How 'bout them Hawks! After being featured on College Football Gameday as underdogs to nearly everyone but Hawk fans, the Hawks were clearly the better team out there today and put a stamp on their early season Top 10 ranking. Whether Phil Parker's stellar defense is enough to continue propping up Brian Ferentz's historically bad offense is still unknown. What is known is that the Hawks are 2-0, going into the soft part of their schedule.
Charlie Jones. Sure, Tyrone Tracey and the true freshmen received 100% of the pre-season hype at WR, but walk on ones has been the MVP of the receiving corp thus far. 53 yards in punt returns (13.3 yards per return), 44 yards in kick returns were top notch special teams play, but then throw in his perfect 26 yard TD grab to his team leading 36 yards receiving, and it's clear how fortunate this kid decided to transfer to Iowa on his own dime while lesser skill position players received full rides. Jones is the most underrated Hawk and it's not even close.
Tory Taylor. BOOM. It's not often that a punter is one of a Top 10 team's top players, but Taylor is worth his weight in gold. 8 punts for 409 yards is good for an average of 51.1 yards per punt! Forget that Reggie Roby's school record is 45 yards per punt, Taylor's leg single handedly won the field position game tonight against the Cyclones, as 5 of his punts were downed inside the 20 yard line. It blows my mind what a difference having a top notch punter has on Iowa's success (think back to 2017 and the the Rastatter era when he averaged just 37 yards per punt).
Is Goodson Legit or Not. I'm not going to lie: Goodson looked tentative out there. He's quick, no doubt about it. But boy does he shy away from contact whenever it's clear he's about to get hit. The reigning all-Big 10 RB had 21 rushes for 55 yards (2.6 yards per carry). Goodson and his family made it clear that he came back to Iowa for one reason this year, to audition for the NFL. Well, the NFL's watching and they're not loving all the randying around they're seeing. Could it be that the OL isn't opening up holes? Maybe, but when a hole is there, Goodson's still not blasting through it the way he (and Sargent) did last year. Kelly Martin averaged 1 yard per carry more than Goodson today and more yards per carry last week as well. I'd like to see him given more of a chance next week to compete for the starter role.
Hankins Shows Up. I was pretty shocked last off season when a few Hawks decided to forego their 2021 eligibility and give the NFL a shot. But I was even more shocked when Hankins announced he was returning to Iowa's secondary. He's the first Iowa DB to start a game in 5 different seasons, and he's playing like a 5th year senior. 2 interceptions to go along with 4 solo tackles and a pass deflection. I love what Moss has been doing (8 more tackles today) and having Hankins back there as well makes the Iowa defense as good as any in the country.
Sigh Petras. Uggg. This was start #10 of the Petras era. Was he better this week than his lackluster performance last week? Maybe. But 11 of 21 for 106 yards is only good enough to win the game when your defense forces 4 turnovers (by comparison, Ohio State's QB threw for nearly 500 yards and 3 TDs and still lost). But is this REALLY the best the Ferentz brain trust could find to play QB the past 2 years? They've been gifted what's otherwise a winning lottery ticket with that salty defense. It's insane. Iowa is a 2-0, Top 10 ranked team, despite having a QB who has only thrown for 250 yards and a 50% completion percentage? Spare me the "Petras has a great win loss record." A slightly above average QB who completes 60% of his passes would make Iowa a legit playoff contender. It's still early and there's a lot of football left to be played. However, Petras is a 2nd year starter and still taking absolutely unforgivable sacks in key situations. On 2 separate occasions, the Hawks were in prime field goal range when Petras stood back in the pocket far too long, got happy feet, then took unforgivable panic sacks, single handedly knocking the Hawks out of field goal range. The lack of composure knocked points off the board. Period. In a close game, that's the difference between a win and loss. The D bailed him out, but they won't always be there to take 4 turnovers or run 2 INTS back for touchdowns.
Charlie Jones. Sure, Tyrone Tracey and the true freshmen received 100% of the pre-season hype at WR, but walk on ones has been the MVP of the receiving corp thus far. 53 yards in punt returns (13.3 yards per return), 44 yards in kick returns were top notch special teams play, but then throw in his perfect 26 yard TD grab to his team leading 36 yards receiving, and it's clear how fortunate this kid decided to transfer to Iowa on his own dime while lesser skill position players received full rides. Jones is the most underrated Hawk and it's not even close.
Tory Taylor. BOOM. It's not often that a punter is one of a Top 10 team's top players, but Taylor is worth his weight in gold. 8 punts for 409 yards is good for an average of 51.1 yards per punt! Forget that Reggie Roby's school record is 45 yards per punt, Taylor's leg single handedly won the field position game tonight against the Cyclones, as 5 of his punts were downed inside the 20 yard line. It blows my mind what a difference having a top notch punter has on Iowa's success (think back to 2017 and the the Rastatter era when he averaged just 37 yards per punt).
Is Goodson Legit or Not. I'm not going to lie: Goodson looked tentative out there. He's quick, no doubt about it. But boy does he shy away from contact whenever it's clear he's about to get hit. The reigning all-Big 10 RB had 21 rushes for 55 yards (2.6 yards per carry). Goodson and his family made it clear that he came back to Iowa for one reason this year, to audition for the NFL. Well, the NFL's watching and they're not loving all the randying around they're seeing. Could it be that the OL isn't opening up holes? Maybe, but when a hole is there, Goodson's still not blasting through it the way he (and Sargent) did last year. Kelly Martin averaged 1 yard per carry more than Goodson today and more yards per carry last week as well. I'd like to see him given more of a chance next week to compete for the starter role.
Hankins Shows Up. I was pretty shocked last off season when a few Hawks decided to forego their 2021 eligibility and give the NFL a shot. But I was even more shocked when Hankins announced he was returning to Iowa's secondary. He's the first Iowa DB to start a game in 5 different seasons, and he's playing like a 5th year senior. 2 interceptions to go along with 4 solo tackles and a pass deflection. I love what Moss has been doing (8 more tackles today) and having Hankins back there as well makes the Iowa defense as good as any in the country.
Sigh Petras. Uggg. This was start #10 of the Petras era. Was he better this week than his lackluster performance last week? Maybe. But 11 of 21 for 106 yards is only good enough to win the game when your defense forces 4 turnovers (by comparison, Ohio State's QB threw for nearly 500 yards and 3 TDs and still lost). But is this REALLY the best the Ferentz brain trust could find to play QB the past 2 years? They've been gifted what's otherwise a winning lottery ticket with that salty defense. It's insane. Iowa is a 2-0, Top 10 ranked team, despite having a QB who has only thrown for 250 yards and a 50% completion percentage? Spare me the "Petras has a great win loss record." A slightly above average QB who completes 60% of his passes would make Iowa a legit playoff contender. It's still early and there's a lot of football left to be played. However, Petras is a 2nd year starter and still taking absolutely unforgivable sacks in key situations. On 2 separate occasions, the Hawks were in prime field goal range when Petras stood back in the pocket far too long, got happy feet, then took unforgivable panic sacks, single handedly knocking the Hawks out of field goal range. The lack of composure knocked points off the board. Period. In a close game, that's the difference between a win and loss. The D bailed him out, but they won't always be there to take 4 turnovers or run 2 INTS back for touchdowns.
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