While the passing game may be a work in progress for the Iowa Hawkeyes, the ground game has seen a lot of success through their first two games,
Most of that success has come when junior running back Kaleb Johnson is toting the ball as he has come out of the gates on fire with two games over 100 yards and four touchdowns already.
With just six quarters under his belt, Johnson has 36 carries for 306 yards and four touchdowns. He is averaging a whopping 8.5 yards per carry.
Head coach Kirk Ferentz commented on Johnson’s success and what has changed from last season.
“I think maturity and focus. It’s like any player. It’s rare for a freshman to play a veteran guy — rare. But he did a lot of good things the last two years. I think he has a much better feel for what he’s doing,” Ferentz said about Johnson maturing.
“He’s a little bit more patient than he was. He’s running really strong. Obviously had some really nice runs the other day. I thought his best runs were at the end of the game where he ran strong and broke some tackles. There wasn’t a lot there but he was making yards,” Ferentz added to compliment Johnson’s endurance and durability.
Through two contests, the offensive line has flexed their muscles in the run game paving the way for 445 rushing yards on 78 carries, an average of 5.7 yards per carry.
With 200 or more rushing yards in each of the first two games, it is the first time that the Hawkeyes have run for that many yards in back-to-back games since 2020.
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