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
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