Thursday, September 8, 2011

Heinemann on the Hawkeyes - Iowa at Iowa State

Brian Heinemann, who covers Iowa football for the Herald, previews this week's game.

IOWA CITY ––––– It would be easy to look at last week’s games and assume that Iowa will have an easy time with Iowa State in Ames this weekend.

One can look at Iowa’s dominant 34-7 win over Tennessee Tech and compare that to Iowa State’s 20-19, comeback, squeaker of a win over Northern Iowa and think that that tells the whole story.

It doesn’t.

It’s a different year and different teams, but UNI is a team that Iowa barely scraped by, 17-16, two years ago. That’s the same year the Hawkeyes went on to have a fantastic season, narrowly missing winning the Big Ten and picking up an Orange Bowl victory.

One team struggling against UNI hardly diminishes the importance of this intrastate rivalry game.

It’s definitely an important game,” Iowa receiver Marvin McNutt said. “It’s going to be an intense one. It’s always a good matchup and a great rivalry.”

That whole “good matchup” part hasn’t really been the case in recent years. Iowa won 35-7 last year, allowing only a late touchdown as the second- and third-string defense closed out the game. The Hawkeyes won 35-3 in 2009 and 17-5 in 2008.

There were some warning signs and negatives in Iowa’s opening win over Tennessee Tech, though. Iowa State likely isn’t as bad as they looked at times against the Panthers, either.

“(We’ve) got a lot of guys I think that are capable of playing a lot better,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “That’s going to be the thing we have to do not only this week but this month to push forward.”

Fumbles were an issue for Iowa, as were dropped passes. Another problem Ferentz saw was with the defensive line. While they played well and created plenty of pressure, the front four couldn’t seem to get Tech quarterback Tre Lamb on the ground often enough.

Credit to our guys for getting some disruption in there, but you still have to finish the play,” Ferentz said.

Iowa can take several positives out of the opener as well, most notably the fact that they’ve had several extra weeks to prepare for Iowa State’s offense and their use of the no-huddle. That helps both with conditioning and the mental factor of getting ready to face a faster-paced offense.

“It’s good for us,” defensive tackle Dominic Alvis said. “It’s high-tempo. It’s good to practice for that. In practice we’ve been preparing all week for their 15-second plays. It’s good. We like that tempo.”

The area Iowa looked the sharpest was in the passing game. New full-time starter James Vandenberg looked crisp against Tech, making no mistakes and having an efficient afternoon despite the near-monsoon conditions.

His immediate connection and chemistry with McNutt certainly helped him along, as the two hooked up six times for 140 yards and both of Iowa’s passing touchdowns.

It’s nice having him out there,” Vandenberg said of McNutt. “He puts a lot of fear in a lot of guys and they’re going to play off him.”

Iowa State won’t fear the Hawkeyes as a whole. This rivalry is far too important and heated for that, and this Iowa team isn’t as highly regarded as it has been the past few years.

That doesn’t mean Iowa State is going to beat the Hawkeyes, though. While this game should be a bit closer than the previous two blowouts, Iowa should still make this four in a row and bring home the new, “improved” interim Cy-Hawk Trophy.



Who: Iowa (1-0) at Iowa State (1-0)
When: 11:00 a.m. Saturday
Where: Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa

The series: Iowa leads 39-19, and is 16-7 in Ames
Last meeting: Iowa won 35-7 at Kinnick Stadium last season

This week's challenge: Protecting the football. Iowa put the ball on the ground four times (not counting dropped passes) last weekend. Doing that against an FBS opponent isn’t going to get you very far. If Iowa holds on to the ball, they have the talent to overwhelm Iowa State. If they don’t, it’s anyone’s game.

To pull off an upset: Iowa State will need a significantly better performance than they got last week and will need to find ways to put the ball in the end zone against an Iowa team that has allowed that to happen just once in the last three years. The Cyclones will need to harass Vandenberg throughout, forcing errant throws and creating turnovers, and they will need a flawless offensive performance to pull off the victory. Another case of fumblitis from Iowa would help as well.

Players to watch: Iowa running back Marcus Coker and Iowa State left tackle Kelechi Osemele. Coker will be looking to bounce back in a big way from an extremely disappointing opener. Osemele is one of the nation’s premier left tackles and a likely first-round pick in the NFL Draft, and this year he won’t be looking across the line at Adrian Clayborn. He is, however, nursing a sprained ankle that he has been fighting throughout camp and tweaked in the opener.

Gettin' down with Brian (four keys for Saturday):
First down — Osemele’s health. It will be a totally different game depending on how Osemele’s ankle holds up. Having a less-than-100% left tackle – Osemele left the UNI game early – could make it a long day for Iowa State quarterback Steele Jantz.
Second down — Coker’s hands. Iowa’s running back ran for just 41 yards in the opener, a disappointing performance for the Hawkeyes feature back. His legs weren’t the problem, though. Coker has to hold onto the ball Saturday to both regain his own confidence and to prevent his coaches from benching him again in favor of Jason White or De’Andre Johnson.
Third down — Hitting Jantz. Iowa State’s quarterback didn’t have the best of openers, throwing three interceptions and having a relatively miserable game until the final five minutes. Getting Jantz on the ground and keeping him jittery will go a long way toward Iowa’s defense shutting down the Cyclones’ offense.
Fourth down — Keeping contain. Jantz showed last week that he wasn’t very good at dumping the ball off to his underneath routes or his backs – he prefers to run. Jantz ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns against UNI, so Iowa’s front seven will need to make sure Jantz moves sideline to sideline, not vertically.

Trivial tidbit: This game features the last two winners of the Insight Bowl. Iowa defeated Missouri last December, and Iowa State defeated Minnesota the previous year.

Did you hear?: Iowa is bucking the trend many schools have jumped on (most famously – Oregon. Most hideously – Maryland). Ferentz said Tuesday that Iowa has not been approached about or considered changing their uniforms or going with alternate uniforms.

Bottom line: With the questionable health of Osemele and an unproven quarterback coming off a rough first game, Iowa State doesn’t appear to have the firepower to score much against the Iowa defense. Offensively, the Hawkeyes won’t have as strong of a performance as last week, although Marcus Coker should bounce back with a nice game on the ground. Expect to see Vandenberg’s first interception of the season, and for Iowa’s tight ends to be more actively involved this week. Iowa’s defense is too strong and Iowa State’s defense is not quite strong enough, which adds up to another Iowa win over their state rivals.

Final score: Iowa 24, Iowa State 13

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Hawkeyes roll despite rain, early miscues

By Brian Heinemann
For The Herald

IOWA CITY ----- A better team would have made the Iowa Hawkeyes pay for a slew of first-half mistakes. Luckily for Iowa, Tennessee Tech wasn’t that team Saturday.

While the rain poured incessantly, the Hawkeyes kept putting the ball on the ground. Dropped passes were one thing – Iowa had plenty of those. Fumbles were quite another.

Marcus Coker had two fumbles on his first four carries. Micah Hyde put the ball on the ground on a punt return but was mercifully called down by contact. De'Andre Johnson fumbled the ball out of bounds late in the game.

“I hope it wasn’t nerves,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I think I saw the ball on the ground three times in the first half. We came back and put it on the ground again in the second half. We’re not going to win football games like that. At the end of the day, that’s going to get us beat.

“We’re not a good enough team where we’re going to be able to give up any quarter at all.”

Tight end Zach Derby, with a chance to make his first career touchdown grab, dropped a pass in the end zone on a third down play that was a continuation of Coker’s rough day, as the sophomore slammed into his own quarterback after the snap.

Yet Iowa rolled to a 27-0 halftime lead en route to a 34-7 win at Kinnick Stadium. The result is what they wanted. The way they got there? Not so much.

None of the early miscues were where the real damage came from, though. The real damage came when true freshman Mika’il McCall, who rushed for 61 yards on nine carries after replacing Coker, left the field on crutches with an ankle injury.

“Unfortunately, he’s got a break,” Ferentz said. “It’s going to cost him the year. We’re all disappointed. Nobody’s more disappointed than him.”

And thus the running back woes of recent years continue at Iowa.

But all was not lost. Far from it. When you win by 27 points, something clearly went right. The defense was tremendous, shutting down what was supposed to be a high-powered, fast-paced Tennessee Tech offense. Iowa benefited from several huge plays as well, with a Shaun Prater 89-yard pick-six and a Marvin McNutt 88-yard touchdown reception.

The defensive performance bodes well for Iowa, who will see similar offenses to that of the Golden Eagles over the next several weeks at Iowa State and home against Pittsburgh. Linebacker James Morris picked up his first career interception, defensive tackle Mike Daniels wreaked some havoc in the backfield, and the defense stymied Tech throughout the first three quarters before giving way to the backups.

“We worked hard in practice, we did a lot of no-huddle type drills,” Hyde said. “I think it really prepared us for this game and the upcoming games. We’re running around and we’re more conditioned.”

There’s plenty of room for improvement on both sides of the ball, but none as critical as at the running back position. Coker has to improve, and fast. He finished with 11 carries for 41 yards and two fumbles, not exactly the shimmering stat line many expected to see following his huge performance in the Insight Bowl.

Those numbers aren’t going to be good enough for the Hawkeyes’ feature back. Not in the Big Ten.

“I told him, live to see another day,” McNutt, who finished with six catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns, said. “Keep your head up, because there’s still a lot of season left. Let it go, because next week’s another game, another opportunity to step on the field.”

Iowa won’t face a defense as porous as Tech’s was again this season, and the fact that Coker couldn’t get going on Saturday has to be a concern moving forward. Holding on to the ball would help, too.

Coker refused to blame the weather. Nor would he blame the fact that he hasn’t really been hit since the Insight Bowl win over Missouri eight months ago. He knows he needs to get out of his own head and
not focus too much on the fumbles, not get hesitant.

He knows he needs to get better.

“It’s something that just has to motivate you for the next week,” Coker said of the fumbles. “Holding on to the ball is my job. I didn’t do my job.”

The fumbles, the miscues, the dropped passes; even a lightning delay of 84 minutes couldn’t keep the Hawkeyes from rolling. James Vandenberg had a successful start to his first season as a full-time starter, completing 13 of 21 passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

For the most part, Iowa succeeded in doing what they needed to do against Tech. They got significant playing time for many backups and seven true freshmen, and, aside from the McCall injury, escaped fairly healthy despite the sloppy conditions.

“It’s the first step of many,” Vandenberg said. “We have to keep pushing forward.”

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Thursday, September 1, 2011

Heinemann on the Hawkeyes - Iowa vs. Tennessee Tech

Brian Heinemann, who covers Iowa football for the Herald, previews this week's game.

IOWA CITY ––––– With 21 returning starters, Tennessee Tech is one of the most experienced teams the Iowa Hawkeyes have seen in quite some time.

With an offense dubbed “the fastest 60 minutes in football,” the Golden Eagles will give Iowa a prolonged look at a no-huddle offense for the first of several times this season.

“On the offensive side, they’ve got an attack they’re promoting right now, fantastic-paced, high-tempo,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I think we’ll see a lot of that this year, certainly in the first part of our schedule, no doubt about that.”

Both Iowa State and Pittsburgh, who the Hawkeyes meet the next two weeks, run versions of the no-huddle offense. Both Iowa State and Pittsburgh are far more talented than Tennessee Tech, though.

Iowa hasn't lost a season opener in 10 years, a streak that isn’t likely to change this year. If all goes well (read: not like the 2009 UNI opener) the Hawkeyes should get some experience against a frenetic offense and some valuable playing time for some of the new faces on the team.

Those new faces include a half dozen freshmen or more that could see playing time, along with many new starters – Iowa returns the fewest starters in the Big Ten this year – and some backups who didn’t see much playing time last year.

At quarterback, the Hawkeyes will replace now-Kansas City Chief Ricky Stanzi with James Vandenberg. Other big changes come at wide receiver, where Derrell Johnson-Koulianos is gone, replaced in the starting lineup by Keenan Davis, and the defensive line, where Adrian Clayborn, Christian Ballard and Karl Klug will likely be followed by a rotation.

“Certainly Mike Daniels and Broderick Binns are the two centerpieces of that group,” Ferentz said of the defensive line. “We’ve seen them play excellent football. We’re counting on them to do that. After that we’ve got a lot of guys that are working hard, improving, but I think we could really see a rotation develop.”

The area most likely to see a slew of freshmen on the field is running back, where Iowa is unproven behind incumbent starter Marcus Coker. Figuring to potentially see action after Coker and Jason White are true freshmen Mika’il McCall, Damon Bullock, and Jordan Canzeri, along with redshirt freshman De’Andre Johnson.

Even with the new faces, Iowa figures to roll over Tennessee Tech with relative ease. The real battle Saturday should be for depth chart positioning and playing time as the team looks for answers heading into next weekend’s intrastate showdown with Iowa State.

Who: Iowa (0-0) vs. Tennessee Tech (0-0)
When: 11:00 a.m. Saturday
Where: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City
The series: Tied at 0-0
Last meeting: This is the teams’ first meeting

Injury notes: Iowa has several players that won’t play against Tech. Cornerback B.J. Lowery has an arm injury that will keep him sidelined for about a month. Linebackers Dakota Getz , Shane DiBona and Carl Davis are all out, as are fullback Brad Rogers and offensive lineman Nolan MacMillan.

This week's challenge: Staying focused and staying healthy. The last thing Iowa wants is another season-opening struggle. Injuries are a part of the game, but the Hawkeyes would love to avoid any major setbacks in what should amount to a tune-up game.

To pull off an upset: Tennessee Tech would need to channel their inner Appalachian State, along with hoping the Hawkeyes are completely confounded by the high-octane offense of the Golden Eagles. The defense will also need to force Vandenberg into multiple mistakes.

Players to watch: The quarterbacks – Iowa’s Vandenberg and Tech’s Tre Lamb, a third-year starter who can run and pass effectively. On defense, keep an eye on Iowa free safety Micah Hyde, who moves over from cornerback, and linebacker Christian Kirksey.

Gettin' down with Brian (four keys for Saturday):
First down — Weathering the storm. Tennessee Tech will look to come out quick with the no-huddle offense. Iowa’s defense will have to figure out how to slow or stop the high-octane attack early.
Second down — Limiting mistakes. The defense will be challenged all game and doesn’t want to give up big plays to allow Tech to stay in the game. On offense, Vandenberg has to make smart decisions and not force anything.
Third down — Special teams. Last year, the Hawkeyes had well-documented issues on special teams. So far so good in 2011, at least in practice. Now Iowa needs to show consistency in this phase of the game in a live game setting.
Fourth down — Keeping Tim Benford in check. The Tech receiver, a first-team all-Ohio Valley Conference last year, is the Golden Eagles best offensive weapon. Iowa needs to limit his touches to help slow down the Tech offense.

Trivial tidbit: Tennessee Tech has never beaten an FBS opponent, and has lost six games against FBF teams over the past three seasons by a combined score of 285-34.

Did you hear?: Iowa’s captains for this week are Mike Daniels, Marvin McNutt, Tyler Nielsen and Vandenberg.

Bottom line: Tennessee Tech doesn’t have the talent to hang with the Hawkeyes for long. Tech will likely move the ball with some success early as Iowa gets accustomed to the no-huddle offense of the Golden Eagles. Iowa’s defense will keep Tech contained though, and the Hawkeyes offense shouldn’t see much resistance. Expect to see a lot of Coker early; both Coker and Vandenberg should put up nice numbers to start the season off with some momentum.

Final score: Iowa 31, Tennessee Tech 3

Big Ten Predictions
Legends Division
1. Nebraska
2. Iowa
3. Michigan State
4. Northwestern
5. Michigan
6. Minnesota

Leaders Division
1. Wisconsin
2. Penn State
3. Ohio State
4. Illinois
5. Purdue
6. Indiana

Big Ten Title Game: Wisconsin over Nebraska