For an Iowa defense that did just about everything excellently in 2023, the Hawkeyes actually weren’t very good in the takeaways department a season ago.
Iowa forced just 15 turnovers and ranked tied-97th nationally in turnovers gained. The Hawkeyes intercepted 10 passes and recovered five fumbles in 2023.
That was a departure for a program that led the nation in interceptions with 25 and ranked third nationally in takeaways during the 2021 season. The Hawkeyes ranked 19th in the country in turnovers gained in 2022 with 23 takeaways, including 15 interceptions.
The Hawkeyes made it a point to visit other teams and zero in on how they could create more turnovers. Iowa’s offseason emphasis looks like it is already paying off.
Graduate cornerback Jermari Harris perfectly read the eyes of Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse and intercepted his first-quarter pass on the Redbirds’ second series.
Then, on Illinois State’s ensuing possession, graduate CASH Sebastian Castro ripped the football free from Redbirds running back Wenkers Wright. Junior cornerback TJ Hall quickly pounced on the football for Iowa’s second takeaway of the day.
Sebastian Castro: Football player. pic.twitter.com/NZpcH3H1sy
— Hawkeyes Wire (@HawkeyesWire) August 31, 2024
Sophomore defensive lineman Caden Crawford recovered a fumble from Illinois State quarterback Beckham Pellant on the Redbirds’ final possession of the day for Iowa’s third takeaway.
After the Hawkeyes’ 40-0 shutout victory over Illinois State was secured and in the record books, acting head coach Seth Wallace discussed how
“Yeah, I think we’ve placed a greater emphasis defensively on turnovers. I’m not sure who it was I spoke with in the preseason. I think it might have been Mike. He had mentioned, in regards to our defense and Phil Parker’s defense and what we’ve done statistically, the one statistic that was pretty glaring was as good as we were last year defensively, we were awful when it came to takeaways. Awful.
“And so we’ve placed a greater emphasis on that. We’ve actually talked to other folks in college football, coaching staffs that have given us some ideas. So, we’ve tried to implement that stuff. Hopefully, what you saw today was an indicator of that. We actually had a takeaway taken away from us when Jay got called for holding. That could’ve been a momentum play, but to know that what it is that we’re emphasizing is showing up on tape and we get a chance to talk about that with our guys tomorrow, that’ll be a big deal,” Wallace said.
Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker had mentioned that the Hawkeye staff visited with Virginia Tech during the offseason.
“We kind of spent some time going out and visiting some teams. We went to Virginia Tech, because they came to us a year ago. We went back there and we took a turnover thing before practice even starts just to kind of practice picking up a ball off the ground, matching hands, poking the ball out. I think it’s really showed some things, some dividends during the preseason here that it’s caused some things,” Parker said during fall camp.
If the opener versus Illinois State is any indication, the Iowa staff has the Hawkeyes on the right track in the turnovers department.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions.
Follow Josh on X:@JoshOnREF