Iowa football OL Cade Borud suspended one game following OWI arrest

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said sophomore offensive lineman Cade Borud will serve a one-game suspension following his OWI arrest.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said Saturday following the Hawkeyes’ Kids’ Day at Kinnick that sophomore offensive lineman Cade Borud will serve a one-game suspension.

That means that Borud will be suspended for Iowa’s Aug. 31 season opener versus Illinois State from Kinnick Stadium.

The suspension stems from his OWI arrest back in July where Borud reportedly registered a breath alcohol concentration of 0.177, which is more than twice the legal limit.

“It’s unfortunate any time a player makes a bad decision. He’s remorseful about it,” Ferentz said of Borud after the Hawkeyes’ open practice on Saturday.

In addition to his one-game suspension, Borud will be on the scout team for the season’s opening week and will be required to do community service on that Friday and Saturday.

“We all understand the line’s been drawn, and it’s going to be double jeopardy moving forward. But hopefully we don’t have to go down that path,” Ferentz said.

Borud transferred to Iowa this past April as a walk-on. The 6-foot-2, 303 pound sophomore started all 12 games at center last year with North Dakota and was named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s All-Newcomer Team.

Borud played high school football at Southeast Polk in Iowa where he helped the team win a state championship as a senior.

Borud was the second Hawkeye to be arrested on an OWI charge this offseason. Junior wide receiver Kaleb Brown was arrested for OWI and possession of a fake ID back in June.

Ferentz announced that Brown would be suspended one game at Big Ten Media Days.

Brown finished the 2023 season with 22 receptions for 215 receiving yards and one touchdown. The 5-foot-10, 197 pound wide receiver transferred to Iowa last offseason from Ohio State and is expected to be a starter.

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Iowa Hawkeyes among best Big Ten transfer portal grades for 2024 season

Addition by subtraction.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have been involved in the portal quite a bit this offseason. As is nowadays in the modern era of college football, arrivals and departures are happening with each team as frequently as an airport.

Iowa’s offseason was headlined by a few transfer portal happenings. The first, and biggest impact, was the addition of Kadyn Proctor only to shortly be followed by his second departure.

Following that saga, Iowa was able to add two quarterbacks in the portal, Brendan Sullivan from Northwestern and Jackson Stratton from Colorado State, to fill out the QB room after Deacon Hill left in the portal.

Iowa had 13 departures additions in the portal, but CBS Sports’ transfer portal recap has them as the No. 4 best net rating gain in the Big Ten behind just Ohio State, Purdue, and Nebraska.

Despite losing 13 players to the portal, the average transfer rating of those coming to Iowa was 88.75 and the quality of the arrivals vastly outweighs that of the 13 departures. The Hawkeyes had a net rating gain of 3.57.

The transfer portal additions for Iowa include the aforementioned Sullivan and Stratton in the quarterback room but also see reinforcements coming elsewhere on the offensive side of the ball.

Joining the two quarterbacks are Jacob Gill, a wide receiver coming from Northwestern like Sullivan, and Cade Borud, an interior offensive lineman coming from North Dakota who has the ability to immediately plug-and-play up front.

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Iowa Hawkeyes boast two of Pro Football Focus’ top-10 returning Big Ten OL

It starts up front.

It all starts up front for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Win in the trenches and you can win a lot of ball games controlling the line of scrimmage against your opponent. That strategy works especially well for the Iowa Hawkeyes who rely on ball control and good defense.

To win that way, it starts with top talent on the offensive line. Iowa has had a history of producing NFL-caliber talent and stars across the front and this year could see two more Hawkeyes leading the way.

Connor Colby and Cade Borud headline Iowa as the only team with multiple players on Pro Football Focus’ top-10 returning Big Ten offensive lineman. Borud is the fifth-highest graded lineman while Colby is the seventh-highest graded.

Cade Borud is a transfer from North Dakota who was a second-team freshman All-American as a center. He has three years of eligibility left. Connor Colby is entering his fourth year with the Iowa Hawkeyes and brings a ton of experience up front. He has started 37 games in his career up to this point.

Iowa needs these two to anchor an offensive line that has not been up to the Kirk Ferentz standard as of lately. Last year, the Hawkeyes ran for just 3.3 yards per carry, a tally much lower than the expectation is in Iowa City.

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