The Iowa Hawkeyes kicked off their 2014 season taking on the Northern Iowa Panthers, one of the top teams in the FCS. I was expecting this game to be a little easier for Iowa, but it was a close one throughout the entire game. The Hawkeyes got on board in the first two minutes of the game, with a big kick return from Mark Weisman, and a touchdown run by LeShun Daniels. The Panthers, led by senior running back, David Johnson, provided plenty of offense against Iowa. Northern Iowa actually out gained Iowa 405-401 on the day, thanks to Johnson, who had 34 yards on the ground and 203 through the air, torching an inexperienced linebacking crew. The Hawkeyes secured the victory thanks to some big plays by junior wide receiver, Tevaun Smith. He scampered 35 yards on an end around, and made a beautiful one-handed grab in the end zone for a touchdown. I was very impressed with Northern Iowa and think they will conted for the FCS title this year. I also watched part of the North Dakota State-Iowa State game, and NDSU is going to be good once again. To me it looks like some of these FCS football teams would be right in the middle of the pack in the FBS.
Here's a breakdown by position now for the Hawkeyes in their first game.
QB: Jake Rudock was the only one to get any snaps, which wasn't a surprise in a close game like this. He didn't throw the deep ball often, but was efficient connecting on 31 of 41 passes for 250 yards and 2 scores. He didn't throw any interceptions, and most of his passes were pretty catchable, also a couple of drops. He had a long time to throw as well, I can't remember any Northern Iowa players putting much pressure on him. Overall, a pretty solid day, he hit Derrick Willies with a nice long pass, too. His arm strength looked better than it did a year ago.
RB: It was interesting how they used the running backs in the first game. They're saving Mark Weisman until the fourth quarter to keep him fresh, I think they should be using him in the first quarter and pounding the defense, and then again in the fourth quarter. None of the running backs were overly impressive, but Northern Iowa was stacking the box against the run. Daniels looked great on his touchdown run, looks a lot better than last year. The big four Weisman, Bullock, Canzeri and Daniels ran 28 times for 81 yards, which needs to improve quickly. Tevaun Smith is the leading rusher with a nice 35 yard gain. Rudock added 17 and Jonathan Parker had a nice 21 harder, I think he could be a nice offensive weapon.
FB: The fullback play was solid from what I saw, Macon Plewa, I think was the only one that played. He had a catch out of the backfield that picked up a couple of yards.
WR: Rudock had several different targets on Saturday, his go-to-guy was senior, Kevonte Martin-Manley, who hauled in eight catches for 62 yards. Willies had a great 46 yard reception, it would have been a touchdown, but he fell short, but it set up a nice 12 yard td for Damond Powell, his only catch of the game. Smith played nicely in the second half, including the one handed td grab. I think they need utilize Powell and Willies a little more, they seem to have some real talent. I think Smith will get more receptions this year, too, he seems like a playmaker. They have some pretty good depth this year and should get better each week. I'd like to see Jake air it out a little more.
TE: Jake Duzey had seven receptions leading the tight ends, Ray Hamilton and Henry Krieger-Coble also had receptions, George Kittle got in the game a bit, too. It's a solid group of tight ends this year. Duzey is probably the best receiver of the bunch.
OL: The OL could have done better at run blocking, but it's a little harder when the defense is bringing more players to stop the run. I thought they did a tremendous job in pass protection though, giving Rudock a lot of time in the pocket. Sean Welsh looked pretty solid as a freshmen starter.
DL: I thought the DL played really well, the Panthers ran 25 times and gained 25 yards, quarterback sacks accounted for -19 of that. They held David Johnson to 13-34 a 2.6 avg and Darrian Miller to 5-12 a 2.4 avg. Louis Trinca-Pasat was the DL MVP, he had 10 tackles, four tackles for loss and two sacks. I love watching him, he never gives up on a play. Drew Ott and Jaleel Johnson added a sack each as well. Carl Davis looked good, disrupting a lot of plays. I saw Faith Ekakitie in there as long as Mike Hardy and Nate Meier. I think I even saw freshmen Nathan Bazata in there a time or two.
LB: This group needs a lot of work on pass coverage. Quinton Alston got torched by David Johnson on a big touchdown. Alston made some big plays, but couldn't keep up with Johnson. Reggie Spearman did ok, but seemed out of place a couple of times, he also whiffed on a tackle. I think he's going to be good though. I was really impressed with freshmen, Bo Bower, a former walk-on. He's quickly becoming my favorite defensive player. He had a nice interception and a big sack as well. He was also getting the crowd into the game, which is always good to see from a young player, I think Iowa has a good one there, and the LB crew will be good in the future. I saw true freshmen, Ben Niemann in on special teams.
DB: The Panthers passed for 380 yards, but not all of that is the blame of the secondary. A lot of those yards are pinned on the linebackers. The secondary does need a lot of work though. UNI completed less than half of their passes, but the DL had a lot to do with that. The safeties seemed out of place at times, John Lowdermilk looked like a freshmen out there on some plays. Once again, this is a group that will continue to make strides and get better every week. Greg Mabin had an interception late in the game to seal the win, and instead of going down deciding to run with it, he got 18 yards, but coach wasn't too happy about it.
ST: The kicking game was pretty brutal, Marshall Koehn a 37 yard field goal, and Dillon Kidd only averaged 36.2 yards per punt. They both have to improve quickly. I did like Koehn's leg on kickoffs, of his six kicks, four were touchbacks. Weisman led the team on returning, a short kickoff to start the game went to Weisman and he picked up 50 yards. Matt VandeBerg will be a good punt returner, he has great hands, and Jonathan Parker joined him as the kick returners. Parker has some wheels.
Next week the Hawkeyes take on Ball State, who had a great year a season ago, but they lost their QB to graduation. They do have a couple solid running backs, but Iowa should have no problem stopping the run this year. I think Northern Iowa's QB is probably better than Ball State's, and they don't have David Johnson, so this game should be a little better for the defense. Hoping to see some C.J. Beathard at QB, too, he's got a cannon arm, but needs some game experience. I'd like to see Weisman and Daniels bruise up the defense in the first quarter before bringing in Canzeri and Bullock for the middle part of the game. Then bring the bruisers back in in the fourth to wear them down. I'd like to see Rudock take more shots downfield, maybe get Willies in the game a little more. The Hawkeyes didn't make many mistakes penalty-wise and only had one turnover. Hope they can keep that up.
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