Tag: Kamari Moulton

Iowa details RB plan vs. Missouri

Who’s carrying the rock against Mizzou?

It will be a different look in the backfield for Iowa (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) against the Missouri Tigers (9-3, 5-3 SEC) in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.

Junior running back and Doak Walker Award finalist Kaleb Johnson declared for the 2025 NFL draft and will not be playing against Missouri.

Johnson rushed 240 times for 1,537 rushing yards and caught 22 passes for 188 receiving yards. The Hamilton, Ohio, product set Iowa single-season records in points (138), total touchdowns (23) and rushing scores (21).

With all of that production and star power out of the picture, what’s the plan for Iowa against the Tigers?

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed the Hawkeyes’ plan at running back against Missouri.

“It’ll be a committee. I don’t know if it’ll be two guys, four guys, but we’ll play the guys we’ve got. We really like the guys we have. We wish Kaleb was with us, but, again, appreciate what he’s done,” Ferentz said.

Without Johnson, Iowa’s two leading rushers coming into the contest are redshirt freshman running back Kamari Moulton and sophomore Jaziun Patterson.

Moulton has carried 70 times for 377 yards with two scores, while Patterson has rushed 54 times for 235 yards with two rushing touchdowns.

“It’s been fun to watch Kamari this year I think really grow and the same thing with Jaz. Both those guys are playing their best football. Kamari a little bit more understandable. He’s a really young guy right now and still maturing physically, but Jaz I think he was where we want him to be this year. So, happy about that,” Ferentz said.

Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ferentz and Iowa are excited to see more of what they’ve got in freshmen running backs Xavier Williams and Brevin Doll, too.

Williams and Doll were each three-star signees in the Hawkeyes’ 2024 class. Doll was an in-state signee via Adel-DeSoto-Minburn High School, while Williams inked with the Hawkeyes out of Lake Central High School in Indiana.

Doll, a 6-foot, 200 pound back, was ranked as the nation’s No. 33 running back and as the No. 5 player from Iowa per 247Sports. Williams, a 5-foot-10, 230 pound back, was rated as the nation’s No. 59 running back and as the No. 15 player from Indiana per 247Sports.

“We really are enthused about what we’ve seen of Xavier and Brevin Doll. Both those guys have done a really nice job in practice,” Ferentz said of his young backs.

“I think they’ve grown immensely since August. I made that comment a couple weeks ago to our guys. I said, ‘How do you think these guys would do if we put them in a game?’ And everybody gave the same answer. I think we all are seeing it the same way.”

Kickoff for Iowa against Missouri is set for 1:30 p.m. CT with the game to be televised on ESPN.

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Kirk Ferentz details Kamari Moulton’s ascension to No. 1 RB

Kirk Ferentz detailed how and why Kamari Moulton has ascended to No. 1 on the Iowa football running back depth chart.

The biggest head turner in Iowa’s initial depth chart reveal was redshirt freshman Kamari Moulton as the Hawkeyes’ No. 1 running back.

Moulton carried 27 times for 93 rushing yards with two scores last season. The 5-foot-9, 197 pound running back from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., has been one of the Hawkeyes’ fast risers dating back to last December.

On Tuesday, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed Moulton’s rapid ascension and detailed how Moulton has earned the Hawkeyes’ top spot on the running back depth chart.

Senior running back Leshon Williams, Iowa’s leading rusher in 2023, has been dealing with a nagging soft tissue injury throughout fall camp. Meanwhile, Moulton has made the most out of his opportunities.

“Yeah, I figured that might get everybody’s attention, but it’s more a byproduct of what’s going on. Two things really. Leshon’s missed some time. He’s had an injury that nagged pretty much throughout camp, so Kamari got a lot of work this August.

“The other component there is Kamari’s really done a nice job and I think I kind of mentioned that or alluded to that back in December even. He really started to look comfortable and did a lot of good things. Did a good job in the spring and has just been really consistent all the way through August. They’re all going to play, but he’s really done a nice job,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz also touched on where he’s seen the biggest jumps from Moulton.

“Probably confidence. He’s had a great attitude since he’s been here. He’s got good vision. He’s bigger and stronger physically than he was certainly a year ago, a year-plus ago when he got here. All that’s good. That’s one of the benefits of experience, so happy about that.

“He’s got a tremendous attitude, but he’s got real good vision, a good ability to see things maybe that other guys can’t see and that’s been pretty consistent. It really started showing in December when we were doing more work with the guys. He had been on scout team most of the time last year. It seemed like he was maybe a guy who could pop through here a little bit. I think he’s certainly done that in August,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz noted that Williams has been back working with the Hawkeyes for multiple weeks and that he feels Williams is ready for game action.

The Hawkeyes’ 26th-year head coach is anxious to see the entire group get their season underway and knows that Iowa could need all four or five of its top running backs.

“Leshon’s only been back maybe eight, 10 days and it looks like he’s good to go, but it was just, he had a really long, nagging injury that just took a while to get worked through. Happy he’s back. And the other guys have done a good job, too. Really, I feel pretty good about the group. Anxious to see them play and Kamari especially. We haven’t really seen him go in game activity…

“Again, I envision us playing a lot of the guys in the group. Max White’s done a good job, too. So, I feel like it’s a good group that way. We’ll just kind of see how it plays out as we keep going forward and history would say we can never have too many backs. That’s for sure,” Ferentz said.

Williams led Iowa with 821 rushing yards on 170 carries and one rushing touchdown last season. Junior Kaleb Johnson added 463 rushing yards on 117 rushes with three rushing scores and sophomore Jaziun Patterson tallied 206 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 58 totes.

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Iowa Hawkeyes 2023 Positional Breakdown: Scouting the running backs

Iowa football is all about running the rock. The next piece of our positional preview series features the Hawkeyes’ running backs.

Iowa football is running the football. While the rest of the Big Ten and college football world may be demonstrating a philosophy change, Iowa’s viewpoint hasn’t wavered. They will continue to play and win the same way they have for years now. They play tough defense and they run the ball at will against you on offense.

Unfortunately, they haven’t been running the ball at will in recent years. They’ve posted some of their lowest rushing numbers over the past two seasons, and have looked outmatched at times against top defenses. Part of this is due to the offensive scheme by Ferentz, partly by the offensive line, and partly by the passing attack having no bite to it. Iowa has asked a lot out of its running game, and there’s only so much it can do given the competition that they face in the Big Ten.

There is absolutely talent in this running back room, though. In particular, Kaleb Johnson. A true freshman last year, Johnson showed star potential for the Hawkeyes. Here is a look at the running backs ahead of the 2023 season.

Top five true freshman running backs in the Big Ten for 2023

Top five true freshman running backs in the Big Ten for 2023 #GoBucks #B1G

It is always fun to look at recruiting rankings. The recruiting landscape receives more coverage every year and is a very important aspect of building a program. Still, it is important to remember these players and prospects are not defined by these rankings.

I was diving into the most recent class and trying to figure out which future Buckeye is going to shine brightest and fastest but noticed that the Big Ten as a whole was pretty interesting recruiting-wise this cycle, and we already looked at the top quarterbacks in the class and I wanted to dive into the running back position next.

The following are the top five running backs recruits ranked by 247Sports heading to Big Ten schools this fall.