Saturday was a game filled with missed opportunities for the Hawkeyes in a game where they had a great chance to beat a very good Wisconsin team. Iowa had great field position the entire first quarter and came away with 3 points once this happened I knew we would regret that later in the game. Wisconsin went on to win the football game 28 to 9 but the score was a lot closer than that. If a few plays would have went the Hawks way they probably win this football game. So why did the offense struggle so much on Saturday against the Badgers defense?
The Hawks struggled running the football once again vs the Wisconsin 3-4 defense only being able to rush for 110 total yards. I really don't know what to say about this running game because at times they have been very good but lately we haven't been able to get whole lot going on the ground. Weisman just doesnt' look like he has the same burst that he had earlier in the season maybe that is because of the better teams we are playing. Weisman was held to 15 yards on 9 carries only averaging 1.7 yards per carry and Damon Bullock had 6 carries for 6 yards only averaging 1 yard per carry. The only running backs that had any type of success were Leshun Daniels who had 4 carries for 14 yards a 3.5 yard average per run. The leading rusher for the Hawks was Jordan Canzeri who ran the 5 times for 58 yards including a long of 43 yards and an average of 11.6 yards per carry. I really am at a loss right now with the fact that Iowa just can't get the running game going maybe playing a smaller shiftier back may be the right thing for the Hawks going forward. Canzeri hasn't had a whole lot of carries on the season averaging 6 yards on 29 carries for 129 yards. I like all of the backs for the Hawkeyes but the interesting thing is that Mark Weisman is not getting the majority of the carries on Saturday Iowa ran the ball 32 times for 110 yards with only 3.4 yards per carry. For 4 of the first 5 weeks of the season Mark Weisman ran the ball for over 20 times a game in the last 3 games he has ran the ball 10 times, 13 times and 9 times. Something has changed with Weisman I don't know if he just banged up or if maybe the defense has figured out that Weisman isn't going to hurt them running the football. Bullock and Weisman haven't been effective running the football so is it time to think about giving Daniels and Canzeri more carries in the next few weeks?
The Iowa passing game wasn't good only completing 16 of 40 passes between Rudock and Beathard for 179 yards 2 interceptions. Jake just couldn't get a whole lot going he missed a number of open receivers on Saturday that could of been some big plays for the Hawkeyes. Dropped passes were an issue for the Hawkeyes as they dropped at least 5 passes that I remember the big one coming down at the 5 yard line where the Hawks were driving Rudock escaped the pocket to hit Kevonte Martin Manley on 3rd down but he dropped the pass. Rudock missed back to back plays which would have been touchdowns on the first play they ran a deep post by Tevaun Smith with a wheel route by Kevonte Martin Manley Jake threw the ball to Martin Manley but overthrew him. On the play Smith was wide open on the post would of been an easy touchdown he just didn't see him. The very next play Kevonte Martin Manley ran a double move out and up where he was all by himself but Rudock pulled the ball down to quick due to the pass rush so he didn't see him. If Iowa could of made one of these plays this game would of been changed dramatically.
The leading receiver for the Hawks was Damond Powell who had 3 catches for 43 yards, Damon Bullock also had 3 catches for 39 yards, Don Shumpert had a nice game with 2 catches for 35 yards. Tevaun Smith had 2 receptions for 26 yards, 1 receptions by CJ Fiedorowicz for 16 yards. The only other players with a reception Jake Duzey had 2 catches for 8 yards, Kevonte Martin Manley had his worst game of the season hauling in 2 catches for 6 yards, Matt Vandeberg had 1 catch for 6 yards. We saw a very good passing game by the Hawkeyes vs Ohio State when they used the 3 tight end set but they have gone away from that formation for the most part. They tried to get Jake Duzey involved but the Wisconsin defense was focused on him so he didn't get a lot of chances to make plays. I still think there is a possibility the Hawkeyes passing game can improve I see great things in the future from Tevaun Smith. I really think for the Hawkeyes to get a passing game going they need Damond Powell, and Tevaun Smith to become more consistent. In this game Iowa made 2 critical mistakes they ran a play action pass down at the goal line where Rudock was pressured he could have been sacked for a safety instead he just threw the ball up for grabs and was intercepted. This play completely changed this game Iowa was trailing 7 to 6 when the Badgers intercepted the pass than scored one play later. The other interception was thrown by CJ Beathard who was hit as he threw the ball and it hit Andrew Donnal in the helmet bouncing in the air for an interception. One thought about Beathard is he definitely has a cannon he makes throws that other quarterbacks simply can't. I'm not saying we have a quarterback controversy yet but going into next year we could have another battle on our hands. Rudock has played very well this season earning this starting job if he is healthy he will be the starting quarterback for this football team. I'd like to see him throw the ball down the field a little bit more he has a tendency to pass the ball to the flat when the middle of the field has been open. I don't know if that is by design or if he just does that on his own. When Beathard came in he threw the ball down the field on a number of throws. Iowa needs to hit some passes down the field if defenses are going to respect the passing game to open up the running game.
Defensively Iowa played a very good game they held Wisconsin to 218 rushing yards with most of those yards coming in the 4th quarter. The impressive thing for the Hawkeyes defense is they forced 3 straight 3 and outs to start the game including an interception by Tanner Miller. The Hawks did get a lot of pressure Stave for the most part sacking him at least 3 times that I can remember. The blitzing the Hawkeyes did on Saturday was very effective. This has been a tool the Hawks have used all season and it has worked very well. The Secondary was much improved on Saturday but they still allowed some big plays the first touchdown by the Badgers was a 44 yard TD reception. The second TD pass was a 20 yard pass play to Jared Abbrederis another play over 20 yards for a TD. Iowa has to play better in the secondary by stopping these big plays they have hurt us all season long the Safeties are part of the problem but it is hard to tell what the coverage is on these plays. Iowa's defense did hold the Wisconsin passing game to 144 yards they forced one turnover a interception but lost the turnover battle 2 to 1. I can't put this game on the defense they played very good all day they just got a little bit tired down the stretch they kept Iowa in the game as the offense only put up 3 field goals.
Special teams was actually a bright spot on Saturday the coverage teams were very good. Mike Meyer made 3 field goals and Konor Cornbraith punted the ball fairly well averaging 41 yards per punt with a long of 54 and 3 inside the 20 yard line. The return game was okay for the Hawks Saturday Jordan Cotton 4 kickoff returns for 88 yards averaging 22 yards per return. Kevonte Martin Manley had 2 punt returns for 10 yards 5 yards per return. Penalties hurt Iowa very badly they had the ball on the Wisconsin 29 but they got a false start penalty even though they did pick up a first down later on the drive. Iowa had the ball 2nd and 6 at the Wisconsin 14 CJ Fiedorowicz was called for holding making it 2nd and 16 they also converted a first down on 4th down and 1. Later on this same drive they had the ball 3rd and goal at the 3 yards line another false Start penalty Rudock ran for 4 yards on 3rd and goal from the 8 without the false start he has a touchdown. Iowa didn't have a lot of penalties but they had critical penalties that hurt drives where they had a chance to score touchdowns.
Looking at this game as a whole the Hawks missed a lot of opportunities on Saturday in the first quarter they had the ball on the Wisconsin side of the field just couldn't score touchdowns. The defense kept Iowa in the game the offense just couldn't score touchdowns settling for field goals. Against a good team like the Badgers Iowa needed to score touchdowns if they were going to win this football game. Iowa has 3 games left this season which starts this weekend with a must win game at Purdue they then have a bye week before their final home game against Michigan finishing up on the road at Nebraska. I believe the Hawks can do some special things this season they could finish this season on winning streak going 8-4 or 7-5 is very important for this team they have had a lot of success against teams they are supposed to beat now it's time for them to win a game against a good team like Michigan or Nebraska. The Hawkeyes need to win this game vs Purdue on Saturday getting to the 6 win mark and bowl eligible should take some pressure off the team.. I will have a preview of that game coming up in the next few days thanks for reading.
Go Hawks.
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