Through three games, the Iowa Hawkeyes defense is allowing just 133 passing yards per game, good enough for ninth in the nation. They are allowing just 6.8 yards per completion, third in the country. And they have also hauled in three interceptions (four counting Terry Roberts’ pick-six called back for a penalty).
These numbers are spectacular coming from a group that lost some talent to the NFL last year. Not only have the Hawkeyes replenished the talent, they have not skipped a beat either. That is why they find themselves as the third-highest graded secondary in the country at this junction of the season per Pro Football Focus.
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According to PFF, Georgia has the nation’s No. 1 secondary with a grade of 91.4, Michigan has the No. 2 secondary with a grade of 91.2 and Iowa has the No. 3 secondary with a grade of 91.0.
A group that returned preseason All-American Riley Moss might be having his name as the least talked about one of the bunch. That is likely due to his coverage making it impossible to throw against and teams deciding to attack other areas.
Those other areas haven’t shown a crack in the armor. Performances from Quinn Schulte, Cooper DeJean, Terry Roberts, and Kaevon Merriweather have all stood out at different times this far.
Each of them has been involved in turnovers, pass breakups, and none are afraid to get in the mix on a tackle. The group started out the season inexperienced but is rapidly molding themselves into another strength of an already stellar Iowa Hawkeyes defense.
As a team, Iowa was able to post a shutout against Nevada last week.
“For us especially, we never seem to get shutouts. You start putting the reserves in, the ball seems to go down the field fast. It was good to see the backup guys play well for a change. It’s not fair to these guys, but it has been a tradition here, our backups go in there.
“That was good. It is gratifying. Any time you get a shutout that’s great. It’s representative of the kind of work that guys have been doing. They were aggressive tonight. They played well and did a lot of good things. They can always feel good about that,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the defensive performance against the Wolf Pack.
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