College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Iowa Hawkeyes season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Iowa Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 10-3 overall, 6-3 in Big Ten
Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz, 22nd year, 162-104
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 14
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 23
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 13
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Offense 3 Things To Know
– Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has as much talent and experience to work with as Iowa has enjoyed in a long time, but a whole lot more pop has to be generated from the nation’s 99th ranked attack.
The Hawkeyes have their moments, but they simply didn’t score enough until they ripped up USC for 49 in the Holiday Bowl win.
They didn’t score more than 27 points against anyone but Rutgers in Big Ten play, but that was still almost enough to come up with a huge season – each of Iowa’s three losses came by seven points or fewer.
CFN in 60 Video: Iowa Hawkeyes Preview
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– It’s not that QB Nate Stanley was bad; he just didn’t make the jump up in production he probably should’ve. Now it’s up to 6-5, 231-pound sophomore Spencer Petras to be the guy with the massive arm who can stretch the field more and get the offense to be a bit more explosive. He’ll have to fight off a few options, including freshman Deuce Hogan, the star of the 2020 recruiting class.
No matter who the quarterback is, he’ll have a fantastic receiving corps to help the cause.
Star with senior Ihmir Smith-Marsette, the 6-1, 186-pound senior who led the team with 722 yards on 44 catches and five scores. He averaged over 16 yards per catch, and so did sophomore Tyrone Tracy, who was second on the team with 589 yards.
Senior Brandon Smith is a 6-2, 219-pound physical receiver who made 37 grabs in his nine appearances, and sophomore Nico Ragaini led the team with 46 catches as a possession receiver. Throw in tight ends Sam LaPorta and Shaun Beyer – these two should do a whole lot more than they did last season – and the pass catching weapons and depth are there.
– Losing OT Tristan Wirfs to the first round of the NFL Draft stinks, but everyone else is expected back, and that’s more than a little bit of a shocker.
Alaric Jackson could’ve been a possible first rounder, but he was banged up for most of last season and is back to potentially up his draft positioning. The rest of the line is solid, but the whole group has to do more for the running game.
Tyler Goodson had an okay season with 638 rushing yards and five scores, but he was a good receiver and has the flash to start doing a whole lot more.
Former JUCO transfer Mekhi Sargent returns after finishing second on the team with 563 yards and four scores, but third-leading rusher Toren Young – who was one of the former Hawkeye players speaking out against the program in June – left the team this offseason.