Tag: Luke Lachey

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.

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.

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Iowa may have accomplished the unthinkable: Spencer Petras, offense might have gotten worse

What happened versus South Dakota State might be worse than every Iowa fan’s worst nightmare: inexplicably, the Hawkeyes’ offense is worse.

Let’s get the “yeah, buts” out of the way right off the top. Iowa opened with the No. 3 team in the FCS in South Dakota State. The Hawkeyes did so minus their top running back and two of their top three wide receivers with both Gavin Williams and Keagan Johnson sidelined and wide receiver Nico Ragaini announced as out to start the week.

Those injuries are in addition to wide receiver Jackson Ritter and offensive lineman Justin Britt both being lost for the season. Plus, wide receiver Diante Vines isn’t expected back from his injury before at least the midway point of this season it doesn’t sound like.

It’s an offensive line that’s young in spots and looking to replace a first-round 2022 NFL draft pick in former center Tyler Linderbaum. Just to reiterate, South Dakota State is really good at the FCS level and has beaten FBS competition as recently as last season in Colorado State and hung with Minnesota in a 28-21 loss to start 2019.

All of this is true. It doesn’t change or excuse the fact that this looked and felt like rock bottom for Hawkeye quarterback Spencer Petras and the Iowa offense.

This was a flat-out embarrassing offensive performance for a program that spent all offseason looking to address a group that finished No. 121 nationally in total offense a season ago, averaging 303.7 yards per game.

Iowa ranked 101st in the country in rushing yards per game with 123.6 and 109th in passing yards per game with 180.1 last year. In 2021, Iowa registered an average of 16.5 first downs per game. In scoring offense, the Hawkeyes finished ranked No. 99, averaging 23.4 points per game.

So far, not so good in the improvement department. Iowa managed to do worse than each of those averages from last season. The Hawkeyes finished with a measly 166 yards of total offense, 109 passing yards and 57 rushing yards. Even though the score looks like the Hawkeyes tossed a conventional touchdown and PAT on the board, Iowa scored its seven points by virtue of one field goal and a pair of safeties. Oh, by the way, Iowa finished with 10 first downs and was 4-of-17 on third-down conversion tries.

In fact, Iowa’s seven points were the fewest by a winning Big Ten team since Iowa’s 6-4 triumph over Penn State in 2004. The Hawkeyes are also the first Big Ten team to win a game without scoring a touchdown since Nebraska beat Michigan State 9-6 in 2018.

At halftime, Petras was 6-of-15 passing for 41 yards with an interception. He finished 11-of-25 for 109 yards. All of the talk about this being a new-look offense sure didn’t hold up over the course of game one.

It could be as simple as Iowa truly doesn’t have a better option than Petras at quarterback. That’s what Ferentz said to start this season.

“It’s a long evaluation, and we evaluate everything, we tell our guys starting in January. Obviously we’re not doing football stuff, and both Spencer and Alex are both quality guys, but just the time on the field, I think Spencer has outperformed Alex a little bit at this point. He’s further ahead and gives us a better chance to be successful. That’s not to diminish what Alex has done. Both have improved.

“Now the thing is can we put this whole thing together and be a little bit more productive offensively. Both guys have done a good job. Spencer has continued to climb,” Ferentz said earlier this week when asked why Petras was able to secure Iowa’s starting quarterback job.

If that’s the case, then so be it, but it’s difficult for fans to reconcile not seeing other quarterbacks like Padilla or Labas get their chance outside of practice and in a game to try to deliver better for Iowa.

After all, as many in the Iowa echo chamber would pass along, right now, it doesn’t feel like it can get any worse. So, why not give those other two a chance and see if it can provide a spark?

It will get sold and painted as a positive that Iowa won the game 7-3 over South Dakota State despite offensive struggles. It’s not. It’s a negative that Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz and offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz were able to stick with Petras for the game’s entirety and win.

It sets up for the Hawkeyes to stay with a quarterback that means this team’s ceiling isn’t a Big Ten championship or maybe even a return appearance in the Big Ten Championship game. Today was the day to try out and see what it looked like once again with backup quarterback Alex Padilla or redshirt freshman Joe Labas.

Instead, the moment came and passed and now it’s on to Iowa State where tinkering at the quarterback position in-game could mean losing to your biggest rival for the first time in the past seven meetings. Obviously, the Iowa coaching staff hopes it doesn’t come to that.

The results versus the Jackrabbits indicate that it’s probably a matter of time before it does. Like the frustrating play that has defined Petras’ career at Iowa in the past, the San Rafael, Calif., native overthrew targets with regularity, struggled against pressure to identify where his open receivers were, he was intercepted on a pass behind his intended target in tight end Sam LaPorta, and missed a deep shot to wide receiver Alec Wick that could have helped sealed the game.

To be fair, Petras deserves a pass in this regard: like the subpar play that defined the back half of last season, it truly isn’t and wasn’t all his fault. The offensive line showed some serious weaknesses in game one.

Petras was under regular duress and the offensive line never could establish the Hawkeyes’ patented run game. Leshon Williams ended his day with 24 carries for a hard-earned 72 rushing yards, though he even had a costly fumble on Iowa’s lone offensive drive that seemed destined for the end zone. As a team, Iowa averaged just 1.6 yards per carry.

It’s week one, so overreactions are a dangerous game, but this was wildly uninspiring offensively from a program that needs improvement on that side of the football in the worst way.

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5 Offensive keys for the Iowa Hawkeyes against South Dakota State

Here’s five keys for the Iowa Hawkeyes on offense to get the season off to a strong start in week one against South Dakota State.

Week One is the perfect time to work out the kinks, earning some needed chemistry and playing time. While No. 2 Ohio State is playing a national contender in No. 5 Notre Dame to kick off their season, Iowa is also facing a national championship contender, albeit a very different one.

The Hawkeyes will host the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Kinnick Stadium to kick off their season. It certainly isn’t the toughest week one slate, they didn’t elect to schedule a top 25 team like No. 12 Oregon or a returning College Football Playoff team in No. 22 Cincinnati, but SDSU is certainly not a pushover. They aimed for a bit more of an ambitious FCS opponent than say Wisconsin taking on Illinois State, a team that didn’t even muster five wins in 2021.

Expectations are high for the Hawkeyes, fresh off of their Big Ten Championship game campaign. The first team left on the outside looking in of the USA TODAY Sports AFCA coaches poll, Iowa certainly has a chip on its shoulder entering the season. After an offseason of incessant talking points, none of that matters anymore. The season is here, time to put up or shut up. Here are five keys for the Iowa offense against South Dakota State.

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

The Iowa Hawkeyes

The season-opening week for the Iowa Hawkeyes is upon us and that means it’s almost time for Iowa to lock horns with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeyes released an offensive depth chart ahead of Big Ten Media Days, but, now that kickoff is this week, the Hawkeyes have revealed an updated offensive depth chart.

Fans suspected that Spencer Petras would remain as Iowa’s No. 1 quarterback. That is the case in the season-opening depth chart. What other surprises await Hawkeye fans in the first in-season depth chart reveal? Let’s take a look at the full Iowa offensive depth chart for South Dakota State.

Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Diante Vines sidelined until at least midseason with wrist injury

Iowa Hawkeyes wide receiver Diante Vines will be sidelined until at least midseason with a wrist injury per head coach Kirk Ferentz.

It’s the piece of football that there’s just no perfect defense for. Injuries happen and Iowa—like everyone else in college football—was hoping that they could avoid as many of them throughout the offseason and camp as possible.

Instead, after Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz recently announced the season-ending injuries to offensive guard Justin Britt and wide receiver Jackson Ritter, the Hawkeyes unfortunately now have another injury to report.

“On a negative note, I think I’ve already mentioned Justin Britt will not be able to play this year, Jackson Ritter, and one to add to the list, at least for the start of the season in our two deep. Diante Vines injured his wrist. He’ll be in a cast. You’ll see that, and that is going to impact the beginning part of the season for him.

“That’s unfortunate. He’s was really practicing well, and certainly would have been a guy who could help contribute to our football team. It’s not season-ending I don’t think, but, hopefully, we’ll get him back here somewhere midseason, whenever. We’ll just kind of take that day by day,” Ferentz told reporters at Iowa’s Media Day.

As it currently stands according to the depth chart that the Hawkeyes released just in front of Big Ten Media Days, Iowa’s wide receivers depth chart looks like this: the two that were listed as No. 1 receivers are Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini and the two that were listed as No. 2 receivers are Alec Wick and Arland Bruce IV.

Of course, Bruce started several games for the Hawkeyes last season and reeled in 25 grabs for 209 receiving yards with one touchdown reception and three more rushing scores.

Johnson led the way for Iowa receivers in 2021 with 18 receptions for 352 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown grabs, while Ragaini added 26 catches for 331 yards and one score.

While Iowa has been handed a pair of wide receiver injuries to both Ritter and now Vines, Ferentz seemed otherwise upbeat about what he’s seeing from those who are available.

“Receivers, injuries have been part of the deal there, predictably. Hopefully, we’re making progress, but seeing really good performances from Nico, our most veteran guy, and then Arland Bruce has done really a good job, too. Of note, Alec Wick has done a good job. Young guys who we didn’t know a lot about until last spring basically. He’s really done a good job, as well,” Ferentz said.

Still, it’s worth mentioning that Iowa also saw the departure of a pair of wide receivers through the transfer portal this offseason. Charlie Jones and Tyrone Tracy Jr. both transferred to Purdue.

Add to it that Johnson has been battling the injury bug this offseason and there’s at least cause for some angst among the Iowa fan base about what the wide receiver depth looks like headed into this season.

“Keagan is working back. He won’t do a lot tomorrow, but he’s working back. I think he’s close to being where he needs to be, and hopefully the same thing with Brody (Brecht). They’re really the two guys that have missed the most time now.

“If you look big picture, you’re including spring practice, too. So that’s—I don’t know if concerned is the right word, but that’s where my awareness is. They missed a lot of time. To get them back and playing effectively with the right tempo and getting the timing down on the offense, all those kinds of things, and you’ve heard me say it before, meetings are important, they have value and all that, but you learn how to play football by playing it. You’ve got to go out there on the field and play it,” Ferentz said.

Really, it’s probably more important for Brecht to see plenty of snaps throughout camp, but it wouldn’t hurt for quarterbacks Spencer Petras and Alex Padilla along with the Hawkeyes’ offensive coaching staff to get to see both of those targets back quickly.

“The sooner we can get them back, hopefully it’s next week, that’ll be encouraging. They’re both—in Keagan’s case, he’s played 12 games, 13 games, so he’s got experience there, but you still have to play the game and practice. Brody is a little different story because he hasn’t played. We really liked what we saw when he came back in the fall, but we’ve got to get him going.

“Hopefully, it’s sooner than later. I think it will be. But everybody else is doing a good job, and I think we’ve got some flexibility personnel-wise just with the tight ends. I think we’ve got a little flexibility there. We’ll figure that out, but so far, so good. I think our passing game, I think it’s on the right track right now,” Ferentz said.

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‘This is where I wanted to be’: Iowa Hawkeyes TE Sam LaPorta made ‘easy’ decision to return

Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta made the “easy” decision to return to Iowa City. The Hawkeyes’ offense is set to reap the rewards of that move.

One of the best tight ends in all of college football is back for the Hawkeyes entering 2022. Senior Sam LaPorta was Iowa’s leader in receiving yardarge and receptions in 2021 with 670 yards and 53 grabs.

After a 2021 campaign where he earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from Phil Steele, the 6-foot-4, 249 pound tight end is earning all sorts of preseason recognition heading into this season. Phil Steele and Athlon Sports both listed LaPorta as the Big Ten’s preseason first-team tight end, while On3 ranked him as the No. 8 tight end on its Impact 300.

As the Power Five leader in returning receiving yardage among tight ends, naturally, LaPorta is garnering plenty of 2023 NFL draft buzz, too. ESPN’s Mel Kiper listed LaPorta No. 2 on his most recent big board and he was also included on Pro Football Focus’ draft watch list for tight ends.

LaPorta will be one of the most important offensive playmakers for the Hawkeyes next season. Last week, he met with Hawk Central and rest of the Iowa media members in attendance to discuss the start of Iowa’s summer program and how he feels about his game and the tight ends group heading into the 2022 college football season.

Iowa Hawkeyes’ transfer TE Steven Stilianos could add an offensive wrinkle

The Iowa Hawkeyes top transfer this offseason from the FCS ranks could add an offensive wrinkle at an unexpected position.

The Iowa Hawkeyes remained quiet in the transfer portal for the most part aside from one offensive addition. That addition is at the tight end position in the form of Steven Stilianos who comes over from Lafeyette and the FCS ranks where he played his previous four seasons.

CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli took a look at all of the top Big Ten transfers and ranked Stilianos Iowa’s top transfer for the upcoming 2022 season. Obviously, he sort of had to as he is the only transfer joining the Hawkeyes.

Iowa — TE Steven Stilianos: It didn’t take much time to figure out the best transfer in Iowa’s class because Stilianos is the only one. The Lafayette transfer is seen as more of a blocking tight end but might impact the passing attack. – Fornelli, CBS Sports.

Stilianos committed to the Hawkeyes in February of this year. He chose Iowa over a handful of other offers such as Pittsburgh, Virginia, Syracuse, Temple, and Rutgers.

While Fornelli views him as a blocking tight end—and it certainly makes sense why as Stilianos is 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds—he does add value to the passing game. While at Lafeyette, he racked up 65 receptions for 534 yards and five touchdowns. His ability to perform in the passing game is evident.

Stilianos joins a tight end room that includes Hawkeyes leading pass catcher Sam LaPorta and redshirt sophomore Luke Lachey. There are also two incoming freshman tight ends in the 2022 recruiting class, Addison Ostrenga and Cael Vanderbush.

The Hawkeyes were relatively quiet in the transfer portal as they often have most of their talent homegrown. Going out and adding Stilianos could be signs of mixing his size into the scheme with play-action passes and throwing the ball out of run-heavy formations to go against their tendencies.

As Iowa begins summer camp and preseason, it might be worth keeping an eye on not only how many reps Stilianos receives, but also what his utilization looks like. The Iowa Hawkeyes have built up a reputation for churning out top tight ends and have more than the benefit of the doubt to think they will be right once again.

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Iowa earns No. 6 seed in ESPN’s fictional 64-team college football bracket

ESPN’s Chris Low took a crack at what a 64-team college football bracket might look like for the 2022 season. How far would the Hawkeyes go?

Recent reports indicate that the College Football Playoff won’t be expanding any time soon. In fact, according to CBS Sports reporter Barrett Sallee’s report from last month, the CFP will remain at four teams for the duration of the current contract through the 2025 college football season.

Still, that can rain on our parade as we enjoy the festivities of March Madness and wonder what if college football had a 64-team bracket like college basketball. ESPN’s Chris Low took a stab at what that might look like for the upcoming 2022 college football season.

With help from ESPN’s 2022 SP+ projections, Low put together a 64-team team tournament field for college football. Iowa ranked No. 26 in ESPN’s 2022 SP+ projections. That projection for the Hawkeyes checked in as just the seventh-highest ranking among Big Ten teams.

Ohio State was ranked No. 1 in ESPN’s 2022 SP+ projections, Michigan No. 4, Wisconsin No. 10, Penn State No. 16, Michigan State, No. 17 and Minnesota No. 19.

Using the SP+ projections as a tool to help create the 64-team bracket, Iowa ended up as the No. 6 seed in the South region playing No. 11 seed North Carolina. Low predicted the Hawkeyes would win their first-round matchup against the Tar Heels, 27-20, and wrote this about the matchup.

Between them, Kirk Ferentz and Mack Brown have 58 years of head coaching experience in college football. The Hawkeyes’ experience, though, is the difference in this one, as their defensive line takes control of the game in the second half. – Low, ESPN.

North Carolina State earned the No. 3 seed in the South region. The Wolfpack got a test from 14th-seeded Oregon State, but North Carolina State scored three unanswered touchdowns to top the Beavers, 28-14. That set up Iowa’s second-round matchup against N.C. State. Low predicted that Iowa would bow out of the tournament in a close, 20-17, loss to the Wolfpack.

Played in rainy, sloppy conditions, this slugfest goes down to the final minutes when N.C. State star linebacker Drake Thomas, one of several talented Wolfpack linebackers, makes a diving tackle inside the 5-yard line on fourth down. – Low, ESPN.

The No. 1 seeds in Low’s 64-team college football bracket included Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and Georgia. Low predicted that Alabama would top North Carolina State in the South region final, 41-21. The Midwest region champion was Ohio State after a 34-17 win over Cincinnati, the East region champion was Texas A&M after a 24-23 win over Georgia and the West region champion was Oklahoma beating USC, 35-28.

Low had Alabama beating Oklahoma 41-21 and Ohio State topping Texas A&M 38-24 to set up the national championship game between the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes.

In Low’s fictional national championship game, Ohio State captured the crown in a classic, beating Alabama, 34-30.

Obviously, there’s nothing to this outside of a fun exercise in imaginary December and January Madness. Still, it’s nice to see that Iowa was safely inside the tournament field and expected to win a game.

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