Iowa Hawkeyes (West
Division)
Location: Iowa City, IA
Stadium: Nile Kinnick Stadium (70,585)
Coach: Kirk Ferentz (17th
year): 115-85 at Iowa/127-106 overall, 68-60 v B1G, 1-8 v OSU
2014 Iowa Hawkeyes (7-6)(4-4) 2015
Iowa Hawkeyes
31 Northern Iowa 23 S5 Illinois State
17 Ball State 13 S12 at Iowa State
17 Iowa State 20 S19 Pittsburgh
24 at Pittsburgh 20 S26 North Texas
24 at Purdue 10 O3 at Wisconsin
45 Indiana 29 O10 Illinois
31 at Maryland 38 O17 at Northwestern
48 Northwestern 7 O24
14 at Minnesota 51 O31 Maryland
30 at Illinois 14 N7 at Indiana
24 Wisconsin 26 N14 Minnesota
34 Nebraska 37 N21 Purdue
28 Tennessee 45 N27 at Nebraska (Friday)
(TaxSlayer Bowl)
Iowa hopes
this is the year they can break out of the middle of the pack in the west
division and challenge for the division lead, but they will have to do it with
just 12 returning starters. QB Jake
Rudock, an experienced QB with a good arm, transferred to Michigan. However, CJ Bethard garnered some experience
last year and many close to the Iowa program feel he has a stronger arm than
Rudock and more mobility. He completed
over 56 percent of his throws in 2014 for 645 yards and five scores. However, the Hawkeyes will have to replace
do-it-all WR Kevonte Martin-Manley and
TE Ray Hamilton. But, they have
experience in the replacements with Senior Jake Duzey and WR Tevaun Smith. Duzey played in all 13 games for the Hawkeyes
last year and hauled in an impressive 36 receptions for 392 yards in an offense
that relies heavily on the TE position. Smith
was the second leading receiver on the team last year with 43 receptions for
596 yards and three scores. Matt
Vandeberg will take over the other WR spot and he chipped in 14 catches for 256
yards. Coach Ferentz may also move RB
Jonathan Parker to WR in an attempt to bolster the unit. He and sophomore Andre Harris will provide
much-needed depth to this unit which should give Bethard some options in the
medium and deep passing game.
Last year,
the Hawkeyes used a “running back by committee” approach as no running back
topped 100 yards in a game until week 8 against Northwestern. This year, they hope to settle on senior
Jordan Canzeri who gained 494 yards in spot duty last year and will have to
replace the departed Mark Weisman. They
will also have redshirt freshman CJ Hilliard and fellow classmate Derrick
Mitchell, both whom impressed the coaching staff in spring drills. Iowa has the talent to replace the numbers on
the ground they put up last year. Even
with the loss of their most experienced offensive lineman (Brandon Scherff),
the Hawkeyes look to improve in 2015.
The line should be anchored by a solid center in senior Austin Blythe, a
third-team all conference pick last year and senior RG Jordan Walsh, who
started the last 10 games in 2014. They
should provide leadership for the others on the line (all sophomores). Of those three, LG Sean Welsh is the most experienced,
starting nine games last year. Boone
Myers and Ike Boettger figure to be the new faces on the offensive line at LT
and RT respectively. If Myers and
Boettger can develop quickly into their starting roles, it should bode well for
Iowa’s running game.
On defense,
Iowa returns two very good bookends in seniors Drew Ott and Nate Meier. Both finished with 57 tackles a piece last
year and combined for 18 tackles for loss and 10 sacks. Sophomore Nathan Bazata and junior Jaleel
Johnson appeared to have the edge at the interior spots after spring
drills. The Hawkeyes had a very young
linebacking corps in 2014 compounded by injuries. Sophomores Bo Bower (38 tackles) and Josey
Jewell (51 tackles) return at OLB and MLB respectively, while fellow classmate
Ben Niemann figures to take the other OLB spot.
For 2015, they’ll also add in some good recruits at that position, such
as Angelo Garbutt and Justin Jinning. As
long as Bower and Jewell can stay healthy, the Hawkeyes should enjoy much
improved linebacker play this year. Iowa
looks to be the strongest in the defensive backfield. They lose their top tackler in SS John
Lowdermilk, but the other three return, highlighted by junior corner back
Desmond King, who was all over the field last year making 64 tackles and three
interceptions. His classmate, Greg Mabin
returns at the other corner position, with 53 tackles and an interception to
his credit in 2014. FS Jordan Lomax also
returns with 92 tackles and experience in covering the deep routes. Sophomore Miles Taylor appeared to have the
edge at SS coming out of spring practice.
All in all, the Iowa defensive backfield is probably the strongest unit
on the team, returning their #3, #5 and #8 tacklers, and with 64 career starts
between them. They should provide a
challenge to anybody who attempts to throw deep against them.
The Hawkeyes
have had disappointing special team the past several seasons, but look to right
the ship this year with experienced seniors returning to man the kicking
positions. Marshall Koehn. Toward the end of last year, Koehn showed
improvement as he finished a respectable 12/16 in field goals with a long of 52. Connor Kornbrath returns as punter and he
looks to improve on his 37.4 average.
Matt Vandeberg will handle the punt returns, as he did last year and
Ferentz may try him at kickoff returns or decide on Jordan Canzeri, who handled
some of that duty last year.
CB Desmond King
With the
return of Bethard at QB, an experienced defensive backfield, and better special
teams, things could be looking up for the Hawkeyes in 2015. They will play their in-state rival, Iowa
State on the road, which is always a tough test, but won’t face their first
really stern test until October 3 at Wisconsin.
While they won’t challenge for the division title this year, they’ve got
a shot, providing they stay healthy, to improve on last year’s win total.
2015 Projection: 8-4 (5-3) 4th
in West Division
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