Hey Hawk fans the Big Ten season starts this weekend as we go on the road to take on Minnesota. Before I talk about that, lets look back at this past Saturday's game vs Western Michigan. Last Saturday couldn't have gone any better for the Hawks as they rolled the Broncos 59 to 3. It was great to see Iowa finally blow out a team as I don't remember a game where Iowa won like that in at least a few years. The best thing about the game Saturday is we played a lot of younger players and didn't have to use Weisman only giving him 10 carries. He should be really fresh for the Gophers this Saturday. So now lets take a look at what Iowa did well on Saturday.
Saturday's game was really a game the fans needed Iowa was coming off a big win over Iowa State where they didn't finish the game real strong. That was not the case in this game as we took a 38 to 3 lead at halftime over the Broncos. The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage again allowing Iowa to run for 258 yards again going over 200 yards rushing. If Iowa continues to run like this during the Big Ten season they will be a very dangerous team. We ran the ball 58 times on 76 total plays which is impressive considering they had 2 punt returns and Interception returns for touchdowns. The running game was very strong with Jordan Canzeri leading the Hawkeyes with 13 carries 74 yards, he looked very quick to the hole and will probably get more carries as we move into Big Ten season. We also got a chance to see Leshun Daniels receive 13 carries for 54 yards, he made some nice runs but ran a little bit straight up which caused him to take some hard shots in the game. Weisman was able to rest in this game only getting 10 carries for 43 yards and Damon Bullock also had 10 carries for 37 yards. The running game is our Identity we have ran 50 plus times in every game this season so expect to see that as we go into conference play. The only negative for the running backs was that Canzeri and Daniels both fumbled. We all knew the running game was good but how did the passing game do on Saturday.
Although we didn't throw the ball a lot on Saturday only throwing the ball 18 times to complete 11 passes total between Rudock and Beathard. I thought Rudock looked very Sharp on Saturday completing 10 of 15 passes for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rudock is so poised he had a 4th down play in the 1st quarter where the snap was low he picked the ball off the ground and threw a strike to CJ Fiedorowictz to pick of the first down on 4th and 6. Later on the drive he completed a playaction pass to Jacob Hillyer who broke a tackle and scored the Hawks first touchdown. I thought Jake looked really good on the Playaction which is good news because the way we run the football we should be able to hit some passes on those plays. He also showed off his arm on an absolute strike to Damond Powell where he hit him in the endzone that was his last play of the game. He also showed he could scramble running for a number of yards to avoid a sack. That specific play looked like a designed run because the offensive line was already down the field when he was dropping back. Jake ran the ball 4 times for 30 yards on Saturday. CJ Beathard also got in the game on Saturday he completed one pass on three attempts but it was a Rocket. He threw a 54 yard completion to Damond Powell and he couldn't of thrown it any better hitting Powell right in the hands. Beathard definitely has an arm so the depth is very strong at Quarterback for the Hawks. Now that we talked about what the Quarterbacks lets look at the wide receivers.
The receivers still need to keep improving if Iowa is going to be a strong team in the BIG Ten. Even though the running game has been very strong we are going to need our wide outs to make plays in the Conference season. The good news is Jake Hillyer has caught touchdown passes in the last 2 games so maybe he starting to take some steps forward. Damond Powell was the guy that stood out on Saturday catching two long passes one from each Quarterback a Touchdown from Rudock and a 54 yard gain from Beathard. Powell can definitely run so he will likely get more playing time as we get into Big Ten play. The other Receivers didn't do a whole lot Martin Manly had one catch for 6 yards, Tevaun Smith had 1 catch for 6 yards, CJ Fiedorowictz had 1 catch for 12 yards, and Damon Bullock also had a 12 yard reception. The guy who looks to be emerging is Ray Hamilton who had 3 catches for 39 yards. They are getting better the question is can we win a game where we don't run for 200 plus yards? I'm not sure yet but I have seen improvement from our Receivers Martin Manley is the number one guy but we are still searching for a number two guy. Hillyer, and Smith seem to be the guys that have the potential to become a number 2 Receivers but they have to get more consistent. The other guy that is coming on strong is Damond Powell he has the speed to stretch the field and open up space underneath the coverage for guys like Martin Manley, Hillyer, Smith and our tight ends. Now that I broke down offense lets take a look at how the defense played.
There really isn't anything to complain about they held Western Michigan to 3 points and even scored two touchdowns. BJ Lowery had two pick 6's that really put the game further out of reach than it was. The pass rush was very good on Saturday we didn't get any sacks but forced a number of hurried passes. Iowa was very successful getting pressure on the Quarterback with a blitz Christian Kirksey was very strong on his blitzes hitting the Quarterback on almost every blitz. The defensive line continues to improve and our run defense was outstanding only allowing 74 rushing yards. The Secondary was a whole lot better this weekend they seemed to be communicating better not allowing any big plays vs the Broncos. We forced 4 turnover 3 interceptions and one fumble. In the Broncos first 5 possessions they went 3 and out the defense continues to control the line of scrimmage and are getting better in the secondary. If the defense continues to stop the run they will be very dangerous in the conference. Iowa seems to be faster on the outside we aren't giving up the short pass like we have in the past the spread offenses don't seem to be as effective as they have been. When we played Northern Illinois we did give up a lot of big plays but that looked to be more communication issues than anything. We will see the spread in almost every game so if the defense is better vs these types of offenses we should be able to hang in with anybody left on the schedule. Those are my thoughts on the defense now lets look at special teams which was a game changer on Saturday.
We all wanted to see Martin Manley run back more punts instead of fair catching the ball like he has done so far this season. Well whatever the game plan on the punt returns was it worked as Martin Manley ran two straight punts back for touchdowns. Special teams can be a game changer when we get into conference play. The blocking on the returns were very good and a lot of people have questioned whether Martin Manley is a play maker back there or just a guy to fair catch the ball. He answered those questions on Saturday with 3 big returns two going for touchdowns. The punting was also better as Kornbraith averaged 47 yards per punt on 3 punt attempts. The Kickoff team did give up one big return but overall they were better this weekend. They still need to improve a lot on the kickoff unit as we can't give up big plays on special teams as those can be game changing type plays.
This was a big win for the Hawks finally blowing out a team and this has to give us a lot of momentum as we go into Big Ten play. We start Big Ten play this weekend vs the Gophers and that should be a very interesting game. I will have a preview of that game coming up in the next few days so be sure to check back thanks for reading.
Go Hawks.
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