1) Beathard did some nice things. His legs give him a chance to extend plays and drives which is going to be very beneficial as the year goes on. He was off on his throws today missing high time and again. That is something that will easily be corrected.
2) The OL looked pretty good and has a little bit of depth. Still had some struggles at the tackle position, but I thought they played much better than I expected. Really have some maulers that are going to wear a few teams out this fall.
3) LD is a tough kid. He's going to pile up a bunch of 4-7 yard gains. Iowa still lacks that complete back, but I really like his feet and patience as Millen commented on a couple of times. JC is a nice compliment. He's quicker through the hole but not a homerun guy either but enough change of pace to give defenses different looks. AW might not see the field in meaningful time for a long time. Too bad as he's more of a big play threat, but he just lacks ball security.
4) WR seems like the biggest area of concern. Still had problems getting space against Il. St. That's not a good sign.
5) Dline was OUTSTANDING. Johnson and Ott were darn near unblockable. Drew is an absolute beast. One more DE to swap minutes in there, and Iowa would be scary from the outside. Interior wise just a lot of good solid players. Very solid depth.
6) LBs were ok. Still lack the lateral quickness to make plays out in space. Looked a little bit better than last year, but the dline really helped a ton there. Didn't see Il. St. challenge the edge as much as we will with future teams which will stress the LBs a little more. Definitely still an area of concern.
7) DB/S played pretty well until the second unit got in. Maybin with the great stick to set a tone was nice. Safeties flew to the ball pretty well just need to wrap and make tackles.
All in all a great win. I don't know what Il. St. has this year, but it's hard not to be impressed with how Iowa looked today.
2) The OL looked pretty good and has a little bit of depth. Still had some struggles at the tackle position, but I thought they played much better than I expected. Really have some maulers that are going to wear a few teams out this fall.
3) LD is a tough kid. He's going to pile up a bunch of 4-7 yard gains. Iowa still lacks that complete back, but I really like his feet and patience as Millen commented on a couple of times. JC is a nice compliment. He's quicker through the hole but not a homerun guy either but enough change of pace to give defenses different looks. AW might not see the field in meaningful time for a long time. Too bad as he's more of a big play threat, but he just lacks ball security.
4) WR seems like the biggest area of concern. Still had problems getting space against Il. St. That's not a good sign.
5) Dline was OUTSTANDING. Johnson and Ott were darn near unblockable. Drew is an absolute beast. One more DE to swap minutes in there, and Iowa would be scary from the outside. Interior wise just a lot of good solid players. Very solid depth.
6) LBs were ok. Still lack the lateral quickness to make plays out in space. Looked a little bit better than last year, but the dline really helped a ton there. Didn't see Il. St. challenge the edge as much as we will with future teams which will stress the LBs a little more. Definitely still an area of concern.
7) DB/S played pretty well until the second unit got in. Maybin with the great stick to set a tone was nice. Safeties flew to the ball pretty well just need to wrap and make tackles.
All in all a great win. I don't know what Il. St. has this year, but it's hard not to be impressed with how Iowa looked today.
