We are less than 100 days away from the kickoff of Iowa's football season, so lets take a look at the upcoming sports year.
FOOTBALL
HEAD COACH: KIRK FERENTZ
Schedule
8/31 vs Northern Illinois This could be an interesting team, they lose quite a bit from the Orange Bowl team of a year ago that Iowa beat at Soldier Field. They also introduce a new coach, Rod Carey. IOWA 27 NORTHERN ILLINOIS 21
9/7 vs Missouri State Head coach is Terry Allen, he coached at Northern Iowa back in the day and did a great job. They are coming off a three win season. They lost to Kansas State 9-51, Louisville 7-35 and Northern Iowa 13-38. Should be the easiest game on the schedule. IOWA 38 MISSOURI STATE 10
9/14 at Iowa State The Cyclones have done a pretty decent job under coach Rhoads he seems to have them going in the right direction. Last year's game was ugly! IOWA 17 IOWA STATE 14 another ugly one
9/21 vs Western Michigan A new coach comes in after a rough season last year. They did win at Central Michigan though, Iowa couldn't even beat them at home. This one could be a close one if the Hawkeyes don't get their offense together. IOWA 34 WESTERN MICHIGAN 21
9/28 at Minnesota Gray is gone! He was a pretty solid QB. The Gophers made a bowl game last year, but the Hawkeyes manhandled them. I think Iowa has their number finally. IOWA 31 MINNESOTA 21
10/5 vs Michigan State I didn't think the Spartans were that great last year and they lost a majority of their offense with Bell and Sims. Their QB play wasn't much better than Iowa's last year, it actually might have been worse. The defense brings back some solid guys, but Gholston is gone. I can see Sparty having a rough one. IOWA 27 MICHIGAN STATE 17 (Yes, I realize I have the Hawkeyes undefeated at this point.)
10/19 at Ohio State I hate seeing the Hawkeyes get whooped, but I've got a feeling this one will be ugly. Ohio State returns Braxton Miller, Carlos Hyde, Corey Brown and Devin Smith, not too mention a solid OL and some great defenders. OHIO STATE 45 IOWA 17 (I could see OSU scoring way more than 45 sadly.)
10/26 vs Northwestern Should be a ranked team, they were pretty solid last year and QB Kain Colter and RB/RET Venric Mack will be back. Iowa might have a hard time shutting them down. IOWA 31 NORTHWESTERN 30
11/2 vs Wisconsin Could be a top 25 team, they return 15 starters including RB's James White and Melvin Gordon and WR Jared Abbrederis. LB Chris Borland is also one of the best in the conference. We'll see how they do with a new coach. WISCONSIN 28 IOWA 21
11/9 at Purdue This is a team that's hard to figure out usually. They play well against good teams and at times they look awful. Hopefully the Hawkeyes will make them look awful, but it's on the road. PURDUE 31 IOWA 27 (edit: IOWA 34 PURDUE 24)
11/23 vs Michigan The Wolverines were great last season, but they lose Denard Robinson. They don't return a ton of starters, but they do have a lot of talent. MICHIGAN 48 IOWA 24
11/29 at Nebraska Taylor Martinez is back to lead the Huskers, who again, should be ranked. They lost Rex Burkhead, but Ameer Abdullah will be one of the best backs in the league. Kenny Bell is also one of the better wideouts. Nebraska's defense loses a lot. NEBRASKA 24 IOWA 14
That would put Iowa at 3-5 7-5, not great, but back in a bowl game and better than last year. It's still a pretty young squad, too. (edit: Looking at Purdue's team this year I think Iowa will beat them putting them at 4-4 8-5)
Hawkeye Roster
The Hawkeyes are looking to bounce back after a rough season, can they get back into the mix in the Big Ten? Here's a look at what they have returning.
QB: Jake Rudock SO, Cody Sokol JR, CJ Beathard FR None of these guys have taken a single snap for the Hawkeyes, it'll be interesting to see how it will all play out. Last year, James Vandenberg threw for a whopping seven touchdowns!
RB: Damon Bullock JR (533-3), Jordan Canzeri SO (114) will lead the ground game if they can stay healthy. FR Michael Malloy and Barkley Hill could step in as well.
FB: Mark Weisman JR (815-8) will definitely see some snaps at RB, but is also a great blocker. SO Adam Cox could be the FB when Weisman isn't in.
WR: Kevonte Martin Manley JR (82-894-5), Jordan Cotton SR (13-176-1), Tevaun Smith SO (3-31), Jacob Hillyer SO (1-15) will be the top returners here. FR Cam Wilson and Riley McCarron wowed some people at the spring game and could make a difference. Add in Juco speedster, Damond Powell, and the Hawkeyes could have some weapons if they can start catching the ball.
TE: CJ Fiedorowicz SR (61-600-4), Ray Hamilton JR (3-35), Jake Duzey SO (3-16), Henry Krieger-Coble SO (4-30-1) This is a talented group for Iowa and could help the new QB open things up. CJ is one of the best in the nation.
OL: Brandon Scherff JR 6'5" 315, Connor Boffeli SR 6'5" 295, Austin Blythe SO 6'3" 300, Andrew Donnal JR 6'7" 305, Brett Van Sloten SR 6'7" 300 could be the starting lineup with Jordan Walsh SO 6'4" 290, Ryan Ward FR 6'5" 290 and Nolan MacMillan SR 6'6" 294 being the top backups. This looks like a strong unit if they stay healthy they could be one of the better lines in the conference.
K: Mike Meyer SR (45-58 FG, 100-102 XP) One of the better kickers in the conference is back for his senior year. If they score more touchdowns, maybe he'll get a look for the Groza award.
DE: Dom Alvis SR 6'4" 265, Drew Ott SO 6'4" 265, Faith Ekakitie FR 6'3" 287, Riley McMinn SO 6'7" 260, Melvin Spears SO 6'2" 265 Not a lot of experience or depth at the DE spot this year, hopefully Ott, Ekakitie, McMinn and Spears can provide a nice rotation with Alvis being a solid starter.
DT: Lou Trinca-Pasat JR 6'3" 290, Darian Cooper SO 6'2" 280, Carl Davis JR 6'5" 315, Jaleel Johnson FR 6'4" 310 This unit could be a solid one, if not this year, definitely next year. LTP has improved greatly, and Davis looked good this spring. Cooper should be able to step up his game, too. Johnson is unknown at this point, but he's huge and has a lot of potential, looked great in high school.
LB: Christian Kirksey SR (211 tackles), Anthony Hitchens SR (158 tackles), James Morris SR (293 tackles) The most experienced unit on the team could be a good one this year as long as they stay healthy. There isn't much experience behind them this year, a lot of younger players.
CB: B.J. Lowery SR, Jordan Lomax SO, Maurice Fleming FR, Sean Draper SO A very young squad this year, so hopefully the DL will be able to get to the QB a lot. Lowery is solid and Lomax looked good as a FR before losing last year to injury. Fleming is a great athlete.
S: Tanner Miller SR (152 tackles, 4 int), Nico Law JR, John Lowdermilk JR, Anthony Gair FR, Ruben Lile FR Miller isn't the quickest player in the conference, but can make plays. Hopefully Law will be much improved, this unit could be solid. I think Gair and Lile will be good ones and could surpass Lowdermilk on the depth chart.
P: Connor Kornbrath SO (37.9) The punting game wasn't the best last year and Kornbrath will look to improve. He had some nice punts last year, but needs to be more consistent.
BASKETBALL
HEAD COACH: FRAN MCCAFFERY
Schedule
11/28-11/30 Nassau, Bahamas Battle 4 Atlantis
12/3 vs Notre Dame
The Hawkeyes ended up as the runner up in the NIT tournament last season and brought a lot of excitement back to Iowa City. They lose one player: Eric May, and will welcome transfer Jarrod Uthoff, and freshmen Kyle Meyer and Peter Jok, a highly recruited player. Iowa came up short in a few games last year, struggling to finish out games. This will be a pretty experienced lineup, and one of the deepest teams they've had in quite some time.
2013-14 Roster
Melsahn Basabe SR 6'7" (8.5 ppg, 122 blk, 570 reb)
Roy Marble SR 6'6" (11 ppg, 1,134 pts, 279 ast)
Zach McCabe SR 6'7" (6.4 ppg, 413 reb)
Gabe Olaseni JR 6'10" (2.3 ppg)
Josh Oglesby JR 6'5" (5.4 ppg)
Aaron White JR 6'8" (12 ppg, 877 pts, 433 reb)
Anthony Clemmons SO 6'1" (4.3 ppg, 105 ast)
Mike Gesell SO 6'1" (8.7 ppg, 40 stl)
Jarrod Uthoff SO 6'8"
Adam Woodbury SO 7'1" (4.9 ppg, 181 reb, 29 blk)
Kyle Meyer FR 6'10"
Peter Jok FR 6'6"
The Big Ten was absolutely loaded last season and should be among the top conferences again. I could see Iowa being a top 25 team, maybe hovering around the #20 spot. Marble played like a beast in the NIT and hopefully that will carry over to next season. Outside shooting has to improve greatly, everyone was too inconsistent. I think Peter Jok will pick up some of Oglesby's minutes, he looks great on film. Woodbury and Olaseni could be a nice tandem in the middle. White and Uthoff could create some nice mismatch problems and Gesell I think will play the 2 guard while Marble runs the point. Looking forward to seeing the Hawkeyes back in the big dance.
WRESTLING
HEAD COACH: TOM BRANDS
The Hawkeyes came up short in Des Moines at the NCAA Tournament last year, but hopefully they can bounce back. The lineup is looking pretty good for this year, but a lot the top teams return great wrestlers.
125: Cory Clark SO (20-2) or Thomas Gilman SO (23-5) will compete for 125, I think Clark has the upper hand.
133: Tony Ramos SR (30-2) was runner up at the NCAA tourney last year and will be wrestling for a title this year.
141: Josh Dziewa JR (15-4) could be the guy at 141, but he could be challenged by a younger guy.
149: Edwin Cooper JR Juco transfer could come in and be a stud right away.
157: Derek St. John SR (31-2) won the national title last year and is looking to repeat.
165: Nick Moore JR (18-10) took 4th in the Big Ten last year.
174: Mike Evans JR (23-7) took 2nd in Big Ten and 6th in the NCAA.
184: Ethen Lofthouse SR (22-9) 3rd at Big Ten and 5th at NCAA.
197: Nathan Burak FR (20-17) 4th at Big Ten.
285: Bobby Telford JR (20-6) 3rd at Big Ten, got injured at the NCAA Tourney, hopefully he will bounce back, he had a nice season.
Plenty of experience coming back, but there will be a lot of talent returning on some of the top teams. Penn State and Oklahoma State might be tough to beat next year. Ramos and St. John will be in the running for national titles.
BASEBALL
HEAD COACH: TBA
Next year's baseball team will have a new head coach for the first time in 10 years. Jack Dahm struggled to get Iowa to the conference tournament on several occasions. He had some nice recruiting classes the past few years which could bode well for the new skipper. Iowa didn't lose much this year, but will lose pitchers Matt Dermody and Ricky Sandquist. Dermody will most likely get drafted again, hopefully Sandquist will get a look, too. Catcher, Dan Sheppard, is the only player they lose on offense.
2014 Iowa Baseball
Infield *(career BA/OB in parenthesis)
1B: Bryan Niedbalski SR (.234/.351), Trevor Kenyon SR (.307/.386), Blake Hickman SO (.220/.355)
2B: Nick Roscetti SO (.272/.348), Jake Mangler JR (.270/.330)
SS: Jake Yacinich JR (.286/.353), JC Pena FR
3B: Nick Day JR (.203/.301), Devin Pickett SO
I'm wondering if maybe Yacinich could play 3B so Pena could play SS, I think Pena is going to be great, has a good baseball name.
Outfield
Eric Toole JR (.315/.384)
Taylor Zeutenhorst SR (.219/.351)
Kris Goodman JR (.247/.337)
Taylor Kaufman JR (.248/.349)
Kendall Coleman FR
Catchers
Anthony Torres JR (.330/.407)
Keith Brand SR (.243/.400)
Kenyon SR
Hickman SO
Pitchers
Sasha Kuebel JR (8-8 3.85)
Calvin Mathews SO (2-5 4.91)
Taylor Kaufman JR (6-3 2.91 3 SV)
John Martsching SO (0-2 4.98)
Nick Hibbing JR (4-5 4.83 6 SV)
Andrew Hedrick JR (3-2 5.01)
Zach Burdi FR
Will Kenny JR
Jake Reinhardt FR
If the offense can step up and hit more than singles they will be able to score more runs. The pitching staff could be decent, if Kuebel pitches like he did down the stretch and Kaufman pitches like he did all season, they could be two of the better arms in the conference. Mathews looked tough at times, too. Hibbing could be a solid closer and some of the new guys could provide depth in the bullpen. Hard to say if they'll have a winning team or not, but they definitely have some potential. If not next year, then 2015 could be solid with a lot of SR leadership.
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