The defense was dominant at times, was this because they are that good or the offense was that bad? We won't officially be able to answer that question until the season starts but I saw a lot of good things. Lets start on the defensive line where Drew Ott looked like a 1st team all Big Ten Player. He was bull rushing and putting a ton of pressure on CJ Beathard all day, he had 6 sacks. On the other side was defensive end Nate Meier who caused pressure also coming up with 2 sacks. The defensive tackles on Saturday were Jaleel Johnson and Nathan Bazata. Both Johnson and Bazata played a little last season but they do have big shoes to fill replacing Louis Trinca Pasat and Carl Davis. Most of the scrimmage both guys were getting a good push, on one particular play Bazata drove Freshman James Daniels back into the backfield. I was impressed with both guys ability to shed blocks and make plays. The second team defensive line will be important too especially with all the spread offenses depth is important.
At defensive end Matt Nelson who has huge potential at 6 ft 7 once he puts on more muscle he will be a terror to block. He's looked like he put on a lot of weight on so he will likely be one of the first defensive ends in the game. At the other defensive end position was Parker Hesse a converted QB a lot like Nate Meier who transitioned to defensive line from Running back he's still getting bigger but he does have a quick first step. Faith Ekakite who has waited his turn to make an impact was one of the defensive tackles, and Kyle Terlow was the other one. It's important that all these guys continue to get better especially at defensive end because even though the size is there not a lot of plays were being made but to be fair they were getting into the backfield. On the 3rd team defensive line one player stood out to me and that was Terrance Harris he has already put on a lot of weight. He made the biggest hit in the scrimmage tossing Eric Graham to the ground. I don't know if he will play this year but he looks the part to be a speed rusher which is something we've been missing. If the hawks run the Raider formation again I could see Terrance possibly on that formation. Anthony Nelson is another guy who has a lot of size at 6 ft 7 but needs to get bigger before hes ready to play. Those are just some thoughts on the defensive line.
On to the linebackers where we had some struggles last season but also had some positives too. The starting linebackers on Saturday were Ben Niemann at OLB, Josey Jewell at MLB and Bo Bower at the other OLB spot. All 3 LB's are fast and pretty solid in pass coverage, they all seemed to be making more plays then last season. It was like they weren't thinking and just making plays. Even when the offense tried to sneak a back out into the flat or run a wheel rout the linebackers were right there in coverage. That was great to see because last season we gave up a ton of big plays on passes to the RB out of the backfield. This young trio of linebackers will only get better, we all remember the struggles of Kirksey, Hitchens and Morris early in their careers. These LB's were thrown in there last season and that should help them be more ready when opening week roles around. The second team linebackers were a couple of veterans in Cole Fisher, Travis Perry and Aaron Mends. All 3 were very solid Saturday at least I didn't notice any big mistakes in either the passing or running game. The 3rd team linebackers were the younger guys Brady Ross, Jack Hockaday and Angelo Garbutt with Nick Wilson and Justin Jinning rotating in. Now to get to the strength of the team the secondary.
This could be on of the best secondary's of the Ferentz era and that is saying something because Iowa has had a lot of good secondary's. Starting at corner Desmond King he's definitely an NFL player the break he gets in the ball is so quick. He was defending Tevaun Smith for most of the practice and was all over him. I think King could have a very good year intercepting passes even on passes like quick curls that were on time he was breaking on the ball and knocking it away. The other corner is Greg Maybin who had a good day too even coming up with a sack on a corner blitz. Miles Taylor started at Strong Safety and was making hits all over the field plus he never got beat deep which was a problem last year. At Free Safety was Brandon Snyder filling in for Jordan Lomax, Snyder did get beat once but Beathard over threw Tevaun Smith. Also good news the Hawks played a lot of nickel the corner coming in on that was Reese Flemming. The second team secondary at the corner spots Reese Flemming and Sean Draper, Draper made the biggest play picking off Tyler Wiegers which would have been a touchdown. At strong Safety Anthony Gair who has played a little and is a big hitter, at free safety Jake Gervase who was filling in for Brandon Snyder. Also rotating in with the second unit was Michael Ojemudia, he made a great one handed interception of Drew Cook. I'm really excited about this secondary with Lomax and Taylor at the safety spots both fast and big hitters. On the outside 2 shutdown corners in King and Maybin. This secondary will be the strength of the team.
In closing the defense was dominant Saturday and showed a lot of good things. I feel they have improved a lot from the unit that gave up so many big plays last season. The secondary is the best part of the defense with the defensive line right behind then. How good this defense is come's down to the linebackers and creating depth on the defensive line. If Iowa can do that this could be a very good defense, I guess we will find out opening week vs Illinois State.
Thanks for Reading
Go Hawks
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