. He’s coming off a fine debut season in which he gained 463 yards on 91 carries and set an Iowa freshman record with seven touchdowns, but has enormous shoes to fill.

Green won the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s best running back last year. He rushed for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns, and was the only player in the country to surpass 100 yards in all 13 games.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Hampton, who’s already back doing drill work at full speed, is up to the challenge.

“I thought he progressed as the year went on and went from being a young guy that really was kind of feeling his way around and became a pretty confident player second half of the season,” Ferentz said. “We’re certainly hopeful that his growth will continue. We’re confident that it will.

“He’s a guy that’s certainly capable of playing well in our conference.”

Hampton, who cracked the rotation last year initially for his blocking ability, has enough pieces around him that he might be able to duplicate Greene’s success.

The offensive line returns three starters, including second-team all-Big Ten tackles Bryan Bulaga (media) and Kyle Calloway (coaches). Linebacker Pat Angerer (107 tackles, five interceptions) captains a defense that led the league in points allowed a season ago. And junior Ricky Stanzi appears to have solidified the quarterback position after a strong second half to last year.

Iowa won six of its final seven games with Stanzi at the helm and beat South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. The Hawkeyes were the only Big Ten team to win their bowl game last season.

This year, with a healthy Hampton in the backfield, some have pegged Iowa as a dark horse contender for the Big Ten title.

“I think in a nutshell our season going into this season is much like the last eight years,” Ferentz said. “We have a chance to have a good football team.”