Fight For Iowa

Until the game is won

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 11:30:00 +0000

I started this blog two and a half years ago. At the time I was just getting really into Iowa football, beyond my casual fandom that I had held my whole life. My son was just growing out of the infant stage which meant I had more time for me to scour through message boards and random news reports. And I was looking for an outlet to compile and share my thoughts on the program. Message board have never really been my thing and my interest in web development was also starting to expand. Thus a blog was born.

Not, two and a half years later, my life is changing once again. My interest in Iowa football is as high as ever and for the first time I have season tickets. But my son is growing older and getting busier and we have another one on the way. So it's time for something new again.

If you haven't figured it out by now--this will be my final post on Fight For Iowa, at least for the foreseeable future. But fear not my Hawkeye news connoisseurs for I have some exciting news.

While it is sad to leave behind the blog that has been my online identity, and the decision to do so was extremely difficult, I am excited to introduce The High Porch Picnic. Me and three of the other best Hawkeye bloggers out there (Rick from Planned Sick Days, Matt from Black and Gold Box Score, and Mike from The Hawkeye State) have joined forces to become one super blogging team.

It is really a great situation for me. There will be a lot more great content than I could possibly provide by myself all on one blog. With four writers, it will also allow me to slow down on my writing pace (which I've already done this past couple of weeks). Instead of trying to push out a new post (or sometimes two during the season) every day, I'll just be writing 3 or 4 posts per week.

So, be sure to reset your bookmarks and set The High Porch Picnic as your new favorite Hawkeye blog. I will still be writing under the name Fight For Iowa (and look for a post from me coming very soon) and my twitter will remain the same (@FightForIowa).

Thank you everyone who has visited this site over the past couple of years. I have learned a lot and had more fun. I hope you'll join me over at The High Porch Picnic.

Thoughts from Kids' Day

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:35:00 +0000

On a day that was for the kids, it was appropriate that it was younger Hawkeyes that really stood out. Many first and second year players showed their potential on Saturday making strong cases for playing time. This was the first chance for us to see the incoming freshmen and they made a good first impression. It also didn't hurt that the weather was beautiful (aside from a couple of sprinkles at the very end of practice).

Okay, so thoughts from practice...

Quarterback:
Vandenberg is still clearly number one. He was very good on Saturday and aside from a bad stretch on 3-down practice he was sharp. During a 2-minute drill he went 5/6 for 48 yards setting up a last second field goal (the coaches went super conservative, no surprise, and settled for a field goal with about 28 second left on the clock).

Behind Vandenberg, Wienke and Derby split reps as number 2. Derby, like in the spring, looked clearly better but threw 2 interceptions. If the coaches want a game manager, Wienke's probably number 2...but if they're looking for someone to go out there and win a game, I'd go with Derby.

Ruddock also had a very solid outing. He looked very comfortable out there and was connecting well with the freshmen receivers. I still think he'll redshirt this year, but he's going to be pushing the other QBs.

Running back:
Coker didn't participate in the scrimmage portion of practice and wore a red jersey all day. Ferentz said if it was a game day, then Coker would have played. It sounds like a really minor injury and the coaches are just being precautious. In his place, White and Johnson got first team reps until Johnson went out with what looked like a minor leg injury. It didn't look serious, but I hope it wasn't his knee again. White looked okay and was pretty good finding the hole in the goalline practice, but overall didn't really impress me.

The trio of true freshmen, though, all showed some promise. McCall was first in and showed his ability to take a hit and push the pile forward. He's got good size and looks like a B1G runningback already. Canzeri was also showed some potential with his speed. He hit the hole fast and got into the secondary a couple time for some nice gains. Bullock looked fine, but didn't stand out as much as the other two.

Receiver:
McNutt and Davis will both be good. They didn't have a lot of catches on Saturday, but when they were thrown the ball, they made plays. The workhorse over the weekend was Kevonte Martin-Manley. He was the clear number 3 guy and played a lot with the first and second teams. He was consistently open and had the ball thrown his way more often that any other receiver. The two true freshmen, Grant and Hillyer, looked good against the 3rd string defense and I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them play this year.

Tight end:
Iowa is stacked at tight end. Fiedorowicz had the best day and showed his ability to get open down the field. He will be seeing the field a lot in 2-TE sets and probably even some 1-TE sets on passing downs. Herman looked fine too, but was pretty quiet in the passing game.

Iowa will also get contribtuions from Derby and probably one freshman. Derby had a nice practice and played well for the second team. Ray Hamilton looked the most ready of the freshmen both receiving and blocking.

Offensive line:
The big thing to notes on the line was that MacMillan is not back yet and Scherff was out as well. Stepping up was Matt Tobin as the starting left guard. The other starters were Reiff, Ferentz, Gettis, and Zusevics. In all the first team O-line played as expected--they handled the defensive line quite easily and I didn't see any egrigious mistakes. This was probably the one position where I didn't really notice any underclassmen standing out.

Defensive line:
Okay, switching sides now. It was pretty hard to peg the 4 guys who are the starters. Iowa rotated a lot of guys in along the line which is part of the plan this year (see the end of the Northwestern game with Clayborn out of breath on the sidelines). Daniels and Binns are both locked in as starters, but the other two spots are completely up in the air. I'd put Carl Davis (if he can last more than 4 plays without having to take a breather) and Darian Cooper as the top two contenders for the other DT. Also thrown in the mix were Forgy, Gaglione (though he got tripped up a little toward the end of practice...didn't look serious), and Trinca-Pasat. Alvis and Daniel weren't practicing today, but will likely get some playing time too.

Linebacker:
I didn't really pay much attention to linebackers on Saturday... Morris sat out today with Bruce Davis filling in at MLB. The only thing I really noticed with Davis is that he was the one who came off when the defense went to nickle. Both Kirksey and Hitchens played a lot either together or rotating. Hitchens had a pick. Nielsen only played a few downs, which I'm guessing is just the coaches being precautious since he's coming off a neck injury. I think I remember seeing freshmen Melvin Spears.

The secondar:
Ah, here's where things get interesting on defense. The starting for were Prater, Castillo, Hyde (at FS), and Sleeper. As a unit I thought they played pretty well. Castillo looked mcuh better than he did a couple of years ago and had a least one break up. When Iowa went to nickle, Bernstine moved in at a safety spot and Hyde slid over to cover a receiver. I thought Bernstine looked good and I think he'll challenge Sleeper at SS.

On the second team defense, B.J. Lowery was very active. He had an interception on a tipped pass and I'm pretty sure he broke up a pass or two. The other backup CB was freshman Torrey Campbell. He looked like a freshman to me and is a pass interference waiting to happen (he had 2 or 3). Tanner Miller rotated with Jack Swanson at FS. Neither really look like they'll challenge Hyde at FS.

Kicker:
The 3 guys all looked pretty equal. I was impressed when they started practice and the 3 combine for 11/12 from 40-yards. Mossbrucker was the most accuruate of the day and freshman Marshall Koehn had the biggest leg. Mossbrucker and Koehn both had problems with kicking the ball low, however, and Mossbrucker even had one tipped that somehow still went through the uprights.

Punter:
It's Eric Guthrie, pretty much end of converstation. Wienke took a couple of punts that looked sort of terrible, but actually had some decent distance.

Stats from Kids' Day

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:58:00 +0000

I'll post my thoughts on yesterday's open practice at Kinnick sometime soon, but for now a collection of stats.

7-on-7

Passing:

Vandenberg - 3/4, 30 yards
Wienke - 2/4, 7 yards
Derby - 3/4, 15 yards (incompletion was a drop by Shumpert)
Ruddock - 2/4, 45 yards, 1 INT

Receiving:

Johnson - 1 catch, 4 yards
Derby - 1 catch, 7 yards
Coker - 1 catch, 6 yards
Hamilton - 1 catch, 3 yards
McNutt - 2 catches, 24 yards
Meyers - 1 catch, 3 yards
Martin-Manley - 1 catch, 5 yards
Hillyer - 1 catch, 18 yards
Grant - 1 catch, 27 yards

Goal-line

Passing:

Vandenberg - 0/1
Wienke - 0/1

Rushing:

White - 2 rushes, 4 yards, 2 TDs
McCall - 4 rushes, 5 yards, 2 TDs

Scrimmage

Passing:

Vandenberg - 13/21, 257 yards
Wienke - 3/10 18 yards
Derby - 10/13, 85 yards, 2 INTs
Ruddock - 6/10, 81 yards, 1 TD

Receiving:

Shumpert - 2 catches, 19 yards
Martin-Manley - 5 catches, 40 yards
White - 4 catches, 14 yards
Derby - 3 catches, 40 yards
Davis - 3 catches, 38 yards
Hamilton - 3 catches, 34 yards
Nielsen - 1 catches, 14 yards
Grant - 2 catches, 50 yards, TD
McNutt - 2 catches, 55 yards
Krieger-Coble - 1 catch, 3 yards
Hillyer - 1 catch, 5 yards
Fiedorowivcz - 1 catch, 20 yards
McCall - 3 catches, 17 yards
Weisman - 1 catch, 8 yards

Rushing:

White - 5 rushes, 5 yards
Johnson - 3 rushes, 10 yards
McCall - 10 rushes, 27 yards
Canzeri - 10 rushes, 33 yards
Bullock - 4 rushes, 11 yards

Kicking:

Meyer - 5/8 (4/4 from 40, 0/2 from 45, 0/1 from 50, 1/1 from 27)
Mossbrucker - 7/9 (3/4 from 40, 1/2 from 45, 1/1 from 50, 2/2 from 27)
Koehn - 6/8 (4/4 from 40, 1/2 from 45, 0/1 from 50, 1/1 from 27)

Note on stats...they are not exact. I did my best to follow every play, but when they aren't tackling spots are inexact, when they are switching personell every play it's tough to track, and when you're looking after a 3 year old it's difficult to give the practice your full attention. I noticed my stats differed slihgt from what Morehouse put together.

Kids' Day Today

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 13:59:00 +0000

Fall camp started last week. I've been following along on HawkeyeSports.com and GoHawks.com. Thus far they've posted photo galleries from each practice (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) and a couple of practice videos. It's pretty difficult to glean much information from these limited sources other than dude, Carl Davis looks huge. But Kids' Day is today (!) and we'll have our first opportunity to take a look at the full 2011 squad in action. The weather looks like it'll be pretty good especially compared to the snow for the spring game and last year's blazing heat on Kids' Day.

The latest video.

If you're thinking about going.

Today's open practice starts around noon and the gates to Kinnick open at 11:00. If it follows the standard open practice model, Kids' Day will likely be about an hour of stretching, position drills, team drills, etc... followed by an hour of scrimmage.

Things I'll be watching

Some of the position battles getting the most attention this off-season have been for backup spots on the offense--the number 2 quarterback, running back, tight end... And yes, they'll be drawing my eyes too, especially when they have a ball in their hand. But what I'm more interested in watching today is the defense.

The secondary
The depth chart has the starting secondary as Prater (CB), Castillo (CB), Sleeper (SS), and Hyde (FS). And based on the shots from practiced, it looks like that's who they've been going with. I'm interested to see if they try any other combinations today. The only spot that's locked down for sure if Prater at corner. I wouldn't be surprised if the other 3 spots are filled by different players by the time September 3 comes around. Earlier in the week, Marc Morehouse tweeted Hyde was back practicing at corner which likely means Tanner Miller was the FS. Also I think Bernstine has a good chance to win the SS spot over Sleeper.

Defensive ends
The two expected starters at end, Binns and Daniel, were missing from the latest video. Daniel has some minor injury and has been practicing in a red no contact jersey. I'm not sure what's going on with Binns. If neither are fullspeed today we'll get a good chance to see some other names. Dominic Alvis, who's listed as a starting DT but is on a small side, could be there now that Davis appears to have taken over as a first string tackle.

The freshmen
This is our first chance to see the incoming class so I'm excited to see what they can do and if anyone has cracked the 2-deeps yet. The 3 freshmen runningbacks will probably have the largest part of my attention as it's highly likely at least one of them will play this year. I am also interested in seeing some of the more highly touted recruits like TE Ray Hamilton and S Nico Law.

Some random individuals I like to follow

C.J. Fiedorowicz: He looked good in the spring and I'd like to see how he's developed especially with his blocking.
Jordan Bernstine: I mentioned him earlier, but I really am expecting big things from him this year. I'm watching the battle for SS closely.
Carl Davis: Also mentioned earlier, twice...with his size he is just very intriguing. Iowa hasn't had a defensive tackle this large in a long time.

It should be a fun day today. I'm taking my 3 year old and he's excited. We had a good time last year, but it was just so hot. The weather should be much better today.

See you there.

Football is back

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 11:13:00 +0000

I'm back too. I've taken off two weeks from writing. I didn't check, but I'm pretty sure that's the longest break I have taken since I started this blog two and a half years ago. It was nice. On vacation I think I got online a total of 3 or 4 times and it was just to check my email. This past week I've been sleeping in a little and just catching up on reading all the good content that's out there in the Hawkeye blogosphere as everyone is gearing up for the season to start. I plan on catching up on writing about some of the things I missed, like the new recruits, over the next week or so. But after my two week hiatus I am more ready to just start talking about the upcoming season...which begins today.

Iowa Media Day kickoffs with a Kirk Ferentz presser today at 1:30 (I think you will be able to stream the presser live on Hawkeye All-Access. Then the media will be open to other coaches and non-true freshmen players from 2-4. The incoming freshmen just reported on Wednesday and the rest of the players yesterday, so there probably won't be too many changes from KF on the state of the program since the B1G Media Days last week. There should be plenty of good content from the players however.

So I'm back, football is back, the world is good.

Black and Gold Spirit Game Stripes Again

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:02:00 +0000

After the amazing success of the Black and Gold Spirit Game last year against Penn State, it's no surprise that the striped theme will be making a reappearance on this year's schedule. The 3 color-themed games were announced yesterday.

Here are 3 games that require specific colored clothing this year.

09/17/2010 - Pitt: Be Bold, Wear Gold
10/15/2010 - Northwestern: Black & Gold Spirit Game
11/12/2010 - Michigan: Blackout

The same rules from last year apply for the stripes, so if you're in an even section wear gold--odd (or student section) wear black. If you need help figuring it out, here's the what to wear app I made for last year's game.

I like the choice of Northwestern for the Black & Gold. It's the only night game this year, and it should be early enough in the season so that it won't be unbearably cold to wear an appropriately colored shirt instead of a coat.

Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:03:00 +0000

I leave for vacation on Thursday and I'll be away in Hawaii visiting family until the end of the month. Depending on the availability of wi-fi and my level of relaxation while lounging on the beach I may try to post once or twice, but certainly nothing regular. It has already been a somewhat slow summer for writing. The off-season brings a lack of news-worthy content, a lack of motivation, and a busier schedule. But, after this trip it'll be August and just weeks before the first game. There should be plenty to talk about with fall camp beginning and a chance to see the team at Kids Day (which I think will be the 13th...not sure yet). Expectations may be done this year, but I'm just as excited for the season to start.

Links For Iowa is catching up

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:58:00 +0000

Summer is a lot less cool when you're an adult. It seems to be the busiest time of the year...if only I could take 3 months off of work every year. Anyway, I'm behind on posting so here's a mishmash of stuff that I'm catching up on.

B1G Media Days are coming

The Kickoff Luncheon, part of Media Days, is on July 29 this year. The 3 lucky players getting to attend with Kirk Ferentz are Marvin McNutt, Tyler Nielsen, and Mike Daniels. The selections fall in line with what Ferentz usually does...pick the most deserving seniors. Prater might have been a good choice too, but he probably would have been bombarded with rhabdo questions.

The Media Days will undoubtedly be focused on Nebraska as the new shiny B1G member and OSU for less appealing reasons. Still, they do mark the beginning of football season and are often entertaining and informative to follow.

The award watch lists are out of control

I haven't been following the award watch lists too closely as pretty much every Iowa returning starter is on one. And, when a watch list is comprised of over 100 names, it starts losing its value pretty quickly. However, the list are at least something to talk about and can be mildly entertaining.

So I went back and tried to compile a list of the watch lists. Here's hopefully all of Hawkeyes (I could have easily missed one) on a preseason watch list:

James Ferentz - Rimington Trophy (center)
Riley Reiff - Rotary Lombardi Award (down lineman), Outland Trophy (interior lineman)
Shaun Prater - Bronko Nagurski Trophy (defensive player), Bednarik Award (defensive player), College Football Performance Award
Marcus Coker - Maxwell Award (outstanding player), Doak Walker (running back)
Marvin McNutt - Biletnikoff Award (receiver), College Football Performance Award
Micah Hyde - College Football Performance Award
Mike Meyer - College Football Performance Award
Mike Daniels - College Football Performance Award, Pony Express Award (defensive combo)
Broderick Binns - Pony Express Award (defensive combo)
Tyle Nielsen - Butkus Award (linebacker)

I think that's every returning starter except for Markus Zusevics (and some players that just started in a few games--James Morris, Adam Gettis, etc...).

Quick Hits

In basketball news, Anthony Hubbard is leaving Iowa. He was in Iowa City and playing in the PTL and all of a sudden is gone citing wanting to play closer to home.
Iowa has more active defensive linemen in the NFL than any other school. D-Line U?
Single game tickets go on sale July 19. There probably won't be many and won't last long. You can go online starting at 6:00 am and call the ticket off starting at 9:00. It may only be open to season ticket holders at this time. I'm not sure on that.

FFI Abroad: Commentary on Tsopanides

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:58:00 +0000

I wrote an article on Iowa's late 2011 commitment, Dean Tsopanides, for the local newspaper in Tsopanides' hometown. If you live in the Litchfield County, CT area then go pick up The Register Citizen today! If not, you can read the article online.

Commentary: Dean Tsopanides fits model for Iowa football program

2012 Commit: Jaleel Johnson

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:59:00 +0000

A week ago, current Iowa commit Reese Fleming teased on twitter that there was a "top prospect" committing soon. Fleming predicted Tuesday, but we didn't hear anything until late Wednesday afternoon when a few people around 247Sports started tweeting that Jaleel Johnson had made the decision to go to Iowa. On Thursday it was official presumably after Johnson called the Iowa coaches (the Eric Johnson "new member of the Iowa family" tweet didn't come out until Thursday morning).

Johnson is a consensus 4-star defensive tackle (Rivals, Scout, 247Sports). He is the sixth player in the 2012 Iowa recruiting class.

Johnson in High School

Johnson plays on both the offensive and defensive line for Montini Catholic High School, located just outside of Chicago. Montini is back-to-back Illinois Class 5A state champions.

Stats:

44 tackles, 7 TFL, 3 sacks

Video:

I usually only post one video, but the second showing Johnson going against and in some cases dominating a few of the top offensive linemen recruits in the country was too good not to post.

Initial Thoughts

The first thing that stands out with Johnson is his size. According to ESPN he's 6-4 and 295 pounds...and he still has a year of high school left. If he was on Iowa's roster today he'd be the second biggest defensive lineman, behind Carl Davis and the sixth biggest player overall behind a few offensive linemen. In his videos Johnson shows his strength and ability to lay a good hit. He even shows off his wheel running down field to make a block at about 0:37 in the first video.

Iowa has had success turning undersized guys into successful defensive tackles, so it'll be interesting to see what happens with some of these bigger guys. This year will be a good test with Carl Davis, who I think could win the spot next to Mike Daniels as the second tackle. Incoming freshman Darian Cooper is starting off with some size at 6-1, 280.

Defensive linemen are definitely needed, so Johnson's commitment is a great early get in the 2012 class. With 3 of the likely starters this year seniors (Daniel, Daniels, and Binns), there will be plenty of opportunity for an underclassman to start next year. I think Johnson will be able to come in and at least compete for a spot right away.

Introducing Apps For Iowa

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:05:00 +0000

A few weeks ago when I posted the Hawkeye License Plate Generator I ran into a number of issues. For starters trying to deploy it in Blogger was a huge pain. I couldn't easily test its functionality until I actually posted it and rolled it out to the masses. Testing in production is not a great way to go. Also, posting apps like this in a blog post slow down the page, are not available to everyone (more people use Internet Explorer to view this site than any other browser and a lot of things don't work in IE), and just seem a little strange when a blog is generally meant for reading. Using Blogger also doesn't allow me to add in any server-side functionality, which is limiting.

So, I decided to create a new place for me to play around and house the little apps I like to make. Without further ado, I present to you Apps For Iowa. The url is pretty easy to figure out, just replace the "www" with "apps" and you've got it. Right now I just have 2 pretty trivial apps: pick your starters - offense, and a countdown to kickoff.

I don't know how far this project will go, but it's definitely a work in progress. I'll still post on the blog whenever I create a new app. Anyway, it's out there and now you know about it. If you have any ideas of an app you'd like to see, let me know.

Happy Fourth of July

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:00:00 +0000

A year later, a Ricky Stanzi patriotic photoshop is still completely apropos for this holiday. Love it or leave it. USA #1!

Happy Independence Day!

2011 Commit: Dean Tsopanides

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Recruiting has been heating up lately for the Hawkeyes, but I didn't expect it to be so hot that there would be a late commitment for the 2011 class. In retrospect it is not overly surprising as Iowa had a scholarship open up when Rodney Coe failed to qualify academically. That scholarship will be going to Dean Tsopanides who commited to Iowa on Thursday.

Tsopanides is a defensive end from Torrington, CT. The story goes KOK saw Tsopanides participating in a combine held at Milford Academy (you may remember Milford as the prep school Shonn Greene attended before coming to Iowa) and was impressed enough to get his film and eventually offer the scholarship. Tsopanides was orginially planning on attending Milford before comitting to Iowa.

Tsopanides in High School

At Torrington High School, Tsopanides plays on the line on both sides of the ball. He was also the long snapper (which could actually be a need now that Andrew Schulze has graduated). He helped the Red Raiders to a 7-3 record last year.

Stats:

86 tackles, 13 sacks, 3 forced fumbled, and 2 blocked field goals

Video:

Tsopanides won a state wrestling title in Connecticut's Class L as a heavy weight and went 26-1 in the regular season.

Initial Thoughts

Iowa sure loves to pick up wrestlers as linemen. At 6'4", 240 Tsopanides probably needs a year in the weight room before seeing the field. Without any film it's hard to evaluate him, but he sounds like a motor-always-running type of guy that has been successful for the Hawkeyes.

An Early Look at Iowa vs. Louisiana-Monroe - 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 10:57:00 +0000

The Game

Event: Iowa vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
When: September 24, 2011 - TBD
TV: TDB

The Basics

Location: Monroe, LA
Head Coach: Todd Berry
Mascot: Warhawks
Conference: Sun Belt
2010 Record: 5-7 (4-4)

The Offense

Returning Starters: 9
Key Players: QB Kolton Browning, WR Luther Ambrose
Key Losses: RB Frank Goodin, TE Alvin Jordan

ULM runs a spread offense (with some pistol mixed in) that last year revolved around its quarterback, Kolton Browning. In 2010 Browning accounted for nearly 3,000 yards, around 70% of the Warhawks' total offense. As a passer, Browning was mediocre in his freshman season last year. He was 234/378 for 2,552 with 18 TDs and 12 INTs. Against the two best defenses he faced last year, Arkansas and LSU, Browning went 15/34 for 135 yards with 1 TD and 3 INTs. This year though, the offense will also utilize quarterback Cody Wells, in a dual-QB system. Wells played a very limited role last year with just 18 passing attempts, but looked good in the spring game. Wells went 12/21 for 199 yards, while Browning was just 8/18 for 124 yards.

The Warhawks will have their top 4 receivers from 2010 returning. Luther Ambrose leads the pack. He was 2nd Team All-Sun Belt and had 65 receptions for 752 yards and 6 TDs last year. Tavarese Maye, Anthony McMall, and Brent Leonard all had similar stats; 30+ catches, 400-some yards, and a couple of TDs. McCall was the main target in the spring game with 6 catches for 166 yards. ULM will spread the ball around to RBs and TEs too. There were 15 different players that caught a pass for the Warhawks last year.

At running back, the starter from last year is gone, but Jyruss Edwards brings back some experience. He had 84 carries, 375 yards and 4 TDs as a freshman. Centarius Donald is likely in the mix as well as some incoming freshmen. The quarterbacks will also figure into the running game. Browning led the team in carries last year with 171 and had 385 yards and 4 TDs.

The Defense

Returning Starters: 8
Key Players: DE Ken Dorsey, S Darius Prelow, MLB Jason Edwards
Key Losses: LB Theo Smith, CB Robert Nelson (dismissed)

The Warhawks run a 3-3-5, a defense that Iowa will be familiar with by the 4th week of the year as both Tennessee Tech and Pitt run some variation of the 3-3-5 (though Pitt calls it's a 3-4 I think even with the 2 hybrid players). The Warhawks version is fairly aggressive and tried to stop the run. The "Hawk", which is a free safety/linebacker hybrid, usually lines up in the box and linebackers are often on the line. The aggressiveness of the defense makes it susceptible to play-action (we've seen this before when Michigan was trying to run an aggressive 3-3-5), which must make KOK salivate.

Both starting defensive ends return. Ken Dorsey was second team all-conference and had 52 tackles, 12 TFLs, and 5 sacks last year. He also intercepted a pass and recorded a safety. The other end, Troy Evans, played in only 4 games last year missing the rest due to injury. At nose tackle, ULM tried some different players last year, but none were overly impressive. This year it could be Emanuel Jefferies who had just 8 tackles last year, or Kentarius Caldwell who had even less (6).

At linebacker ULM has returners at both OLB spots. Cameron Blakes is the top returner. He was second on the team in tackles with 74, a pick, and led the team in sacks with 6. The other returning linebacker is Jason Edwards, who had one more tackle than Blakes and led the team in tackles, but was not as disruptive in the backfield.

Darius Prelow who was a starting safety last year is sliding over to the "Hawk" posotion. He was already tied for second on the team with Blakes in number of tackles and that number will probably go up now that he's playing in a more aggressive position. In the safety positions will be Isaiah Newsome and converted cornerback Nate Brown. The two corners will be returning starter Otis Peterson and in place of the dismissed Robert Nelson, Vincent Eddie.

The Special Teams

Returning Starters: 2
Key Players: PK Radi Jabour, P Aaron Munoz
Key Losses: -

Both kicking specialist return for the Warhawks. Radi Jabour is a good kicker and made 8 of 10 FGs last year and one of those misses was blocked. He has a pretty good leg two making both attempts from beyond 40 yards. Jabour also handled the kickoff duties and averaged 57.1 yards per kick. The punter is Aaron Munoz. He had just 2 touchbacks on 68 punts and 15 downed inside the 20 while averaging 38.6 yards per punt.

Initial Thoughts

Like some of Iowa's other early foes, ULM has enough starters returning to make them slightly dangerous. However, the Warhawks squared off against 3 FBS opponents last year (granted 3 really good ones) Arkansas, Auburn, and LSU and lost 7-31, 3-52, and 0-51 respectively. I don't believe that Iowa will have a margin of victory anywhere near 50 points, but a 3-TD win would be reasonable.

ULM doesn't have the size on defense to match up against Iowa's O-line and rushing attack. Their defense already looks to be aggressive with 8+ men in the box and will need to commit to that all game if they want to stop Coker. This should set up Iowa's play-action game.

On the other side of the ball, 2 QBs usually means you have no QBs. Though, with a fairly solid returning starter I'm not sure that that's the case with ULM. Spread offenses have given Iowa some problems in the past, but I don't think ULM's is potent enough to really challenge Iowa's defense. ULM only averaged 20 points per game last year, and if Iowa's defense is even a fraction as good as it was last year, I don't expect the Warhawks to score more than 13.

Further Reading:

A ULM preview from TCU blog Purple Wimple.

2012 Commit: Connor Kornbrath

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:07:00 +0000

Iowa managed to squeeze in one more commit to end its big recruiting week. On Saturday Connor Kornbrath became the fifth overall player to verbally commit to the Hawkeyes and fourth of the week. Kornbrath is a kicker/punter from West Virginia. He is unranked by the major recruiting sites (profiles: Rivals, Scout, and 247Sports), but is ranked 5-stars and the 10th overall punter on KohlsKicking.com.

Kornbrath in High School

Kornbrath attends Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, West Virginia. The Indians went 10-2 last year making it to the second round of the playoffs. At 6'7", Kornbrath plays basketball and is good enough to play in college if he hadn't chosen football. At his size he has also been offered the opportunity to play other positions in football, but in an interview with HawkeyeInsider said, "I had the opportunity to go D-I for kicking but I definitely didn't for tight end or something else. I didn't want to risk getting hurt and just stuck to kicker-punter."

Stats:

7 of 12 FGs (made school record 51-yarder and player record 47-yarder), 19 touchbacks on kickoffs

Video:

Initial Thoughts

Kornbrath looks like he has a pretty good leg. In his video his kickoffs were generally 60+ yards and his punts had good hang time . What stood out the most is how fast he gets off his punts. He catches the snap, takes two quick steps, and gets the ball out.

I was initially concerned that this offer to a punter could mean that Jonny Mullings isn't coming along like the coaches hoped. Competition at punter won't hurt though, and even if Mullings wins the job, Kornbrath would only have to ride the bench two years after red-shirting. Though he is coming in as a punter first, kickoff guy second, I think he might have a shot at kickoffs sooner. Mike Meyer will be a junior by the time Kornbrath steps on campus, so Kornbrath wouldn't have to sit long.

Hawkeye Blogger Roundtable - So many recruits

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:07:00 +0000

Question 1: Iowa received four verbal commits this week. Two of them, Drew Ott, a two star DE/TE, and Cameron Wilson, a three star WR. Both are from enemy territory (Nebraska, Ohio State). Did Iowa swoop in and make a steal or are these leftovers?

Well, neither of these guys had offers from Nebraska or OSU so I wouldn’t say they were necessarily a steal. Both of these guys might have gotten offers later from their home state schools, but Iowa was in early enough to get the commitment. I think in Ott’s case, he probably would have been offered by Nebraska if it weren’t from the Huskers incredibly small recruiting class this year. I think they only have room for 15 kids while most years it’s probably lower twenties.

Question 2: The other two recruits are Maurice Fleming, a three star WR/DB, from the Chicago area and Connor Kornbrath, a Punter from West Virginia. A Punter, really?

I’m not sure how well that bodes for our punter from down under, Jonny Mullings. But it’s probably a good thing to have a little competition at the position. Guthrie is gone after this year and having the backup quarterback as your backup punter is probably not a good thing. Still, I think this year’s class is going to be a little smaller than last so a better route might have been a walk-on.

Question 3: Do you actually buy any Preseason College Football Magazines? If so, which one(s) and why.

FFI: I never buy the magazines. I would definitely read them if I had one, but I’m kind of cheap when it comes to those things. I’ll do my own analysis or read stuff online.

Question 4: The PTL has tipped off. Do you think we, as bloggers and fans, read too much into the stats and whatnot? What can we take from the various reports and videos posted about pick-up basketball?

Some people probably do take it a little too seriously. It’s kind of like stats, times, videos, etc... from recruits. They do give us some indication about the skills of the players, but are not the end all, be all. Putting up 30 points in a PTL games doesn't mean the kid's going to be the next Michael Jordan. Just like running a supposed 4.4 40 in high school doesn't mean a whole lot more than that guy is probably pretty fast.

Question 5: Jeff Peterson has been looking at a return to Iowa for his last shot at the dance. Scott Dochterman, of the Cedar Rapids Gazette, mentioned in he and Marc Morehouse’s On Iowa podcast that the offer to him was there. Does this happen? Where does he fit in for 2011-12?

I would be surprised to see this. I don’t know that I’ve ever seem someone transfer away to another D1 school only to transfer right back 2 years later. Iowa probably does have more of an upside this year than Arkansas, but still. If he does come back, he’ll probably back up Cartwright.

Be sure to check out HawkeyeNetwork later for the rest of the bloggers' answers.

2012 Commit: Maurice Fleming

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:02:00 +0000

Iowa picked up its third commit this week and fourth overall as Maurice Fleming announced via twitter that he will be a Hawkeye. Fleming was recruited by Iowa as a cornerback but also held some offers as a wide receiver. He a consensus 3-stars rectuit by Scout, Rivals, and 247Sports.

Fleming in High School

Fleming attends Curie Metropolitan in Chicago. He plays quarterback for the Condors basically in the wildcat. The Condors went 7-5 last year.

Stats:

Passing: 108 of 201, 1,334 yards, 15 TDs, 13 INTs
Rushing: 102 carries for 445 yards, 5 TDs

Video:

Initial Thoughts

Fleming looks pretty good running with the ball in hands and I think he'll get a shot at receiver and cornerback as he mentioned on twitter. With his size though--6'0", 175 lbs--he's probably better suited for defense. Iowa typically doesn't use the small and speedy slot receiver type. With his running ability he's got a decent chance of playing early, especially on special teams.

2012 Commit: Drew Ott

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:00:00 +0000

Two days, two commits. That's the way Iowa started off this week as Drew Ott became the third player to verbally commit to the Hawkeyes for 2012. Ott is a defensive end from Nebraska and is ranked 2-stars by Scout and 3 by 247Sports (Rivals doesn't have him ranked yet).

Ott in High School

Ott attends Giltner High School in Giltner, Nebraska. It's a small 2A school that plays 8-man football. Giltner went 11-1 last year their only loss coming in the semi-finals of the playoffs to the eventual champs. Ott played both TE and DE/LB for the Hornets.

Stats:
I couldn't find complete stats from Ott, but in the 7 games on MaxPreps it shows that he averaged around 10 tackles per game on defense and 3 receptions and a TD on offense. One game that stood out he had 4 receptions, each a touchdown. Marc Morehouse's post says that Ott has made 537 tackles thus far in his career. Rivals has his sophomore year numbers:

Offense: 34 receptions, 424 yards, 10 TDs
Defense: 181 tackles, 4 INTs

Video:
Ott's only youtube video is of basketball (he can dunk), but he is featured in a bunch of film from his high school on Hudl.

Initial Thoughts

As pointed out on BHGP, Ott is a stereotypical Ferentz recruit. He is slightly undersized at 6-4, 235 lbs., could play at multiple positions (DE, TE, OLB, FB, etc...), plays multiple sports including basketball (which he led his team to a state title averaging 18 points per game) and track (he does the shot put). And, he's somewhat under the radar, which happens when you play 8-man football.

Unless he bulks up in his senior year, he'll probably red-shirt and spend some time with Coach Doyle before seeing the field. It's a little hard to judge his talents from his 8-man tape, but he certainly looks like the most athletic kid in the videos. Overall, defensive linemen are certainly in need for the future, so Ott looks like a good pick up.

2012 Commit: Cameron Wilson

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:04:00 +0000

It has been over two months since Iowa landed its first commit for 2012, Mitch Keppy. On Monday, Cameron Wilson became the second. Wilson is a wide receiver from Dublin, Ohio. He is a consensus 3-star recruit (Scout, Rivals, 247Sports).

Wilson in High School

Wilson attends Jerome High School in Ohio. He played receiver and safety for the Celtics, helping them to a 6-4 (5-2) record last year.

Stats:

2010 - 77 receptions, 1,075 yards, 6 TDs (plus 2 rushing TDs)
2009 - 51 receptions, 628 yards, 6 TDs

With one year still left in his high school career, Wilson already holds or shares all the receiving records at Jerome HS, including: receptions in a game (13), season (77), and career (135); receiving yards in a game (258), season (1079), and career (1974); and receiving touchdowns in a game (3), season (6), and career (15).

Video:

He has other videos on ScoutingOhio.

Initial Thoughts

Wilson doesn't blow me away with his speed, but he does look elusive enough to get yards after the catch. He also uses his body very well to get in position to catch the ball in tight spaces. In his videos he consistently won jump balls and made catches in traffic. Wilson is a good early addition to this class that needs receivers. There is still a void on the roster after last year's big senior class at receiver.

Links For Iowa is watching BTN all day

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:07:00 +0000

Just a reminder

It's Iowa day on BTN, so all afternoon/evening you can watch Hawkeye-related programming, including 3 of Iowa football "greatest games." The day ends with the 2005 Capitol One Bowl against LSU at 10:00, but the highlight of the night, at least for me, is a replay of last year's Insight Bowl which is airing at 6:00.

Here is the full schedule:

1:00 - The Big Ten's Greatest Games - Basketball: 2/7/04 - Iowa at Indiana
2:00 - The Big Ten's Greatest Games - Football: 2007 - Michigan State at Iowa
5:00 - Iowa Campus Programming: Iowa Magazine: #10
5:30 - Big Ten Icons: Nile Kinnick
6:00 - Big Ten Football Replay: 2010 Insight Bowl - Iowa vs. Missouri
8:00 - Big Ten Basketball Replay: Purdue vs. Iowa
10:00 - The Big Ten's Greatest Games - Football: 2005 Capital One Bowl: Iowa vs. LSU

McNutt could break some records

It would take a monster year, but Marvin McNutt is at least in position to make a run at some of Iowa's receiving records. Black and Gold Box Score breaks down all of McNutt's record possibilities. He needs 86 receptions to break DJK's career reception record; 1,071 yards to break DJK's career receiving yards records--1,071 would also break the single year record currently held by Keith Chappelle; 5 TDs to match Tim Dwight and Danan Hughes's career touchdown record. The most likely record McNutt will break is the career TDs. He has had 8 receiving TDs in each of the past 2 years.

The most interesting part of the B&GBS article was a comparison of DJK and McNutt's career through their junior years. I've taken a look at these numbers before and noted that if McNutt had started a receiver his freshman year instead of quarterback, then he'd probably be way ahead of DJK statistically. As it stands, McNutt is still pretty close.

Through their junior years:

DJK - 127 receptions for 1,871 yards with 7 TDs
McNutt - 88 receptions for 1,546 yards with 16 TDs

Quick Hits

Josh Koeppel will be playing for the US team in Austria this summer at the International Federation of American Football Senior World Championship.
Shaun Prater was named second team All-American and Riley Reiff third team in the preseason by Athlon.

An Early Look at Iowa vs. Pittsburgh - 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:58:00 +0000

The Game

Event: Iowa vs. Pittsburgh
Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA
When: September 17, 2011 - 11:00 AM
TV: ESPN or ESPN2

The Basics

Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Head Coach: Todd Graham
Mascot: Panthers
Conference: Big East
2010 Record: 8-5 (5-2)

The Offense

Returning Starters: 6
Key Players: QB Tino Sunseri, WR Mike Shanahan
Key Losses: RB Dion Lewis, OL Jason Pinkston, WR Jon Baldwin

Under new head coach Todd Graham, Pitt's offense will be no-huddle and fast-paced (it was installed at Tulsa by Gus Malzhan, Auburn's current OC...so think Auburn minus Cam Newton). Graham was previously the head coach at Tulsa, a team who averaged over 500 yards of offense and over 40 points per game. That will be a drastic change from the more traditional offense that Pitt employed under Dave Wannstedt. However, the transition may not fully be complete by the third week of the year. Pitt may have more of a scaled back version of Graham's high octane offense.

The Panthers will be led by returning starter QB Tino Sunseri. Sunseri was kind of a poor man's Ricky Stanzi last year. They had almost identical number for completions and attempts (Stanzi - 221 of 345 : Sunseri - 223 of 346), but Sunseri had fewer yards (3005 : 2572), fewer TDs (25 : 16), and more interceptions (6 : 9). It's safe to say that under Pitt's new offense, his passing attempts will go up (not necessarily because it's a pass-heavy offense, because it's not, but because of the no-huddle they'll run a lot more plays). In the spring game he threw the ball 55 times completing 35 for 416 yards.

Pitt's leading receiver from last year is gone, but the Panthers do return some experience at the position. Mike Shanahan (no relation to current Redskin's head coach of the same name) had 43 receptions for 589 yards last year. Devin Street and Cameron Saddler are the other likely starters at receiver. Behind these three are a bunch of sophomores and freshmen without much experience. TE Mike Cruz is another returning starter and may contribute some in the passing game.

Pitt also lost its top running back from last year, 1000-yard rusher Dion Lewis. Returning, though, is Ray Graham who had 922 of his own rushing yards and averaged over 6 yards per carry. Graham will have to adjust to the zone-read from the down-hill running he was doing last year, but will probably still be effective. Judging on Tulsa's past offenses, Pitt will probably have more involvement from the receivers and the quarterback in the rushing game. Sunseri was a decent runner last year. He had 108 yards and 2 TDs on 53 carries.

The Defense

Returning Starters: 8
Key Players: WLB Max Gruder, FS Jarred Holley, DE/Panther Brandon Lindsey
Key Losses: SS Dom DeCicco, DE Jabaal Sheard

The Panthers return most of the starters from last year, though like the offense they'll be learning a new system. Under Wannstedt Pitt was a fairly standard 4-3 defense. Pitt will be moving to a 3-3-5 look that has positions called Panther (hybrid DE/OLB), Spur (hybrid S/LB--more on the LB side), and Bandit (another hybrid S/LB--more on the S side).

He linebackers will be the most experienced unit on defense and all 3 starters return and will be seniors. At the Will position is Max Gruder, who was #2 on the team in tackles last year with 84. He also had an INT and recovered 2 fumbles. The other two are Greg Williams at Spur and Tristian Roberts at Sam. Williams was third on the team in tackles with 64.

Up front, Pitt has a pair of good defensive tackles returning. Chas Alecxih had 7.5 sacks and 57 tackles last year (which was 4th on the team). At nose tackle is Myles Caragein. At "panther" will be former DE Brandon Lindsey. Lindsey led the team in sacks (10) and in tackles for loss (17.5), so despite the change in position name I still think he'll be rushing the passer far more than he drops back into coverage.

The secondary will be led by FS Jared Holley. Holley was 1st Team All-Conference last year and led the team with 5 interceptions. He was also 5th on the team in tackles with 54. Pitt has one returning cornerback in Antwuan Reed.

The Special Teams

Returning Starters: 0
Key Players: PK Kevin Harper, KR Cameron Saddler
Key Losses: PK/P Dan Hutchins

Pitt had one man, Dan Hutchins, handling both field goals and punting last year and he is now gone. In his place will be Kevin Harper who was the kick off specialist. He has attempted just 1 field goal in his career: a 51-yard miss. Punter is completely up in the air. There are currently 3 walk-ons vying for the job.

One spot on special teams that Pitt should be experienced is at returner. Cameron Saddler was both a punt and kick returner last year. He had 25 punt returns and averaged just over 10 yards per return. On kickoffs he averaged 20.9 yards on 22 returns. Joining Saddler on kickoffs last year was Ray Graham. Graham put up similar numbers as Saddler and averaged 21.8 yards on 23 returns.

Initial Thoughts

This will be a much different Pitt team than Iowa played in 3 years ago. They have enough talent and enough experience to be a pretty good team this year, but it remains to be seen how well the players adjust to a new coaching staff and a new style of play. Iowa gets the Panthers early in the year, which should be an advantage against a learning team. It is also Pitt's first road game and first game against a quality opponent (they have Buffalo and Maine the two prior weeks). So I do think this is a very winnable game for Iowa.

Further Reading:

Pittsburgh spring prospectus [pdf]
Cardiac Hill is a pretty good Pitt blog.

A summer of less awesome GoHawks videos

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:09:00 +0000

Remember all of those awesome workout videos from last summer on GoHawks.com? So does the NCAA. Those videos inadvertently violated a NCAA rule that requires summer workouts to be voluntary and therefor not taped. The not taped part is so coaches can't use the film to determine who did or did not attend the workouts.

Iowa has self-reported the violation and educated the staff responsible for posting the videos. The videos from last summer are either gone or were edited to remove any film from an actual workout. The violation is pretty minor, so as long as it doesn't happen again there shouldn't be any real NCAA repercussions. It does mean though that we won't have the same awesome videos for this summer. However, the video staff is still putting together some quality stuff.

Here's the latest video (featuring barbecue and interviews):

On Youtube the description of the video says, "Players are back on campus for voluntary summer workouts."

One of the most interesting parts of this story though, is that the "compliance staff learned about the problem after receiving an inquiry from a non-Big Ten school that Mims declined to identify." I makes you wonder which school was perusing GoHawks.com, a site for fans and potential recruits, during the middle of last summer. Any guesses who it was? I'd say Iowa State.

Hawkeye License Plate Generator

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:23:00 +0000

Though he didn't know it at the time, Ed from HawkeyeKoolaid.com issued a challenge to me when he tweeted that he'd like an app to make customized Iowa licence plates. Michigan blog Maize N Brew has been making plates using this app, but the app doesn't have the University of Iowa plate. So, here we go...

I threw something together to make custom UofI plates. The font isn't great. I had trouble finding on that matched well so I just picked one of the Google Web Fonts that looked okay. You should be able to save the picture after you add some text. You can then post it to the comments or wherever you'd like

NOTE: In Chrome it will save the image without the proper file extension. So you'll need to rename the image after you download it to "YOURIMAGENAME.png". I think in Firefox it'll prompt you to name the image before you download it.

ANOTHER NOTE: This app will not work on Internet Explorer as it uses a canvas element. Try a better browser Chrome, Firefox, or upgrade to IE9. (If you're stuck with IE8 at work...sorry. Check it out at home.)

Plate Text:

Two more 11:00 a.m. kickoffs - TTU and Pitt

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:52:00 +0000

The game times for the season opener against Tennessee Tech and the game against Pitt were announced yesterday and it's 11:00 for both. No surprise, the TTU game will be aired on BTN and the Pitt game will be picked up by either ESPN or ESPN2.

With the Iowa State game time announced last week, we're now up to 5 known kickoffs--4 of which are at 11:00.

vs. Tennessee Tech - September 3| 11:00 AM | BTN
at Iowa State - September 10 | 11:00 AM | FSN
vs. Pittsburgh - September 17 | 11:00 AM | ESPN/ESPN2
vs. Northwestern - October 15 | 6:00 PM | BTN
vs. Indiana - October 22 | 11:00 AM | TBA
at Nebraska - November 25 | 11:00 AM | ABC

I am still hopefull that there will be a bunch of 2:30 games to round out the schedule. The games against Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State would be good candidates for a regional ABC game with a 2:30 start. And, BTN recently got the rights to air games at 2:30, which was was previously an exclusive time slot for ESPN/ABC for B1G games. This means the games against Louisiana-Monroe, Minnesota, and Purdue, which looked like obvious 11:00 BTN games before, could now be 2:30 BTN games. That sounds great to me.

An Early Look at Iowa at Iowa State - 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:07:00 +0000

The Game

Event: Iowa at Iowa State
Location: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, IA
When: September 10, 2011- 11:00 AM
TV: FSN

The Basics

Location: Ames, IA
Head Coach: Paul Rhoades
Mascot: Cyclones
Conference: Big XII
2010 Record: 5-7 (3-5)

The Offense

Returning Starters: 6
Key Players: OL Kelechi Osemele, WR Darius Darks
Key Losses: QB Austin Arnaud, RB Alexander Robinson, TE Colin Franklin, OL Ben Lamaak

Though the Cyclones return 5 starters on offense (6 if you count Jerome Tiller who started at QB while Arnaud was out), they lose a lot of their skill players including their top passer, top 2 rushers, and top 2 receivers. They return 3 along the offensive line, including All-American candidate Kelechi Osemele. Center is the likely weak link with Ben Lamaak graduating and his replacement a freshman, 270-lb Tom Farniok.

Running behind the line will be Shontrelle Johnson. As a freshman, Johnson had just 218 rushing yards but averaged 6.2 yards per carry and was a solid kick returner (585 yards on 25 returns). The next likely running back is Jeff Woody who had 47 carries for 191 yards a year ago. I would also expect the starting quarterback to be a major factor in the running game.

There is no clear starter at QB at this point, but Tiller is the likely choice as he was the backup the past two years and has a couple starts under his belt including Iowa State's win over Nebraska in 2009. As a runner, Tiller had 66 yards (which is really 150 yards minus sacks) on 42 carries last year and had over 200 yards in 2009. Competing with Tiller is Steele Jantz, a JUCO transfer from City College of San Francisco. He provides more of a run threat and had 601 yards and 14 TDs carry the ball for CCSF.

Whoever wins the number one QB spots will have a rather deep pool of receivers to throw to. Though the Cyclones lose their top receiver and tight end from last year, they have plenty of returning talent. Darius Darks is the top returning receiver. He caught 29 passes for 255 yards last year while slowed by injury. In the final game of the year, fully healthy, Darks had 9 receptions for 107 yards. Joining Darks in the receivers with experience club are Josh Lenz and Darius Reynolds.

The Defense

Returning Starters: 7
Key Players: CB Leonard Johnson, LB Jake Knott, LB A.J. Klein
Key Losses: SS David Sims, DE Rashawn Parker

Iowa State returns its two top tacklers from 2010. Linebackers Jake Knott and A.J. Klein both finished last season with over 100 tackles. The two were also the team leaders in interceptions with 4 and 3 respectively. Filling out the starting linebacker unit will be Matt Tau'fo'ou, who missed much of last year due to a leg injury. He was arrested in January for drunk driving, but is back on the team. Tau'fo'ou had 20 tackles in his limited playing time.

In front of the experienced linebackers, the Cyclones return 5 players that have at least 1 start. Jacob Lattimer is the top returner of the bunch with 39 tackles and a team-leading 4 sacks, though they all have similar stat lines--30 or so tackles with a couple tackles for loss. The unit was overall unimpressive last year and record just 11 sacks, 4th worst in nation. With an additional year of experience, I would expect a slightly better showing from this line, but it will still be relatively weak.

Rounding out the defense is what should be a fairly decent secondary despite losing both safeties. Like Iowa's Micah Hyde, Iowa State has cornerback Ter'Ran Benton looking to fill the void at safety. Benton was the team's 6th leading tackler last year and had 2 INTs. The other corner, who will definitely be staying at CB, is Leonard Johnson. Johnson is probably the Cyclone's best defender and is a legitimate lock-down corner. He's started nearly every game of his career and amassed 175 tackles and 5 picks in that time. Another CB staying put is Jeremy Reeves who started in 9 games and was the team's 5th leading tackler.

The Special Teams

Returning Starters: 2
Key Players: PK Grant Mahoney, P Kirby Van Der Kamp
Key Losses: KR David Sims

Grant Mahoney is returning yet again. Last year he was mostly used to try long range field goals and struggled. He made just 4 of 11 from beyond 40 yards. He made 8 of 17 overall and was 32 or 33 on PATs. Punter Kirby Van Der Kamp was a surprising star for Iowa State last year. As a true freshman he averaged over 45 yards per punt (which was 10th in the nation), had 22 downed inside the 20, and had 19 over 50 yards.

Initial Thoughts

Iowa State is in a similar position as Iowa on offense. Most of their starting skill position players from last year are now gone, but there are some experienced backups now ready to step up. Still, I expect this game to be on the low scoring side.

Iowa's biggest advantage looks like it will be the offensive line versus Iowa State's defensive line. If the O-line can get to the second level and get a man on ISU's veteran linebackers (and they should be able to) then Marcus Coker will have a big day and carry the Hawkeyes to victory.

Further Reading:

BGHP's better know an opponent
An early breakdown by Eye of the Hawks.