Tag: Iowa Football

Kirk Ferentz credits Tim Lester for revamping Iowa’s offensive line, ground game

Kirk Ferentz credits Tim Lester on Iowa’s offensive renaissance.

The strength of the Iowa Hawkeyes this season has been their ground game. In their six victories, Iowa has leaned on its rushing attack and gotten behind their offensive line on the way to the end zone.

The success that the group and the run game have seen this year has been a large jump from previous seasons. A lot of that credit goes to first-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz wasn’t shy about giving Lester his deserved credit in his Tuesday press conference.

“Yeah, a couple things. Give Tim credit, and he spoke to that last week. I read his comments. He has a really good system. That’s obviously why we hired him, to try to do some research here, and felt good about that.

“But I think the biggest picture, and Tim made this very clear last Wednesday, and I’d reaffirm this, and I said this back last August, I think a couple things. First of all, I think the offensive line is in a better place than it’s been the last couple years. Nobody’s issues, it’s just attrition, injuries. It’s been tough. So we’re finally able to maybe play at a level where the proficiency is a little bit more like what we hope,” Ferentz said.

That Iowa offensive line has helped pave the way for a Doak Walker Award semifinalist in junior running back Kaleb Johnson. Ferentz made sure to give Johnson his credit in Iowa’s successes as well, though.

“Then, you’ve got a back who’s in his third year instead of being a first-year guy who’s kind of hit or miss. He’s always been a great kid. He’s an outstanding young man.

“But the lack of consistency, inexperience, immaturity, et cetera, and that’s the benefit of being older. So, our line has benefitted from that, and Kaleb is benefiting from that, and the rest of the room is doing a good job, too, but he’s the one carrying the heaviest load,” Ferentz said.

Iowa’s offensive line and ground game has already rumbled to 2,081 rushing yards, 27 rushing touchdowns and a 5.5 yards per carry average.

The group is averaging 208.1 rushing yards per game and has been the catalyst to Johnson putting up a historic season that will be etched into Iowa Hawkeyes’ history.

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Kirk Ferentz discusses emotions of facing son, Brian, as opponent for first time

Kirk Ferentz discussed what the emotions will be like in facing his son, Brian, for the first time in their coaching careers.

Even decades into a coaching career, there are still firsts. One of those happens for Iowa this week when it travels east to take on the Maryland Terrapins (4-6, 1-6 Big Ten).

For longtime Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, this will be the first time he squares off against his son, Brian, on an opposing sideline.

On Tuesday during his weekly press conference, Ferentz discussed what those emotions will feel like.

“Exactly. It’s the first time for a lot of things. That’s life. I haven’t given it a lot of thought quite, frankly. Obviously I knew it was coming.

“But the bottom line is this, to your point, it’s the best I can come up with. It’s weird coming back here, whether it be Barry Alvarez the first year or Bill Snyder Year 2, Dan McCarney, Bob Stoops. Four guys that I worked with, and Bob played for us on top of it. Tremendous respect for all those guys.

“It’s a weird dynamic, but the bottom line is this: The reality is when you get to game day, that’s what’s silly about coaches exchanges, greetings and all that. I fully know what the other coach wants to do, just like he knows what I want to do, and how we hope the day goes.

“It’s probably not a great time for a family reunion or just even seeing old friends. Everybody is cordial, but the bottom line is we’ve all got business to take care of on Saturday. We’ll see where it all goes.

“But I think his experience has been good, what I know about it, and as a parent I’m glad he’s with good people, and Mike is a guy I’ve got a lot of respect for,” Ferentz said stoically of the situation.

Kirk Ferentz did not let on too much emotion impacting him or getting in the way of this matchup as he knows Iowa has a job to do and that job is to win the game.

Brian Ferentz joined Maryland this offseason after departing the Iowa staff last winter following a seven-year stint as the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator

Brian Ferentz is a senior offensive assistant for Maryland.

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Iowa football provides surprising injury update on QB Marco Lainez

Kirk Ferentz shared some unexpected good news on QB Marco Lainez.

It seems each passing week features a new storyline with the Iowa Hawkeyes‘ quarterback room and depth chart. It is an ongoing merry-go-round of injuries, new starters and depth chart shuffling.

This week, in a bit of good news, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz provided a positive update on redshirt freshman quarterback Marco Lainez, who had been sidelined with a broken thumb per reports.

“Then getting guys back, Lachey and Ostrenga have both been cleared and they’ve been able to practice and will be back. I think Marco Lainez will be back. After that, we’ve got a few guys who are clearly cloudy right now. We’re going to see how the week plays out and go from there,” Ferentz said in his opening statement of his weekly press conference.

Ferentz was asked about Lainez’s ability to get reintegrated into the offense with minimal practice time.

“Marco started back. That’s the good news. Somebody told me yesterday that Brendan had been pronounced done for the season, which I chuckled because at that point it was a 12-day season. Talk about headlines, I guess you try to grab attention. Not that you guys write the headlines. I understand that.

“But yeah, he’s out this week. We’ll see what next week brings. I’m not optimistic. But I would assume the bowl game. But nothing is broken, so hopefully we get him back,” Ferentz said about Lainez and junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan.

Lainez’ return to the depth chart and practice field is a very welcome sight for the Hawkeyes as their quarterback depth chart remains extremely thin.

Sullivan is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with an ankle injury. Graduate quarterback Cade McNamara is still unclear if he will play following a concussion suffered a few weeks ago versus Northwestern.

If those two are out, Lainez and redshirt sophomore Jackson Stratton are the two healthy quarterbacks.

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Cade McNamara’s status vs. Maryland remains unclear

Cade McNamara has been cleared to play, but his status remains unclear for the Hawkeyes this Saturday.

After sustaining a concussion a few weeks ago, the road back to recovery has not been friendly for Iowa Hawkeyes graduate quarterback Cade McNamara. The senior has missed the Hawkeyes’ last two games and is still recovering.

Iowa did have a bye week which allowed McNamara to continue to recover and begin practicing again, but his status for Saturday’s game against Maryland still remains murky and fluid with each passing day.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz commented on McNamara’s progress over the bye week and what things look like.

“Yeah, I wrote that on Sunday,” Ferentz said of Iowa’s depth chart release where McNamara is listed as Iowa’s starter. “He practiced Sunday. Everything is cloudy right now. That’s kind of our forecast.

“It clearly is cloudy right now. Everything is. We’ll just take it day by day and see who can go.”

Ferentz confirmed that McNamara has been medically cleared to play and that there haven’t been any setbacks.

“Still processing back. He has been cleared to play, and whether or not he can play effectively or not, we’ll see. We’ll just see how the week goes. But we’re prepared for anything, quite frankly,” Ferentz said.

McNamara has not seen action since Iowa’s 40-14 home victory over the Northwestern Wildcats on Oct. 26. He sustained the concussion in the first half and has been sidelined ever since.

On the season, McNamara has completed 60.5% of his passes for 1,017 yards and six touchdowns against five interceptions.

In addition to his concussion versus Northwestern, McNamara’s collegiate career has been injury-riddled. The 6-foot-1, 210 pound signal-caller also suffered season-ending knee injuries at both Michigan and at Iowa last year.

“You’ve heard me say multiple times that the worst thing in coaching from my experience is guys dealing with injuries, and usually it’s not to this extreme. Usually you’re talking about maybe a couple weeks and that’s disappointing, or sometimes season-ending, which is disappointing. To have a stack of them, there’s nothing you can say. All you can do is to try to support the people involved.

“It’s really hard. Especially with the collegiate athlete at this level, which I’d never played at. The investment they make, the amount of time, energy, all the things that they dedicate to having a chance to get out there and compete, and to not have that come, it’s nobody’s fault, it’s just what it is. It’s part of the game, unfortunately,” Ferentz said of McNamara’s injury history.

With McNamara’s status uncertain, Iowa will look to walk-on Jackson Stratton among others to lead the offense this week during practice and possibly on game day.

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Kirk Ferentz reveals Jackson Stratton as Iowa’s current starting QB

Kirk Ferentz announced that if Iowa’s game were to be played today, Jackson Stratton would be the Hawkeyes’ starting quarterback.

After likely losing Brendan Sullivan for the remainder of the regular season with an ankle injury, the Iowa Hawkeyes’ focus and attention quickly shifted to who will be the starting quarterback this week against the Maryland Terrapins.

Colorado State transfer and walk-on quarterback Jackson Stratton replaced Sullivan at UCLA.

That was due to Cade McNamara’s ongoing recovery from a concussion he sustained versus Northwestern on Oct. 26 and the rest of Iowa’s quarterback depth chart depleted by injuries and position changes.

On Tuesday, Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked who is going to start this weekend when Iowa kicks off at 11 a.m. CT in College Park, Maryland.

McNamara is listed on the depth chart, but Ferentz indicated Stratton was getting the nod.

“No, I think we’ll start the way we finished is probably the best way I can put it. Jackson finished the game at UCLA. That’s kind of where I see it. Then we’ll see who can do what. If we were playing tomorrow, that’s how it would be. Everybody else has a chance outside of Brendan. He for sure is not playing this week,” Ferentz said.

When asked bluntly who is starting, Iowa’s coach gave an answer only looking at the current moment.

“If we were playing right now, it would be Jackson. I’ll know on Friday,” Ferentz said.

Stratton’s action has been limited. The 6-foot-4, 193-pound redshirt sophomore led a pair of drives against UCLA and flashed some brilliance to convert third downs and to keep an Iowa touchdown drive alive.

Stratton finished 3-of-6 passing for 28 yards and added one carry for 14 yards in his two series against the Bruins.

If he were to start for the Hawkeyes at Maryland, Ferentz added he is much more comfortable with Stratton having more practice and reps under his belt.

“A heck of a lot more comfortable. If he knew what we knew about the last time, just because of the lack of … I’m not saying this in a negative way toward Jackson at all, but he hadn’t gotten any reps. Once we started doing game prep, two guys get the reps, and that was obviously the first two guys. Even Marco was watching. He was holding a clipboard and watching and Jackson was working the scout team.

“I thought he did some good things out in that last ball game, Jackson did, and he has talent. He can throw the football. You guys saw that. Now, it’s a matter of thank goodness we got a bye week and got a chance to get him more comfortable and schooled, and if he ends up being our guy, we’ll try to put a plan together that features what he can do and keep him out of the danger areas maybe and not have him doing calculus problems out there if he’s not ready for that,” Ferentz said.

It remains to be seen who will be under center for the Hawkeyes when they kick off against Maryland. Ferentz is keeping things close to his chest as usual.

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Iowa DL departing football program

Kirk Ferentz announced on Tuesday that Iowa redshirt junior defensive lineman Jeff Bowie is departing the football program.

Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz revealed on Tuesday that redshirt junior defensive lineman Jeff Bowie is departing the program.

The 6-foot-5, 280-pound defensive lineman appeared in three games this season but didn’t register any stats.

“One of thing of note, Jeff Bowie has decided he’s going to leave the football team. Made that decision last week. He’s going to pull back right now and finish up academically. He’ll graduate here this spring, and then he’s interested in going to another school and taking advantage of his last year,” Ferentz said.

Per Pro Football Focus, Bowie played 16 snaps defensively this season. Bowie redshirted his first season on campus and did not see any action in his first three seasons with the Hawkeyes.

A native of West Branch, Iowa, Bowie was a consensus three-star signee in the 2021 class for the Hawkeyes. Rivals ranked Bowie as the No. 47 strong side defensive end and the No. 13 player in Iowa.

Meanwhile, ESPN rated Bowie as the No. 68 defensive end and as the No. 6 player from Iowa. Lastly, 247Sports ranked Bowie as the No. 89 defensive lineman and as the No. 12 player from Iowa.

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Iowa RB Kaleb Johnson named a Doak Walker Award Semifinalist

The special year continues.

The historic and special year for Iowa Hawkeyes running back Kaleb Johnson continues. Not only is the back setting Iowa records and putting on a show, but he is also receiving national recognition from outlets from all over the country.

Kaleb Johnson has been named a semifinalist for one of the most prestigious awards given to college football running backs, the Doak Walker Award.

Johnson’s historic year is among the best in all of college football and has earned him a place among some of the best in the sport.

The Doak Walker Award is given out each year to the top running back in college football across the nation. The namesake comes from Doak Walker, the former SMU running back.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have won the Doak Walker Award once before. Shonn Greene brought the award back to Iowa City in 2008 when he ran for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Kaleb Johnson has ran for 1,328 yards this year and 5.6 yards per carry but is tied with Shonn Greene for the Iowa Hawkeyes’ single-season rushing touchdown record with 20 touchdowns also.

Johnson needs just one more plunge into the endzone in the Hawkeyes’ final two games against the Maryland Terrapins and Nebraska Cornhuskers to etch his name at the top of a historic list in the Iowa football program.

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Iowa football stays steady in CBS Sports 134 rankings ahead of Maryland

The Hawkeyes held their ground over the bye week.

While on their bye week, Iowa sought after answers to questions as to how they can carry their home performance on the road and sustain that level of play.

The road has been brutal to Iowa this year with abysmal showing in losses to Ohio State, Michigan State, and UCLA in games where they lacked overall competitiveness.

They get another chance to prove themselves on the road this week when they make their final road trip of the year to College Park Maryland to take on the Maryland Terrapins.

Ahead of the matchup, the CBS Sports 134 College Football Rankings were released and show quite a discrepancy between the Hawkeyes and the Terrapins.

While on a bye, Iowa held steady in their ranking and came in at No. 33. Maryland, who sits at 4-6 overall and 1-6 in Big Ten play, slid one spot to No. 78 following their most recent loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights last weekend.

Despite both being members of the Big Ten, the programs have only met four times in history. Iowa owns a 3-1 all-time series lead and has won the last three.

Maryland’s last win over Iowa came in a 38-31 win at home in 2014. The last meeting was at Maryland in a game Iowa ran up the score and handled the Terrapins by a score of 51-14.

The Hawkeyes and Terrapins kickoff this Saturday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. CT in a game that will be airing on Big Ten Network.

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Iowa QB Brendan Sullivan expected to miss remainder of season with ankle injury

The hits just keep coming to the Iowa quarterback depth chart.

The hits just keep on coming to the Iowa Hawkeyes and their quarterback depth chart. After injuries put them in a precarious situation over the last few weeks, they get another blow.

This time, junior quarterback Brendan Sullivan is plagued by the injury bug. Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reports that Sullivan is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season due to an ankle injury.

Brendan Sullivan, who came in for the relief of Cade McNamara, had started the Hawkeyes’ last two games. He exited Iowa’s most recent game against UCLA after getting beaten up with some big hits.

On the year, Sullivan has gone 24-of-35 for 344 yards and two touchdowns against two interceptions. He has added 144 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

This injury leaves Iowa’s quarterback room extremely thin. Cade McNamara is working his way back from a concussion and it is still to be determined if he is healthy enough to go this week. Another backup Marco Lainez is also out with a broken hand suffered in practice a few weeks ago.

If he is not, the Hawkeyes will turn to walk-on quarterback Jackson Stratton, who was thrust into action against UCLA and performed admirably in an impossible spot.

James Resar has since moved to receiver as well. If McNamara is unable to go, Iowa would have just one quarterback active on their roster in Jackson Stratton.

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Big Ten dominates top five in latest US LBM Coaches Poll

While the Hawkeyes were on a bye, the rest of the Big Ten pounced on the polls and dominates the top five of the US LBM Coaches Poll.

While the Iowa Hawkeyes were on a bye week resting up before their East Coast road trip to take on the Maryland Terrapins, the rest of the Big Ten saw plenty of action this week and seized control of the latest US LBM Coaches Poll.

The top five sees four Big Ten teams consisting of No. 1 Oregon, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State, and No. 5 Indiana. The Texas Longhorns break up the party coming in at No. 3.

Indiana enjoyed their bye week before their monumental game against Ohio State next weekend. The other three all notched victories. Ohio State and Penn State both rolled as the Buckeyes beat Northwestern 31-7 to move to 9-1 and the Nittany Lions handled Purdue 49-10 to also get to 9-1.

Oregon, on the other hand, almost had a rude welcome to Wisconsin in a game they snuck by with just a 16-13 victory on the road to remain undefeated at 11-0.

Here’s the full US LBM Coaches Poll after Week 12.

Rank Team Record Points
1 Oregon Ducks 11-0 1,375 (55)
2 Ohio State Buckeyes 9-1 1,316
3 Texas Longhorns 9-1 1,263
4 Penn State Nittany Lions 9-1 1,158
5 Indiana Hoosiers 10-0 1,109
6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 9-1 1096
7 Alabama Crimson Tide 8-2 996
8 Georgia Bulldogs 8-2 993
9 Ole Miss Rebels 8-2 984
10 Miami Hurricanes 9-1 847
11 Tennessee Volunteers 8-2 823
12 SMU Mustangs 9-1 744
13 Boise State Broncos 9-1 714
14 Texas A&M Aggies 8-2 646
15 BYU Cougars 9-1 633
16 Clemson Tigers 8-2 569
17 Army Black Knights 9-0 509
18 Colorado Buffaloes 8-2 464
19 South Carolina Gamecocks 7-3 379
20 Tulane Green Wave 9-2 280
21 Iowa State Cyclones 8-2 268
22 Arizona State Sun Devils 8-2 251
23 UNLV Rebels 8-2 93
24 Memphis Tigers 9-2 77
25 Kansas State Wildcats 7-3 67

Schools Dropped Out

No. 18 Washington State; No. 21 Missouri; No. 22 LSU; No. 24 Louisville;

Others Receiving Votes

Washington State 65; Illinois 56; Missouri 44; Syracuse 18; James Madison 11; Duke 9; Pittsburgh 7; Louisiana 5; Louisville 2; Vanderbilt 1; Sam Houston 1; LSU 1; Colorado State 1

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