It’s going to take a tremendous effort for Iowa to down Michigan come early Saturday afternoon. That means both sides of the football and not just defense.
Fortunately for the Hawkeyes, Iowa has actually put together its two best performances together here in back-to-back weeks against Nevada and Rutgers. Iowa scored 27 points against Nevada and then followed it up with 27 more against the Scarlet Knights.
Granted, 14 of those points against Rutgers came on Cooper DeJean’s pick-six and Kaevon Merriweather’s scoop and score.
Still, Iowa did have a nice 12-play, 87 yard drive that netted a 25-yard Drew Stevens field goal just before half last week. Then, with their first possession of the second half, the Hawkeyes tacked on a 9-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with Leshon Williams’ 2-yard rushing score. The Hawkeyes had one final 9-play, 42-yard drive that ended with a 51-yard Stevens field goal.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed the offensive confidence that his team is gleaning from the past several weeks.
“Yeah, I think it certainly helps, and I think we as coaches at least we’re pretty cognizant of where we were at a month ago and where we’re trying to go. It’s a process, and the more you get your guys healthy and the more guys involved, the better off it’s going to be.
“But the most key and central element is practice, and, well, that’s how we’re going to gain ground is doing a good job during the week. We’re a little bit younger on offense, and we don’t have as much veteran leadership as we do on defense, so that’s a bigger challenge. But the guys understand, and that’s really where the things — that’s where good things happen typically, and then you’ve got a chance to carry it to a game. But again, we’re looking big picture, too, not just each day. It’s not just each week, but it’s a race against time, yeah,” Ferentz said.
According to Ferentz, practice performance has improved some, too. The Hawkeyes aren’t making as many of the same mistakes in practice.
“We’re certainly doing better than a month ago, yeah, certainly. Getting some other guys back helps you. It helps your tempo, but it’s day-to-day. Veteran guys tend to practice a little bit better. They understand and know how to do it, and that’s part — it’s a learned thing just like anything else you do in your career.
“Again, let’s go back to Tony (Moeaki). Tony got here — occasionally young guys just walk in, and boy, they have an understanding and feel and they just jump right in with it, but usually it’s a ladder you’ve got to climb,” Ferentz said.
That part has translated to the games. Iowa doesn’t have a turnover in either of the last two weeks.
“Ball security is critical and it has been for us historically. I’m not a big stat guy, but that’s one I follow really closely and we improve our chances a lot if we’re smart with the football.
“It’s a big thing and then if you can get the takeaway on top of it, that’s a bonus. But a lot of it’s just to me, two things. Concentration, really concentrating out there as a player, and then you’ve got to be sound fundamentally and technique wise. So those two things.
“And then I guess the third thing is everybody realizing everybody has got a role in that. It’s not just the guy fumbling the ball sometimes, but if you let a guy go unblocked and somebody gets surprised, those types of things, that’s how bad things happen, so it’s a team effort. I don’t think — it’s not that we weren’t concentrating those first two games, but part of that’s just getting better and getting more experience, too. But it’s a huge part in victories, that’s for sure,” Ferentz said.
Not that it was anywhere close to a masterpiece, but, suddenly Iowa looks like it’s beginning to find something with its trio of running backs in Gavin Williams, Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson. It’s a good problem to have trying to figure out how carries should be divvied up.
“We’ll take that week by week, too. Just depends how it presents itself. Right now it’s great to have both Leshon and Gavin in the locker room together at the same time. It’s the first time we’ve had both those guys playing.
“Kaleb is growing and getting a little bit better every week. My guess is we’re going to need all three of them. All three of them are really quality players and all have different strengths and weaknesses, so I’m glad they’re on our team,” Ferentz said.
Lastly, Ferentz responded when asked about his starting quarterback play from Spencer Petras. It’s been improved over the past two weeks with Petras completing 25-of-43 passes for 323 passing yards with one touchdown and no interceptions.
“I think it all goes together. That’s what I was trying to articulate a couple weeks ago. I don’t know if we can get a fair assessment when things aren’t a little bit more in better sync than they were. Not that we’re there yet, but at least we’re making some progress.
“I think the last two weeks we’ve seen more of what we think Spencer can do and can be. He’s like everybody else; we’re all trying to move as far down the road as we can, knowing it’s going to be a tough challenge this week.
“But we’re just trying to take a step forward each and every day, and if we can do that, we might end up having a good football team, but that’s what we’re working on. Yeah, he’s done a good job, and he’s getting a little bit more help right now, and we’re going to need to do a good job Saturday,” Ferentz said.
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