3-2-1: The struggle is real
Nate Stanley's thumb and Iowa's lack of TD's are discussed this week in 3-2-1
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3-2-1, we look at Iowa's offense struggling to find the end zone in the last two games, Nate Stanley's thumb issue, a big mess in the Big Ten, Jordan Bohannon's health, the inspiration story of Tyler Trent, and we give a prediction for football recruiting.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
ONE FOR THE THUMB
Every once in a while there’s a cat and mouse game that goes on between reporters and players or coaches.
Tuesday was one of those days and it involved Iowa beat writers and Nate Stanley.
The Iowa quarterback had a rough outing on Saturday at Penn State. He was 18-49 passing the ball for 205 yards and no touchdowns. He was off target pretty much all afternoon, missing several wide open targets.
Stanley also accidentally banged his hand on the helmet of Keegan Render on a throw, leading to his right thumb being taped up for most of the fourth quarter. In the two days after the game, there were rumblings that Stanley’s thumb was pretty sore and banged up, so when the Tuesday interview session rolled around, he was going to be asked about it.
“Fine,” was his response when asked about the thumb, which he kept hidden from view for the entire 20 minutes he engaged with various waves of reporters. Stanley was wearing a hoodie, which is pretty normal for this time of year, and kept his right hand inside the front pouch. He even joked about it a little bit during the interview session.
His teammates said he threw the ball well in practice earlier in the day, so he should be ready to go on Saturday when Iowa travels to Purdue, but it was pretty clear he didn’t want reporters to see his thumb during the weekly interview session.
TYLER TRENT FIGHTS ON
If you are a fan of college football, more than likely you have heard the story of Purdue student Tyler Trent.
If you haven’t, you should.
Trent has terminal bone cancer. He’s a Purdue super fan. He predicted the Boilermakers upset over Ohio State and his wish was to be there at the game. After battling sickness from chemotherapy treatments the day before, Trent made it to the game and got to witness the upset in person.
Tyler Trent is what’s good about college sports and being a fan. Saturday, as long as he’s feeling up to it, he will be in the press box watching the Hawkeyes and the Boilermakers play football.
Now, his rooting interests will be different than every Iowa fan, but you appreciate the inspiration he is providing on a daily basis to so many who are fighting the same battle.
One thing we didn’t know about Tyler Trent that he shared on Twitter on Wednesday, was he made a trip for a road game last year. That trip was to Iowa City to watch his beloved Boilermakers play the Hawkeyes, but also to wave to kids at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. That alone tells you everything you need to know about his character.
There’s one thing I will be rooting for each and every day and that for Tyler Trent to kick cancer’s butt and continue to beat the odds.
THE BIG MESS
Well, it’s been quite a week for the Big Ten.
The Maryland football coach was reinstated to his job, only to be fired 24 hours later.
A Rutgers football player was charged with plotting a double murder.
And Urban Meyer is trying to rehab his image and it’s looking more and more like there could be an exit strategy.
None of the three stories were particularly flattering or positive for the Big Ten Conference.
The Maryland situation with now former head coach D.J. Durkin was particularly unsettling. After concluding an investigation into the tragic death of Maryland football player Jordan McNair, along with studying allegations of toxic culture in the football program, their Board of Regents essentially said that Durkin would get a do-over.
That lasted about 24 hours. The outcry from basically anyone outside of the people who made the decision was swift and unrelenting. Maryland then fired Durkin, which they should have done in the first place.
The same day that the Maryland situation reached its first conclusion, New Jersey police announced that a Rutgers football player Izaia Bullock was charged with two counts of first degree attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
The Scarlet Knights have been awful this season. Their only win in 2018 was in the opener over Texas State, who is 2-6 this season. Rutgers did play well last week against Northwestern, but they finish up with Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State, so they are looking at a 1-11 record this season.
Now they have a play involved in a murder plot.
Yeah, the two schools the Big Ten added aren’t exactly providing good headlines and with each passing day, those TV sets that were added to create revenue for advertising and TV deals with ESPN and Fox look less appealing.
Then there’s the curious case of Urban Meyer. The Ohio State head coach faced plenty of questions prior to the season about his handling (or lack of handling) of the domestic abuse allegations towards one of his now former assistants, Zach Smith.
Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season, but he hasn’t looked healthy all season long. Many thought that perhaps the suspension and drama had taken a toll on him and that’s why has looked so unhealthy on the sidelines. It turns out Meyer has surgery on his brain to deal with a cyst back in 2014 and that continues to causing severe headaches, which is why his sideline demeanor has been off this year.
First, I wish Meyer good health and appreciate his honesty about his health issues. But, you have to wonder how long he will be able to continue to coach. Coaching at Ohio State is a high stress job and that will always be the case.
There were quite a few folks calling for Meyer’s job back in August when Ohio State conducted their investigation into the situation with Smith. Who would have thought it would be something completely different that pushed him to potential leave coaching.
If he does, ISU’s Matt Campbell, an Ohio native, is a likely candidate and probable front-runner.
Jordan Bohannon is battling a minor injury.
TWO QUESTIONS
SHOULD IOWA FANS BE CONCERNED ABOUT IOWA’S OFFENSE?
It’s fair to say that the Iowa offense has been struggling a bit in the last two games, at least as far as putting the ball into the end zone.
I think it’s fair to say that gusty winds limited both teams two weeks ago when the Hawkeyes faced Maryland. Iowa could only manage one offensive touchdown. Then last week, the offense didn’t generate any scores.
Heck, the Hawkeyes have scored two touchdowns on defense in that same period of time.
After averaging 36 points per game in a four game stretch, including back to back 40 point performances, the Hawkeye offense has gone silent, to some extent.
Iowa has moved the ball. They had 350 yards of offense against Penn State and 310 when they squared off against Maryland, including 224 yards on the ground. They just haven’t gotten into the end zone other than a 10 yard TD pass to Brandon Smith late in the first half of the contest against the Terps. The Hawkeyes haven’t had a rushing touchdown since the late stages of the win over Minnesota.
The Hawkeye offense has been moving the ball, so from that standpoint things are good. But, they have to start cashing in at a high rate with touchdowns instead of field goals starting this weekend, otherwise it’s going to be a tough Saturday afternoon at Purdue.
SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE HEALTH OF JORDAN BOHANNON?
The biggest news to come from Iowa’s secret scrimmage this past weekend against Missouri wasn’t the result. Iowa lost by the way, but the news was that Jordan Bohannon didn’t participate because of a minor injury.
Of course, the alarm bells go off immediately with Bohannon due to the fact that the junior point guard battling a nagging bout with planter fasciitis last season that impacted his mobility. Bohannon still went out and averaged 13.5 points per game, shot 43% from three, and dished out 5.4 assists per game. It was impressive given how limiting the foot injury was at times during the season.
The good news is this time it’s not his foot. While the injury remains undisclosed, Bohannon is dealing with something and it’s relatively minor. Iowa was wise to have him sit out a meaningless scrimmage to heal him up for the season that begins next week.
Having said that, the last thing Fran McCaffery needs right now is an injury to a key player in a critical season where Iowa looks to bounce back from a disappointing year.
PREDICTION
Since the current football recruiting cycle got underway, the feeling was that this could be the year Iowa signs less than 20 prospects in the Class of 2019. With the commitment of Van Meter standout Chris Reames on Wednesday night, Iowa is now at 16 prospects in this class. Guess what, they are going to get to 20 this year, as always.
Nate Stanley's thumb and Iowa's lack of TD's are discussed this week in 3-2-1
Tom Kakert • HawkeyeReport.com
@hawkeyereport
This week in 3-2-1, we look at Iowa's offense struggling to find the end zone in the last two games, Nate Stanley's thumb issue, a big mess in the Big Ten, Jordan Bohannon's health, the inspiration story of Tyler Trent, and we give a prediction for football recruiting.
THREE THINGS WE LEARNED
ONE FOR THE THUMB
Every once in a while there’s a cat and mouse game that goes on between reporters and players or coaches.
Tuesday was one of those days and it involved Iowa beat writers and Nate Stanley.
The Iowa quarterback had a rough outing on Saturday at Penn State. He was 18-49 passing the ball for 205 yards and no touchdowns. He was off target pretty much all afternoon, missing several wide open targets.
Stanley also accidentally banged his hand on the helmet of Keegan Render on a throw, leading to his right thumb being taped up for most of the fourth quarter. In the two days after the game, there were rumblings that Stanley’s thumb was pretty sore and banged up, so when the Tuesday interview session rolled around, he was going to be asked about it.
“Fine,” was his response when asked about the thumb, which he kept hidden from view for the entire 20 minutes he engaged with various waves of reporters. Stanley was wearing a hoodie, which is pretty normal for this time of year, and kept his right hand inside the front pouch. He even joked about it a little bit during the interview session.
His teammates said he threw the ball well in practice earlier in the day, so he should be ready to go on Saturday when Iowa travels to Purdue, but it was pretty clear he didn’t want reporters to see his thumb during the weekly interview session.
TYLER TRENT FIGHTS ON
If you are a fan of college football, more than likely you have heard the story of Purdue student Tyler Trent.
If you haven’t, you should.
Trent has terminal bone cancer. He’s a Purdue super fan. He predicted the Boilermakers upset over Ohio State and his wish was to be there at the game. After battling sickness from chemotherapy treatments the day before, Trent made it to the game and got to witness the upset in person.
Tyler Trent is what’s good about college sports and being a fan. Saturday, as long as he’s feeling up to it, he will be in the press box watching the Hawkeyes and the Boilermakers play football.
Now, his rooting interests will be different than every Iowa fan, but you appreciate the inspiration he is providing on a daily basis to so many who are fighting the same battle.
One thing we didn’t know about Tyler Trent that he shared on Twitter on Wednesday, was he made a trip for a road game last year. That trip was to Iowa City to watch his beloved Boilermakers play the Hawkeyes, but also to wave to kids at the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. That alone tells you everything you need to know about his character.
There’s one thing I will be rooting for each and every day and that for Tyler Trent to kick cancer’s butt and continue to beat the odds.
THE BIG MESS
Well, it’s been quite a week for the Big Ten.
The Maryland football coach was reinstated to his job, only to be fired 24 hours later.
A Rutgers football player was charged with plotting a double murder.
And Urban Meyer is trying to rehab his image and it’s looking more and more like there could be an exit strategy.
None of the three stories were particularly flattering or positive for the Big Ten Conference.
The Maryland situation with now former head coach D.J. Durkin was particularly unsettling. After concluding an investigation into the tragic death of Maryland football player Jordan McNair, along with studying allegations of toxic culture in the football program, their Board of Regents essentially said that Durkin would get a do-over.
That lasted about 24 hours. The outcry from basically anyone outside of the people who made the decision was swift and unrelenting. Maryland then fired Durkin, which they should have done in the first place.
The same day that the Maryland situation reached its first conclusion, New Jersey police announced that a Rutgers football player Izaia Bullock was charged with two counts of first degree attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
The Scarlet Knights have been awful this season. Their only win in 2018 was in the opener over Texas State, who is 2-6 this season. Rutgers did play well last week against Northwestern, but they finish up with Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State, so they are looking at a 1-11 record this season.
Now they have a play involved in a murder plot.
Yeah, the two schools the Big Ten added aren’t exactly providing good headlines and with each passing day, those TV sets that were added to create revenue for advertising and TV deals with ESPN and Fox look less appealing.
Then there’s the curious case of Urban Meyer. The Ohio State head coach faced plenty of questions prior to the season about his handling (or lack of handling) of the domestic abuse allegations towards one of his now former assistants, Zach Smith.
Meyer was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season, but he hasn’t looked healthy all season long. Many thought that perhaps the suspension and drama had taken a toll on him and that’s why has looked so unhealthy on the sidelines. It turns out Meyer has surgery on his brain to deal with a cyst back in 2014 and that continues to causing severe headaches, which is why his sideline demeanor has been off this year.
First, I wish Meyer good health and appreciate his honesty about his health issues. But, you have to wonder how long he will be able to continue to coach. Coaching at Ohio State is a high stress job and that will always be the case.
There were quite a few folks calling for Meyer’s job back in August when Ohio State conducted their investigation into the situation with Smith. Who would have thought it would be something completely different that pushed him to potential leave coaching.
If he does, ISU’s Matt Campbell, an Ohio native, is a likely candidate and probable front-runner.
Jordan Bohannon is battling a minor injury.
TWO QUESTIONS
SHOULD IOWA FANS BE CONCERNED ABOUT IOWA’S OFFENSE?
It’s fair to say that the Iowa offense has been struggling a bit in the last two games, at least as far as putting the ball into the end zone.
I think it’s fair to say that gusty winds limited both teams two weeks ago when the Hawkeyes faced Maryland. Iowa could only manage one offensive touchdown. Then last week, the offense didn’t generate any scores.
Heck, the Hawkeyes have scored two touchdowns on defense in that same period of time.
After averaging 36 points per game in a four game stretch, including back to back 40 point performances, the Hawkeye offense has gone silent, to some extent.
Iowa has moved the ball. They had 350 yards of offense against Penn State and 310 when they squared off against Maryland, including 224 yards on the ground. They just haven’t gotten into the end zone other than a 10 yard TD pass to Brandon Smith late in the first half of the contest against the Terps. The Hawkeyes haven’t had a rushing touchdown since the late stages of the win over Minnesota.
The Hawkeye offense has been moving the ball, so from that standpoint things are good. But, they have to start cashing in at a high rate with touchdowns instead of field goals starting this weekend, otherwise it’s going to be a tough Saturday afternoon at Purdue.
SHOULD WE BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE HEALTH OF JORDAN BOHANNON?
The biggest news to come from Iowa’s secret scrimmage this past weekend against Missouri wasn’t the result. Iowa lost by the way, but the news was that Jordan Bohannon didn’t participate because of a minor injury.
Of course, the alarm bells go off immediately with Bohannon due to the fact that the junior point guard battling a nagging bout with planter fasciitis last season that impacted his mobility. Bohannon still went out and averaged 13.5 points per game, shot 43% from three, and dished out 5.4 assists per game. It was impressive given how limiting the foot injury was at times during the season.
The good news is this time it’s not his foot. While the injury remains undisclosed, Bohannon is dealing with something and it’s relatively minor. Iowa was wise to have him sit out a meaningless scrimmage to heal him up for the season that begins next week.
Having said that, the last thing Fran McCaffery needs right now is an injury to a key player in a critical season where Iowa looks to bounce back from a disappointing year.
PREDICTION
Since the current football recruiting cycle got underway, the feeling was that this could be the year Iowa signs less than 20 prospects in the Class of 2019. With the commitment of Van Meter standout Chris Reames on Wednesday night, Iowa is now at 16 prospects in this class. Guess what, they are going to get to 20 this year, as always.
