Tag: 2022 Iowa Football

Iowa Hawkeyes’ Sam LaPorta named John Mackey Award semifinalist

“Tight End U” sees their tradition carry on as Sam LaPorta is being named a postseason finalist for the John Mackey Award.

There is no doubt about it that the Iowa Hawkeyes have become the “Tight End U” of America with their incredible run producing NFL caliber talent at the position. The list is long and it is extensive, but it proves that the Hawkeyes can always count on production from the tight end.

George Kittle. T.J. Hockenson. Noah Fant. C.J. Fiedorowicz. Tony Moeaki. Dallas Clark. And now time for the next one’s turn to show what he is made of. Sam LaPorta.

Sam LaPorta has been such a staple for the Hawkeyes’ offense and continued his production so well that it has earned him recognition as a semifinalist for the John Mackey Award. The award is given out annually to the best tight end in college football.

The award is named after former NFL great tight end and Hall of Famer John Mackey who changed the game at the tight end position. Mackey played in the NFL for 10 years and elected to the Pro Bowl five times. Mackey won a Super Bowl as a member of the Baltimore Colts.

LaPorta has been a calming force for the Hawkeyes offense and really found his groove the last few weeks. He leads the offense in receptions (44) and yards (458) on the season. His last four games have all seen him surpass the 50-yard mark.

LaPorta also owns the crown of most catches by any tight end at Iowa in the history of the program with 139 during his tenure there. As he finishes his career out at Iowa, more receptions can be expected but also be prepared for LaPorta to continue excelling at the next level.

[lawrence-related id=12280]

[lawrence-related id=12289]

[lawrence-related id=12260]

[listicle id=12434]

[listicle id=12265]

[listicle id=12312]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Riley on Twitter: @rileydonald7

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Kaleb Johnson named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, Freshman of the Week

After leading the Iowa Hawkeyes to a strong win over Purdue, freshman running back Kaleb Johnson has received multiple Big Ten awards.

The Iowa Hawkeyes rode the ground game to a 24-3 dominant victory over Purdue to move to 5-4 on the season. The catalyst to that performance was freshman running back Kaleb Johnson.

Iowa gave Johnson his heaviest workload of the season to this point and he delivered when given the opportunity. Johnson ran for 200 yards on 22 carries, averaging 9.1 yards per touch. The standout run being the 75-yard touchdown to break the game wide open.

With his performance, Johnson has been named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and the Big Ten Freshman Player of the week.

Johnson’s aforementioned 75-yard gallop to open the second half built a 24-3 lead that gave Iowa complete control of this game and turned it into a submission by the Hawkeyes’ defense for the rest of the second half.

Johnson’s performance was a great showing by the young back, but the offensive line did their part as well. Johnson can improve and believes that the rest of the offense can, too.

“It feels so good, because I know that we’re making improvement every week. I know that we’re going to be a good team moving forward, a great team matter of fact moving forward, so I just thank the line, I thank everybody for giving me a shot, giving me a chance,” Johnson said postgame about the offense continuing to grow.

Johnson’s ability to break some big runs and turn on the next gear of breakaway speed really allowed him to turn this good outing into a great one. Head coach Kirk Ferentz recognized that extra burst.

“I mean, we’ll make things work for whoever’s back there if they’re a good back. He just seems to really have a good feel. Hits the hole hard and then finished some runs off today. It was great to see him finish that one today. I can’t remember the last time we had one like that, so it was really good to see,” Ferentz said about Johnson finishing runs.

[lawrence-related id=12260]

[listicle id=12277]

[listicle id=12212]

[vertical-gallery id=12254]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Riley on Twitter: @rileydonald7

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Where the Hawks may be headed: Week 11 Iowa Hawkeyes bowl projection round up

A strong road showing has the Iowa Hawkeyes at 5-4 with three games to go. With one more win needed to go bowling, projections for Iowa.

With the Iowa Hawkeyes sitting at 5-4 after a strong road showing against the Purdue Boilermakers, the postseason is within reach as just one more win is needed to go bowling.

With the slate of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Nebraska ahead, the Hawkeyes control their postseason destiny as they can beat any of the aforementioned teams, especially hosting two of them inside Kinnick Stadium.

With the Big Ten West once again wide open with four teams, including the Hawkeyes, tied at second in the conference with a 3-3 Big Ten record, the possibility of the Illinois Fighting Illini slipping up and making this a mess is very much in the realm of possibility.

The Hawkeyes have a bowl game in front of them, a season to salvage, and an outside shot at still taking home the Big Ten West title with a little help. Let’s see where the Hawkeyes are projected to land for a postseason bowl berth.

Iowa Hawkeyes Week 9 opponent defense outlook: Players to know for the Northwestern Wildcats

The Iowa Hawkeyes host Northwestern in Week 9. Here is a defensive outlook for what the Wildcats will try to do and who to watch.

As the Iowa Hawkeyes and Northwestern Wildcats gear up for their Week 9 kickoff, it is a widely held belief that this game is going be a low-scoring affair with points tough to come by.

Neither offense has found sustained traction yet this season but pairing that with two defenses and programs known for physical football and you get even tougher sledding.

The Wildcats come in giving up 31 points to Maryland and 42 points to Wisconsin in their last two contests. There is susceptibility within their defense but at the end of the day, this team is still coached by Pat Fitzgerald, one of the best coaches in the conference at getting the most from his players and having them ready to play regardless of their record.

Iowa (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) needs this one and needs to find any sort of spark on offense. They will be facing a Northwestern defense that can break at times and if they do, they will need to capitalize.

Addition of receiver Diante Vines to Iowa offense certainly can’t hurt

The addition of wide receiver Diante Vines adds a potential playmaker to an Iowa offense in desperate need of one.

It has been a rough start to the year for Iowa wide receiver Diante Vines.

After looking like a breakout contender at the receiver position all offseason, a wrist injury in fall camp postponed his 2022 debut. Vines was one of many Hawkeyes entering the season banged up and the lack of depth behind he and others has really showed up thus far this season.

Vines made his debut against No. 2 Ohio State this past Saturday, and while he only caught one pass for five yards, it was great to see him back on the field. Finally, his name can be monitored once again as a potential playmaker for Iowa.

Between multiple injuries and a lack of cohesion and talent throughout the offense, the Iowa passing game has been really, really bad this season. This is not any new information to any Iowa fan. The Hawkeyes rank 122nd nationally in passing offense, averaging just 145.9 passing yards per game.

Fortunately, the team is starting to get healthier again and multiple receivers are starting to return to the lineup. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz sounded hopeful about Vines’ potential contributions in his recent press conference.

“We’ll see. I’m hopeful we’ll see some impact. He’s a good football player. We’ve known that for a couple of years. Let me rephrase that. We’ve suspected it and we got him out there especially last spring and this summer until he busted that bone,” Ferentz said of Vines.

“It has been encouraging. He came in, just he’s just had such a crazy, unfortunate path of just injuries and it’s nobody can predict that. But it’s funny, I caught myself thinking about that last week. And I’m thinking about him in the same way as Logan Jones. You’re excited about him, excited what you see them do in practice. You catch yourself. This guy hasn’t played a game yet as a Hawkeye and the same with Logan coming into the season.

“Hasn’t played a game as a center, but yet he gave you a lot to be excited about watching him in practice. I felt the same with Diante. Hopefully he can help over the next five weeks, getting him and Nico (Ragaini) back and that should help Arland out there a little bit and getting Brody (Brecht) back working. He’s getting better every week.”

In an interview with Hawkeye Insider’s David Eickholt, Vines stressed the importance of trying to provide a jolt for this Hawkeye offense.

“Wherever they put me on the field, I’m just trying to provide a spark. Whenever I get the ball, I’m trying to be like a big play kind of person. Throughout fall camp, I was making bigger plays. I like to record yards after catch and stuff like that. I feel like in that kind of game, if I get quick hits, I should be able to do something with the ball. I just need to put trust in the plays that we call, my quarterbacks and do my job and everything will happen the way it’s supposed to,” Vines said.

In an offense that is struggling badly to get out of the gates, a playmaker who can make some big plays after the catch can go a long way. The quarterback can focus more on the fundamental things, knowing he has a receiver he can trust to make a play happen. Someone like Vines, if he proves to be the player the coaching staff was seeing in the offseason, can also provide a breath of fresh air to the entire offense, and possibly wake up the rest of the team.

It will be interesting to see whether or not Vines can return from his injury and hit the ground running, but his addition to the offense certainly cannot hurt. Literally any addition should be viewed as a positive to one of the worst offensive units in the country.

[lawrence-related id=11778]

[lawrence-related id=11768]

[listicle id=11814]

[listicle id=11781]

[listicle id=11735]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcxf97xrgg1awc player_id=none image=https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Jacob on Twitter: @Jacobkeppen

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Several Iowa Hawkeyes freshmen already starting to make an impact

Running back Kaleb Johnson and kicker Drew Stevens are the two prominent names, but there’s several other freshmen making impacts for Iowa.

If there are any bright spots on this middling 3-3 Iowa football team (we certainly need some good with Ohio State coming up this week), it is the youth carving out roles already.

We already know the impact sophomore Cooper DeJean has made in the secondary this year, looking like the next star Hawkeye defensive back. Multiple freshmen, though, have started to gain significant playing time early in the season.

According to Sean Bock of 247Sports’ Hawkeye Insider, his midseason Iowa redshirt tracker shows that six true freshmen have received game time this season.

Running back Kaleb Johnson, kicker Drew Stevens, and defensive backs Xavier Nwankpa and TJ Hall have all played in Iowa’s six contests thus far. Defensive tackle Aaron Graves has appeared in five games, tight end Addison Ostrenga in four and running back Jaziun Patterson has one lone appearance this season.

Johnson already has 50 carries for 232 yards with three rushing touchdowns. He finished with seven carries for 103 yards and a pair of scores from 40 and 55 yards out against Nevada. Then, versus Michigan, Johnson scored Iowa’s first points on a 2-yard touchdown run.

Kaleb Johnson has shown flashes of success as perhaps the Hawkeyes’ starting running back of the future, however, the struggles of the offensive line this season have really hampered any consistent impact he’s been able to have. Aaron Graves currently has seven tackles and Patterson has six carries for 20 yards.

Kicker Drew Stevens has probably seen the most success of the Iowa youngsters, staking his claim as the starting kicker. Stevens is 6-of-7 on field goal attempts this season, his first miss a 45-yarder coming in Iowa’s most recent 9-6 loss against Illinois. Despite the miss, special teams coordinator Levar Woods had a lot of positive things to say about the freshman kicker.

“As far as that goes, field goal units, I think Drew is coming along as a player,” Woods said. “He is definitely young. He has had — every game is really like a new experience for him in some way because he was a high school kid a year ago. Really less than a year ago. I think he has made a huge transition since spring. We’ve all kind of seen that. He missed a kick, his last kick, against Illinois, which I know is just eating at him, but to me that shows the guy is a competitor. He may be young. He may be inexperienced, but he is a competitor, and he has that drive inside.”

Both Nwankpa and Hall have received significant playing time on special teams so far this season. While many are anxious to see the five-star Nwankpa get on the field for Phil Parker’s defense, I’d like to remind them of Cooper DeJean’s career arc at Iowa thus far. A lot of his contributions his freshman year came on special teams, and we see how well he’s done in his second year.

It may not be the most glamorous on the stat sheet, but special teams is a great way for both Nwankpa and Hall to get their feet wet, to adjust to the speed of Division 1 ball. Their time will come.

[lawrence-related id=11396]

[lawrence-related id=11410]

[listicle id=11414]

[listicle id=11402]

[listicle id=11258]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcxf97xrgg1awc player_id=none image=https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Jacob on Twitter: @Jacobkeppen

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

Jack Campbell, Tory Taylor represent Iowa Hawkeyes as CBS midseason All-Americans

The Iowa Hawkeyes are one of just four teams in the country with multiple players on the CBS midseason All-American team.

The Iowa Hawkeyes find themselves with two players on CBS Sports’ midseason All-American team, one of just four programs in the country that can boast that distinction. The other three teams with multiple players named are the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Georgia Bulldogs, and the USC Trojans.

Unsurprisingly, the two Hawkeyes named come from the defensive and special teams unit. On defense, CBS Sports named Jack Campbell to the midseason All-American team at linebacker along with Alabama’s Will Anderson and Arkansas‘ Drew Sanders.

Campbell leads the entire Hawkeyes defense with 62 total tackles through just six games. He also has three tackles for loss to go with it. Campbell is doing everything right to perform at a high level and lead this defense in his final year at Iowa before the inevitable move to the NFL.

The second Hawkeye finding their name on this list is punter Tory Taylor. The Aussie native has punted 41 times and is averaging 46.1 yards per punt with 15 of them traveling 50-plus yards and nearly half pinning opponents inside their own 20-yard line. Taylor also found himself on College Football Network’s midseason All-American team.

One bit of note is that the upcoming opponent for the Hawkeyes, the Ohio State Buckeyes, have locked down the wide receiver position in this bit of recognition. Emeka Egbuka and Marvin Harrison Jr. were the two receivers selected. The Buckeyes didn’t stop there as their quarterback C.J. Stroud was also selected.

[lawrence-related id=11396]

[listicle id=11414]

[listicle id=11263]

[listicle id=11402]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcxf97xrgg1awc player_id=none image=https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Riley on Twitter: @rileydonald7

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

5 Group of 5 coaches who can infuse success into the Iowa Hawkeyes’ offense

The Iowa Hawkeyes need an infusion of life into their offense. Here’s five Group of 5 coaches with the track records to do so.

The story of the Iowa Hawkeyes offense, and at times, lack thereof, has been more well chronicled this season than any other story surrounding the program. I am sure you have seen every metric, all the statistics, the data, you name it.

Rehashing that is not the point of this right now. The point of this is to look at a few “under-the-radar” names of non-Power 5 coaches that have proven track records of success and could provide a much needed infusion of change into the Hawkeyes offense. These coaches encompass all levels from head coach, to offensive coordinator, to positional coaches and could each bring something to the table.

This isn’t proclaiming any replacements, any changes, or any of that. This is simply outlining a few names that make sense. These names make sense mainly because it is the opportunity for these younger coaches to make the jump to a Power 5 program like Iowa with a rich tradition and incredible foundation.

College Football News and Hawkeyes Wire offer predictions for Hawkeyes versus Illini matchup

Iowa travels to take on the Illini Saturday night. Hawkeyes Wire offers a prediction along with College Football News’ prediction.

Saturday night sees the Iowa Hawkeyes hitting the road to take on upstart Big Ten West opponent, the Illinois Fighting Illini. The matchup, which looked rather mundane preseason, has morphed into a bit of a turning point for each team in Week 6.

Iowa is 3-2 overall with a 1-1 Big Ten record. The Illini are 4-1 with a 1-1 Big Ten record. The two are in the thick of things in the Big Ten West and this one could give the winner an early leg up in chasing that crown.

Iowa, while they may not outwardly say it, will be playing with a sense of urgency in this matchup. They know the massive difference 4-2 versus 3-3 in the standings. Illinois is coming off of a dominant showing manhandling Wisconsin in their own home and wants to make another statement to put the Big Ten on notice.

This game has the recipe for a slugfest with two physical, defensive-minded teams and is likely going to be close the entire way. College Football News provided thoughts on how each team can win with a prediction. I also offer a prediction on how this one shakes out.

Iowa Can Still Win the Big Ten West… But it Starts This Week

The Big Ten West Division is still there for the taking. Iowa just has to decide this week against Illinois whether or not it wants it.

This is the crucial point of the season.

Once seen as a potential trap game in between two Big Ten juggernauts in Michigan and Ohio State, Iowa’s midseason clash at Illinois on Saturday night is the defining matchup of the season. How this game in Champaign, Illinois will largely dictate the rest of the season for the Hawkeyes.

It has not been a great start to the season for the Hawkeyes. Iowa is 3-2 after five weeks, splitting their two conference games. While above .500, the method in which they’ve won their games has instilled little confidence into a restless Hawkeyes fanbase. Iowa is currently ranked 122nd in points per game, only scoring 16.4 points a contest. The offense has been flat out horrendous.

Twice this season Iowa has been held under 10 points, that was the first two games against South Dakota State and rivals Iowa State. Both of those contests, mind you, were at home. Scoring a combined 14 points against an FCS opponent and a rival Cyclones squad that is sitting at 3-2 as well. Their only other two wins are over Southeast Missouri State and Ohio by the way.

You know it’s bad when the offense is seen as improved after scoring 27 points against two bad opponents. Let this sink in. Incarnate Word were able to put up 28 more points against Nevada than the Hawkeyes were. It has been atrocious all year on offense, and we were reminded of that once again last week with yet another embarrassing loss to Michigan.

While hopes of making it to the Big Ten Championship may seem folly after a disappointing start to the campaign, the West Division is still ripe for the taking. The division is currently sitting in a seven way tie, pretty much every team with a 1-1 conference record through two weeks of Big Ten play. Entering Week Six, it seems that nobody has any real intentions of winning the Big Ten West.

It seemed at the beginning that Minnesota would finally stake their claim on the division, taking a much needed next step further under coach P.J. Fleck. The Gophers started the year off a convincing 4-0 with a big win over Michigan State. That feather in the hat looks increasingly less notable as the Spartans’ season progresses though.

Minnesota just lost their first game of the season last week to Purdue 20-10. The things that were bad about the Gophers in previous years returned. The Boilermakers are back to intriguing status after the upset, but have been massively inconsistent so far. So what you will about losing to a good Penn State team, you’d like to see a conference competitor do much more than beat Florida Atlantic by two.

Wisconsin and Nebraska are two teams in complete disarray as we approach the mid-way point. The Cornhuskers finally ripped the bandaid off a few weeks back, firing head coach Scott Frost. While they were dismantled the next week by Oklahoma, they did manage to beat Indiana this week… whatever that’s worth.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, finds themselves at the bottom of the Big Ten and without a coach. Long time head coach Paul Chryst found himself on the chopping block after a 34-10 loss to Illinois, ending an eight year tenure in Madison. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard will take over, but there is big trouble in Wisconsin. The Badgers have been embarrassed in back to back weeks by Big Ten opponents, falling victim to the Ohio State machine 52-21 the week prior.

It should be noted that Northwestern is there with their 1-4 overall record. That’s all the time I feel like devoting to the team that suffered losses to Southern Illinois and Miami (Ohio) and gained their only victory against Nebraska.

This leaves us with upcoming opponent Illinois. The Illini have appeared to be the most competent of the West Division squads so far, their only loss to Indiana. I will once again mention that a horrendous call went against Illinois that changed the game. Bret Bielema’s squad have won the rest of their games pretty convincingly though.

As you can see, for all of the woes Iowa has suffered so far this season, they’ve been equally replicated by everyone else in the division. Besides Illinois, who did lose to Indiana at the end of the day, everyone else seems to be derping their way through this year. The path to the Big Ten Championship is still visible, especially with the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten West slate still upcoming on the schedule.

This is the critical week, though. This is where we find out if there’s anything left to be gained from 2022.

[listicle id=10969]

[listicle id=10958]

[listicle id=10951]

[listicle id=10913]

[listicle id=10976]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcxf97xrgg1awc player_id=none image=https://hawkeyeswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Jacob on Twitter: @Jacobkeppen

Let us know your thoughts, and comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.