Tag: Cooper DeJean

Everything Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker said during his bye week media availability

The Hawkeyes continue to play terrific defense. Here’s everything Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker had to say about his group so far.

Through six games, the Iowa (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) defense might have exceeded expectations. That’s especially true when considering some of the Hawkeyes’ offensive shortcomings.

Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz spent earlier this week explaining why backup quarterback Alex Padilla hasn’t gotten any sort of a chance to play and really no one should have been expecting that to happen anyways. Still, it was interesting to hear everything Brian Ferentz had to say about the Hawkeyes’ offense which ranks tied-No. 126 in scoring offense and dead last nationally in total offense.

Again, the defensive results have been quite the opposite. Iowa ranks No. 3 in scoring defense, allowing just 9.8 points per game, and No. 9 in total defense, surrendering just 265 yards per game. There were plenty of impressive performers to talk about at the midway point of the season for Parker and the Hawkeyes.

Here was everything Parker had to say as Iowa rolls along through its bye week in preparation for the back half of the season and a trip to Ohio State.

Iowa Hawkeyes: Cooper DeJean is the highest-graded CB in the country this season

Cooper DeJean has made a gigantic splash for the Iowa Hawkeyes. His performance has him as the highest-graded CB in the country this season.

Welcome to the show, Cooper DeJean! The Iowa Hawkeyes sophomore cornerback has done nothing but take over games and excel through the first four weeks of the season in his first season starting.

With three interceptions through four games, a myriad of big hits, and plenty of disruptions in the passing game for opponents, DeJean is the highest graded cornerback in the entire country through the first four games per Pro Football Focus.

DeJean is excelling at cornerback but has also spent some time playing safety and filling in at Iowa’s “CASH” position which is best described as a mix of a linebacker and safety that can defend in the passing game while also come fill in on run plays.

He not only leads the Hawkeyes in interceptions with three, but leads in pass breakups as well with five. He has a nose for the ball. Not only does he defend the pass, though. DeJean is third on the Hawkeyes defense with 24 tackles.

One thing to keep an eye on after DeJean’s stellar interception return for a touchdown against Rutgers is the outside possibility of seeing him take some offensive snaps. He has offensive experience from high school and they are some gaudy numbers highlighting his sheer athletic ability.

Per the Iowa Hawkeyes official site, here is DeJean’s offensive background:

Holds school records for pass completions and passing yards in a season, career passing yards and passing touchdowns, receptions in a game, receptions and receiving yards in a season, touchdown receptions in a career, and total yards in a season . . . scored winning touchdown in final minutes of state title game as a senior . . . completed 199-of-331 pass attempts for 3,447 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior, with nine interceptions . . . also rushed 131 times for 1,235 yards and 24 touchdowns.

DeJean’s output has exploded this year with the chance he has been given and he is running with it. Expect to see him around the ball a lot more and continuing to make plays as a cornerstone piece for this defense.

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 stars from Iowa’s 27-10 Big Ten-opening win over Rutgers

Which players stood out for the Hawkeyes against Rutgers? Here’s five players that stood out above the rest versus the Scarlet Knights.

Iowa left Piscataway, N.J., feeling good about its start in Big Ten play. After all, the Hawkeyes had just put the finishing touches on a 27-10 road win over Rutgers.

Naturally, there were plenty of standout performers in Iowa’s Big Ten-opening victory. Let’s take a look at five of the stars for the Hawks.

Iowa Hawkeyes own 3rd-highest graded secondary in the country per Pro Football Focus

After an extremely strong start to the season, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ secondary is receiving their rightful recognition as one of the best.

Through three games, the Iowa Hawkeyes defense is allowing just 133 passing yards per game, good enough for ninth in the nation. They are allowing just 6.8 yards per completion, third in the country. And they have also hauled in three interceptions (four counting Terry Roberts’ pick-six called back for a penalty).

These numbers are spectacular coming from a group that lost some talent to the NFL last year. Not only have the Hawkeyes replenished the talent, they have not skipped a beat either. That is why they find themselves as the third-highest graded secondary in the country at this junction of the season per Pro Football Focus.

According to PFF, Georgia has the nation’s No. 1 secondary with a grade of 91.4, Michigan has the No. 2 secondary with a grade of 91.2 and Iowa has the No. 3 secondary with a grade of 91.0.

A group that returned preseason All-American Riley Moss might be having his name as the least talked about one of the bunch. That is likely due to his coverage making it impossible to throw against and teams deciding to attack other areas.

Those other areas haven’t shown a crack in the armor. Performances from Quinn Schulte, Cooper DeJean, Terry Roberts, and Kaevon Merriweather have all stood out at different times this far.

Each of them has been involved in turnovers, pass breakups, and none are afraid to get in the mix on a tackle. The group started out the season inexperienced but is rapidly molding themselves into another strength of an already stellar Iowa Hawkeyes defense.

As a team, Iowa was able to post a shutout against Nevada last week.

“For us especially, we never seem to get shutouts. You start putting the reserves in, the ball seems to go down the field fast. It was good to see the backup guys play well for a change. It’s not fair to these guys, but it has been a tradition here, our backups go in there.

“That was good. It is gratifying. Any time you get a shutout that’s great. It’s representative of the kind of work that guys have been doing. They were aggressive tonight. They played well and did a lot of good things. They can always feel good about that,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the defensive performance against the Wolf Pack.

[lawrence-related id=10270]

[lawrence-related id=10262]

[listicle id=10256]

[listicle id=10223]

[listicle id=10137]

[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.

Report Card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 27-0 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack

The Iowa Hawkeyes blanked Nevada, 27-0. Naturally, the best all-around performance thus far earns improved marks in this week’s report card.

Even though Mother Nature had other ideas, ultimately, nothing could stop the Iowa Hawkeyes from turning in their best start-to-finish performance of 2022. The Hawkeyes improve to 2-1 on the season and will now turn their attention to Rutgers next Saturday night from SHI Stadium at 6 p.m. on FS1.

As a result, the Nevada Wolf Pack exit Iowa City the victim of a 27-0 shutout and drop to 1-2 on the season.

“We got off the mat and got back in the fight and did a good job in unusual circumstances tonight. So to stay focused, that was good to see. Just really pleased. We showed some progress in certain areas. Happy about that. Obviously, it was good to get Nico (Ragaini) back and Keagan (Johnson) back and then Brody (Brecht) was able to get involved a little bit too at the receiver position. So gave us a few more guys to throw to.

“All in all, the team effort was good. Again, you go 60 minutes broken down over seven hours, not easy to do. Defensively, you all saw the game, those guys played a good game. They were aggressive and very tough to run against and they made the passing yardage tough as well. I thought especially in the first half. It was a little disjointed once we got back in the second half. But in the first half I thought we had a little rhythm offensively. The run game wasn’t perfect, but we did some better things so that was encouraging,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the victory.

Before completely turning the page over to Rutgers, let’s hand out some Nevada grades. Pull up a chair. Class in session.

Report Card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ offensive stinker versus the Iowa State Cyclones

After dropping the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series for the first time in the past seven meetings, the report card isn’t kind for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

For the first time in a long time, Iowa dropped its annual in-state showdown versus Iowa State. The Cyclones were able to slip past the Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium without much on the scoreboard to show for themselves, topping Iowa 10-7.

Just as it played out in the Hawkeyes’ opener, Iowa’s offense struggled all day long. As such, grades will reflect those poor performances. The coaching staff isn’t off the hook this week either.

Take a seat. Class is back in session. It’s time to dole out some post-Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series grades.

5 stars from the Iowa Hawkeyes’ loss to the Iowa State Cyclones

Despite Iowa losing the Cy-Hawk game for the first time in the past seven meetings, there were standout performers. Here were five stars.

Pretty much everything you are going to read after this 10-7 loss to rival Iowa State—at home no less—will be negative. How could it not be? All the fears and worries that could be chalked up to first-game jitters were now confirmed in Week 2.

This offense looks like the worst in the nation right now. Every single article this week will hammer that point into your head. I’ve got nothing to say about the offense, I’d instead like to appreciate yet another great performance by the defense and special teams. Lost in the offensive ineptitude, the Iowa Hawkeyes only allowed 10 points and blocked two punts.

Those Iowa stars will not be forgotten here. Here are the five Hawkeye stars from Week 2.

WATCH: Iowa uses blocked punt, pair of turnovers to lead at halftime over Iowa State 7-3

One big special teams play and one big defensive play have the Iowa Hawkeyes in front of the Iowa State Cyclones at half.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are hosting the Iowa State Cyclones for the first time since 2018. After one half, it’s the Hawkeyes that are getting the better of it. Iowa leads Iowa State at recess, 7-3.

As you might have guessed, it’s been driven by defense and special teams. At halftime, the Hawkeyes have just 86 yards of total offense. Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras completed 5-of-11 passes for 33 yards. He also had a third-and-8 pass intercepted after it was deflected off intended target Alec Wick’s hands.

Leshon Williams finished the first half with 11 carries for 36 rushing yards to lead Iowa in that department. Meanwhile, in the receiving category, Iowa’s five completions went to its two tight ends in Sam LaPorta and Luke Lachey. LaPorta finished with three grabs for 19 yards while Lachey had a pair for 14 yards.

After a John Waggoner sack of Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers on the Cyclones’ first drive, Iowa electrified the crowd with this blocked punt.

Lukas Van Ness blocked it and Reggie Bracy scooped it up to set the Hawks up with their first possession of the day at the Iowa State 16-yard line. Then, finally, Iowa delivered its first offensive touchdown of the season with a 9-yard touchdown trot from running back Leshon Williams.

Later on in the first half after a Petras fumble on a sack, Iowa State drove it all the way down to the Hawkeyes’ 1-yard line. Then, a terrific defensive play saved Iowa from surrendering points.

Last but not least, Iowa had one more turnover to preserve their first-half lead. Cooper DeJean picked off this Dekkers pass following Petras’ interception in the closing two minutes.

The Hawkeyes need to find a way to get their offense going, but it’s nice to see the special teams and defense once again delivering for Iowa to keep Iowa in front.

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

Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF

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

Week 1 Iowa Hawkeyes defensive depth chart versus the South Dakota State Jackrabbits

Iowa released their first defensive depth chart of the season. What changes were made for their week one clash against South Dakota State?

Iowa released their depth chart on Monday for their week one clash against the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and it surely is interesting. Virtually nothing is changed on the defensive line from the depth chart we’ve already seen, and that might puzzle some.

Some players are listed at different areas on the chart than how we’ve seen them used during camp. The most important thing to note with head coach Kirk Ferentz’s Hawkeyes, the depth chart is not the be all end all. Just like the pirates code, Iowa’s depth chart is more what you would call guidelines instead of rules.

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker and defensive line coach Kelvin Bell know how to utilize their guys best, relying on the depth and versatility abundant with this unit. Expect to see Iowa’s front line look a lot different on game day. That being said, here’s a look at the week one defensive depth chart that was released.

Social media reacts to the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 2022 Kids’ Day at Kinnick

What were the reactions on social media to what fans and media saw during Iowa’s 10th practice, the annual 2022 Kids’ Day at Kinnick?

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz had plenty to say following his team’s 10th training camp practice, the annual open practice for Kids’ Day at Kinnick.

Overall, Ferentz liked what he saw from his group.

“First and foremost, good opportunity for our guys to change up from the first nine days. First time we’ve been in front of the public a little bit, so that’s healthy. Just a healthy change for everybody. And then, flipping it over, it’s a good opportunity for us to have Kids’ Day. I think hopefully they enjoy it and all of our guys were kids at one point.

“Even me at one stage, I was a kid. So, that’s good and then the Kid Captain program as I said yesterday is just a great concept. Nice to have our seniors get an opportunity to spend some time with them, greet them down here in the end zone, so it was all good. And then, just overall, I’m actually kind of pleased with what I saw today,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz discussed what he liked the most about his group’s performance.

“Two things I feel really good about was, first and foremost, big contrast from the field goal kicking, from what all of you guys witnessed last spring and coaches witnessed as well. I don’t think we had a miss today. I don’t think we did and most of them weren’t even close. One was I know, but that was good, so a lot of growth there since April. We’re not out of the woods yet. I’m not pronouncing us ready to go, but at least that’s encouraging. The third down period I thought was really good, too. That was encouraging. I thought we were pretty sharp there and did some good things. So, those two things were good takeaways,” Ferentz said.

Naturally, the fans and media in attendance had plenty of reactions as well. Here is how Hawkeye social media took in the 2022 Kids’ Day at Kinnick.