The Hawks took care of business this week, doing everything they were expected to do in this week's tune up before Penn State. The final score was 41-10, topped by a first in the Ferentz era, ramming it in for a last second touchdown when up by 24. I think most understand what that was all about, and it had nothing to do with "getting walkons a chance to score."
1. Rushing Attack Dominates. Leshon Williams, Iowa's most overlooked back, was dominant behind Iowa's big OL. He racked up 145 yards on just 12 carries, plus had more receiving yards than the entire WR corp combined. True freshmen Moulton, who was very lightly recruited last year (decommitted from Florida Atlantic before signing day), looked like he'll be a stud when his time comes. How often does Iowa's 4th string back finish with 50 yards rushing and two touchdowns? It's too soon to tell whether Iowa's RB room is stacked, the OL is finally coming together, or simply the opponent's defense was really, really bad. We'll find out next week how they run against an elite defense!
2. Jackson Finally Shows Up at LB. After getting off to a rough start, Jackson finally seems to be buying into the system. His angles and instincts aren't the NFL caliber fans have become accustomed to, but he was in on a lot of plays this week. In addition to leading the team in tackles, he recorded a nice sack and played much better in coverage. With Jay Higgins at his side, the Hawkeye LB corp should be solid. Will they be elite? Probably not.
3. Nwankpa Fails To Show Up, Yet Again. IowaLaw may have been the only person, fan or media, who picked up on how poorly X played last week, recording no stats and interfering with an easy interception by DeJean. Sadly, this week X wasn't any better. He got absolutely torched early in the game in a way Iowa DBs haven't been torched in a decade, giving up a wide open 64 yard touchdown grab where the WR actually distanced himself from X after the catch. He then got torched on another deep ball when his assignment was to have back side coverage behind Jermari Harris. I'm not sure what's going on with Iowa's lone 5***** recruit, but he appears to be having a sophomore slump.
4. Zero Penalties in Back to Back Weeks. After watching an undisciplined Colorado State team blow what should have been an easy win last night by racking up TEN personal foul penalties and a total of 185 penalty yards, one can appreciate just how disciplined this team plays. The OL isn't perfect, but to make it through two games in a row with zero holding penalties is worthy of praise. No offsides by our aggressive defense, no pass interference by our corners...and a refreshing no delay of game penalties by our QBs can go a long way in wins and losses.
5. Cade Doesn't Have It. Iowa's most hyped grad transfer pickup in history isn't going to be the QB many hoped he would be. Is 9 of 19 for 103 yards and 2 interceptions really any better than a typical Petras performance? Stats would say no. To Cade's credit, he has a much better pocket presence than Petras and can get out of trouble with his feet...but Petras will never be the standard by which to rate a Big 10 QB. Cade is one of the Big 10's only senior QBs, yet he ranks 11th in completion percentage, 11th in yards per attempt, and 11th in yards per game. By comparison, Michigan's current QB has a 30% higher completion percentage while averaging 5 yards per pass more than Cade. The ol QB regression pattern at Iowa under Brian.
6. Can Someone Please Get the WRs the Ball? We are 3 weeks into the season. The fullback and the 4th string TE both have more receiving yards than the 4**** WR transfer from Ohio State. Is Brown that bad...is the offense that complicated...or the offensive coordinator has absolutely no clue how to utilize the talent on his roster? It's a national embarrassment how infrequently Iowa even attempts to throw passes to the WRs. Vines had a decent game, catching two balls today for just 7 yards...but one was basically shot putted 2 yard pass to him behind the line of scrimmage and the other was a 5 yard reception. Sixth year senior Ragaini, who had 46 catches way back in 2019, had just 4 yards receiving. The two yard, slow forming passing game is not how you stretch the field. It's definitely not how "pro style" football was meant to be played.
1. Rushing Attack Dominates. Leshon Williams, Iowa's most overlooked back, was dominant behind Iowa's big OL. He racked up 145 yards on just 12 carries, plus had more receiving yards than the entire WR corp combined. True freshmen Moulton, who was very lightly recruited last year (decommitted from Florida Atlantic before signing day), looked like he'll be a stud when his time comes. How often does Iowa's 4th string back finish with 50 yards rushing and two touchdowns? It's too soon to tell whether Iowa's RB room is stacked, the OL is finally coming together, or simply the opponent's defense was really, really bad. We'll find out next week how they run against an elite defense!
2. Jackson Finally Shows Up at LB. After getting off to a rough start, Jackson finally seems to be buying into the system. His angles and instincts aren't the NFL caliber fans have become accustomed to, but he was in on a lot of plays this week. In addition to leading the team in tackles, he recorded a nice sack and played much better in coverage. With Jay Higgins at his side, the Hawkeye LB corp should be solid. Will they be elite? Probably not.
3. Nwankpa Fails To Show Up, Yet Again. IowaLaw may have been the only person, fan or media, who picked up on how poorly X played last week, recording no stats and interfering with an easy interception by DeJean. Sadly, this week X wasn't any better. He got absolutely torched early in the game in a way Iowa DBs haven't been torched in a decade, giving up a wide open 64 yard touchdown grab where the WR actually distanced himself from X after the catch. He then got torched on another deep ball when his assignment was to have back side coverage behind Jermari Harris. I'm not sure what's going on with Iowa's lone 5***** recruit, but he appears to be having a sophomore slump.
4. Zero Penalties in Back to Back Weeks. After watching an undisciplined Colorado State team blow what should have been an easy win last night by racking up TEN personal foul penalties and a total of 185 penalty yards, one can appreciate just how disciplined this team plays. The OL isn't perfect, but to make it through two games in a row with zero holding penalties is worthy of praise. No offsides by our aggressive defense, no pass interference by our corners...and a refreshing no delay of game penalties by our QBs can go a long way in wins and losses.
5. Cade Doesn't Have It. Iowa's most hyped grad transfer pickup in history isn't going to be the QB many hoped he would be. Is 9 of 19 for 103 yards and 2 interceptions really any better than a typical Petras performance? Stats would say no. To Cade's credit, he has a much better pocket presence than Petras and can get out of trouble with his feet...but Petras will never be the standard by which to rate a Big 10 QB. Cade is one of the Big 10's only senior QBs, yet he ranks 11th in completion percentage, 11th in yards per attempt, and 11th in yards per game. By comparison, Michigan's current QB has a 30% higher completion percentage while averaging 5 yards per pass more than Cade. The ol QB regression pattern at Iowa under Brian.
6. Can Someone Please Get the WRs the Ball? We are 3 weeks into the season. The fullback and the 4th string TE both have more receiving yards than the 4**** WR transfer from Ohio State. Is Brown that bad...is the offense that complicated...or the offensive coordinator has absolutely no clue how to utilize the talent on his roster? It's a national embarrassment how infrequently Iowa even attempts to throw passes to the WRs. Vines had a decent game, catching two balls today for just 7 yards...but one was basically shot putted 2 yard pass to him behind the line of scrimmage and the other was a 5 yard reception. Sixth year senior Ragaini, who had 46 catches way back in 2019, had just 4 yards receiving. The two yard, slow forming passing game is not how you stretch the field. It's definitely not how "pro style" football was meant to be played.