Iowa football ‘not surprised’ by Reece Vander Zee’s sensational Hawkeye debut

Iowa might have found a special one in Reece Vander Zee.

The Iowa Hawkeyes might have something special in true freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee.

The 6-foot-4, 207 pound wide receiver out of Central Lyon High School in Rock Rapids, Iowa, put on a show in his Hawkeye debut. Vander Zee reeled in five grabs for 66 yards, including a pair of touchdown catches of 7 and 19 yards.

Vander Zee’s 7-yard touchdown reception saw the frosh slide down to secure the low throw from graduate quarterback Cade McNamara in the end zone. Then, Vander Zee went up and high-pointed the football among a crowd of players and over Illinois State defensive back Mark Cannon Jr.

Afterwards, acting head coach and assistant head football coach Seth Wallace said he and the Hawkeyes aren’t shocked by Vander Zee’s impressive debut.

“No, not surprised. Reece, probably for the first two weeks of camp was a freshman and he was in a freshman role. Then, I think our offensive guys started to see some things that he was doing that gave them the confidence that let’s put him in there and see how he swims with some of these other guys. So, they put him in there and there were plays that were made, plays very similar to the ones you saw today.

“Not surprised, however, it is college football at its highest level and when you introduce somebody of that type of youth, you just really aren’t sure what’s going to unfold. I think the story is even much better considering what happened in the first half, because we were still trying to get our feet on the ground from an offensive standpoint. He goes out there and makes some of those plays. The one where we were headed to the North side that he caught over the middle. Those were impactful plays. Not surprised at all. However, just to do it in a college football environment, I think that says a lot about Reece,” Wallace said.

Vander Zee was Iowa’s first true freshman to start since 2022 and the first true freshman wide receiver start a game for the Hawkeyes since Keagan Johnson and Arland Bruce IV did so in 2021.

The Rock Rapids product became the first Hawkeye true freshman with a receiving touchdown in the season opener since Dominique Douglas versus Montana in 2006. Vander Zee is the first Hawkeye freshman wideout to have two receiving touchdowns in a game since Ihmir Smith-Marsette did so at Iowa State in 2017.

Wallace discussed what has allowed Vander Zee to jump into the equation and be dynamic so quickly.

“Yeah, I think opportunity comes in a lot of different ways. I’d start with he’s on a charter bus and not a yellow bus, so that’s a big difference in kind of how he’s probably viewing things. We have had our share of injuries when it’s come to that position. Historically that happens during camp. Camp is, it’s grueling in a lot of ways and those that are putting a lot of miles on their tires.

“From the second that he jumped in there, he hasn’t looked like a 17- or 18-year-old. He hasn’t looked like he just came to us on a yellow bus. It’s been pretty obvious that he can go out there, he can compete. We’re fortunate that his frame, his size…it’s not like we’re looking at this two years down the road trying to build this body. Obviously, he needs a lot of work when it comes to his physical development, but there’s already some that has taken place. I credit that to the state of Iowa, to the football here in the state and the players that play in the state and he’s tough-minded, too. He certainly didn’t flinch today and we haven’t seen any flinching out of him up to this point,” Wallace said.

And on that catch in the South end zone?

“Going back to Reece’s catch that he had in the South end zone, some things happen. Some guys, that’s the way they are. Desmond King, Cooper DeJean. You talk about guys that you’ve seen around here before that they make plays. Sometimes you’re just sitting there wondering, like, how the hell did that happen? It’s football and those guys are…yeah, it’s nice to see,” Wallace said.

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