It will be a different look in the backfield for Iowa (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) against the Missouri Tigers (9-3, 5-3 SEC) in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
Junior running back and Doak Walker Award finalist Kaleb Johnson declared for the 2025 NFL draft and will not be playing against Missouri.
Johnson rushed 240 times for 1,537 rushing yards and caught 22 passes for 188 receiving yards. The Hamilton, Ohio, product set Iowa single-season records in points (138), total touchdowns (23) and rushing scores (21).
With all of that production and star power out of the picture, what’s the plan for Iowa against the Tigers?
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed the Hawkeyes’ plan at running back against Missouri.
“It’ll be a committee. I don’t know if it’ll be two guys, four guys, but we’ll play the guys we’ve got. We really like the guys we have. We wish Kaleb was with us, but, again, appreciate what he’s done,” Ferentz said.
Without Johnson, Iowa’s two leading rushers coming into the contest are redshirt freshman running back Kamari Moulton and sophomore Jaziun Patterson.
Moulton has carried 70 times for 377 yards with two scores, while Patterson has rushed 54 times for 235 yards with two rushing touchdowns.
“It’s been fun to watch Kamari this year I think really grow and the same thing with Jaz. Both those guys are playing their best football. Kamari a little bit more understandable. He’s a really young guy right now and still maturing physically, but Jaz I think he was where we want him to be this year. So, happy about that,” Ferentz said.
Ferentz and Iowa are excited to see more of what they’ve got in freshmen running backs Xavier Williams and Brevin Doll, too.
Williams and Doll were each three-star signees in the Hawkeyes’ 2024 class. Doll was an in-state signee via Adel-DeSoto-Minburn High School, while Williams inked with the Hawkeyes out of Lake Central High School in Indiana.
Doll, a 6-foot, 200 pound back, was ranked as the nation’s No. 33 running back and as the No. 5 player from Iowa per 247Sports. Williams, a 5-foot-10, 230 pound back, was rated as the nation’s No. 59 running back and as the No. 15 player from Indiana per 247Sports.
“We really are enthused about what we’ve seen of Xavier and Brevin Doll. Both those guys have done a really nice job in practice,” Ferentz said of his young backs.
“I think they’ve grown immensely since August. I made that comment a couple weeks ago to our guys. I said, ‘How do you think these guys would do if we put them in a game?’ And everybody gave the same answer. I think we all are seeing it the same way.”
Kickoff for Iowa against Missouri is set for 1:30 p.m. CT with the game to be televised on ESPN.
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