‘It’s the best stadium in college football right now’: Kinnick Stadium sports fangs early in 2022

It took all of one week for the fans inside Kinnick Stadium to remind everyone that they are always a factor for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

That didn’t take long, and, honestly, did you expect any different? After just one game, the rave reviews from players about the Kinnick factor are already pouring in.

In large part because of the fans, Iowa forced South Dakota State into eight false start penalties, a delay of game and an illegal shift. It had Hawkeyes defensive back Terry Roberts and others singing Kinnick Stadium’s praises.

“It’s the best stadium in college football right now. Best atmosphere hands down, best fans, everything. Can’t ask for anything better than Kinnick,” Roberts said.

Similar to his running mate in Roberts who had a pair of pass breakups, safety Quinn Schulte electrified the fan base with four pass breakups of his own.

“Yeah, I mean, any time you come and play at Kinnick, you know, our fans are great, so they’re going to be loud. Probably one of the toughest spots to play as you guys know, so it definitely helped us out defensively,” Schulte said of the Kinnick crowd.

The crowd reached its fever pitch on a pair of second-half safeties that Iowa recorded to secure the week one win over South Dakota State, 7-3. Star linebacker Jack Campbell was responsible for the first safety, earning a deafening end zone ovation.

“I don’t even know if anything was going through my mind, it was so loud down there. I mean, you guys saw today. I don’t even know how many false starts they had, but it kind of just proves how big of an advantage it is to play in Kinnick Stadium. Just the opportunity arose because all of my teammates were in their gaps and I just flew my gap and that’s kind of how it went. My whole thing is just going out there and do your job every single play. Even if you can’t hear anyone, you’ve got to do it, so it was pretty unique and cool to just hear how loud it was there tonight,” Campbell said.

Iowa State had five penalties in its opener: one false start, a pair of delay of games and two offensive holdings. With an inexperienced quarterback under center, maybe Kinnick Stadium is just getting started creating havoc for opponents ahead of the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

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‘I don’t think this is representative of our offense at all’: Spencer Petras ready to flip the page

Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras said the South Dakota State result isn’t “representative of our offense at all.”

Like many in the Iowa fan base, Hawkeye starting quarterback Spencer Petras is ready to just wash the results from the season-opening 7-3 win over South Dakota State.

Iowa was minus two of its top three wide receivers in Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini. The Hawkeyes were also missing their No. 1 running back in Gavin Williams.

Plus, there’s plenty of new faces on Iowa’s offense. Petras was asked if the new personnel and missing personnel had an impact on the Hawkeyes’ disappointing offensive start to the season that saw Iowa only deliver a 46-yard field goal.

“I mean, yeah, every team’s different, every offensive unit’s different. You know, definitely had a lot of young guys in there today that did really well I think. Have to see the tape, but, yeah, I mean, that’s definitely part of it. You can practice football as much as you want, but there’s nothing quite like being in there for a game, and, obviously, we need to grow offensively, and I think we will. I don’t think this is representative of our offense at all, but that’s the only performance that we’ve had so far this year. I think as a unit we’re really excited to move on and to try and beat Iowa State next week,” Petras said.

The San Rafael, Calif., product wasn’t about to make the missing players excuse, though.

“We definitely were short on personnel. I don’t necessarily think that affected how we called the game. I think South Dakota State first off did a pretty good job of playing some of the concepts that on tape looked great. As we got going, we had some really nice calls and one guy away. It was me in the second half probably more than I would have liked. But, yeah, I don’t think we were limited at all from a play-calling standpoint. Just strictly numbers we were limited,” Petras said.

And Petras discussed what specifically wasn’t working for him against the Jackrabbits.

“That’s a good question. I think just got out of rhythm a little bit, quite a bit. A little bit offensively. You know, that’s where I need to make the plays to get us back into rhythm. Make the makeable plays I should say, and I think there were a few locations, probably four—I don’t know—off the top of my head that just aren’t acceptable. Good news is, a win’s a win and we’re going to get back at it. Watch the tape tonight, watch it again tomorrow, and then we’re moving on,” Petras said.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Iowa never found its footing there either. The Hawkeyes finished with just a 1.6 yards per carry average and 57 total rushing yards as a team.

“Yeah, I think it was pretty representative of just the whole day offensively. Without having watched the tape yet, I bet all of our bad plays were probably one guy away from going. Run game that can be. It’s one guy in a run play, it’s one guy in a pass play. Whatever that may be, so the trick is just, you know, we’ve got our first game, we’ve got our first win. Now, let’s get back to who we are, because that wasn’t representative of who we are offensively,” Petras said.

In the midst of Iowa’s poor offensive performance to start the season, a chorus of boos was prominent on more than one occasion.

“Yeah, no, I think when we get stopped on third down and they’re booing, I feel the same way. I wish we converted the third down, but I think that the key to all that is knowing that I have a job to do as does every member of the football team on any given play. That’s all we focus on. The past is behind, the future does not exist. All that we have is the present moment. That’s what we focus on today, you know, just got to do a better job next time. Score some more points,” Petras said.

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‘I don’t anticipate any changes at this point’: Iowa resolute that Spencer Petras is its starting QB

Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz said that he doesn’t “anticipate any changes at this point” with Spencer Petras as the Hawkeyes’ starting quarterback.

Iowa heads into the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series against Iowa State with some legitimate question marks surrounding its starting quarterback.

After Spencer Petras completed just 11-of-25 passes for 109 yards with no touchdowns and one interception against FCS foe South Dakota State, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked if he anticipates that Petras will be the starter versus the Cyclones or if there will be a serious evaluation this week regarding the position.

“I don’t anticipate any changes at this point, no. Our job collectively right now is to get better. He’s got some ownership. We all have ownership, every coach, every player, and that’s our job to get better week to week,” Ferentz said of Petras.

In that same vein, Ferentz’s confidence hasn’t been shaken by one poor performance to start the season.

“I’ve still got a lot of confidence in him, and I think the noise on the outside is probably a lot louder than it is inside. I’ve got total confidence. I mean, he practices well, he’s a great young guy, and we’ll be better. We’ll be better next week,” Ferentz said.

Iowa’s longtime coach was also asked why he kept faith in Petras heading into the second half.

“It would probably be the same category as a lot of stuff I saw last year. I just think it’s more multiple than one player. Spencer’s practiced well. I thought he was doing a good job out there, but we just didn’t support him enough. We weren’t clean enough, and that’s something we’re going to have to be better at next week,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz was also asked if he felt his other quarterbacks might have been prone to more mistakes than Petras’ lone interception.

“Those guys are playing hard, and they threw some stuff at us, so you never know. We’ll never know until somebody else gets in there. Again, I evaluate what you see, and there’s a lot of things that were going on today that we’re going to have to get better at and get better at fast,” Ferentz said.

If there’s a change at any point for Iowa, it certainly doesn’t sound or seem like it’s coming any time soon. Ferentz and the Hawkeye coaching staff are publicly showing support for Petras as rivalry week versus the Cyclones begins.

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Big Ten Week 1 Rewind: All Big Ten results and updated standings

Ohio State’s big finish vs Notre Dame, Iowa has the most Iowa win, and don’t be fooled by the Nebraska final score. The Big Ten Week 1 rewind is live.

We may have gotten an early taste of Big Ten football in Week 0, but the Week 1 slate saw 13 of 14 Big Ten members in action from Thursday night through Saturday night. And it was a doozy to get us started. Ohio State had its mega showdown with Notre Dame in Ohio Stadium to highlight the weekend slate not just for the Big Ten, but the entire top 25.

Elsewhere, you simply had to see how Iowa won its game to believe it, and Nebraska somehow managed to come up with a final score that wasn’t nearly as comfortable as it might seem. Penn State started the weekend off with a thriller against Purdue on Thursday night, and Indiana followed the next night with a victory down to the wire against Illinois.

Northwestern was off in Week 1 after taking care of Nebraska in Week 0 in Ireland. Here’s how the rest of the weekend went around the Big Ten, including the Thursday and Friday results.

5 takeaways from the Iowa Hawkeyes’ abysmal opener against South Dakota State

Iowa topped South Dakota State, 7-3. Here’s the five biggest takeaways from the Hawkeyes’ season-opening triumph.

I honestly don’t even feel like writing about this game, or giving this team any attention right now. All credit to South Dakota State. They are not a pushover despite their FCS status and they played hard on defense. They were overmatched on offense, which was always going to be a likelihood with the talent on Iowa’s defense, but they surely were right there to stop Iowa’s offense.

Was that South Dakota State playing out of their minds, or Iowa just being a complete disaster? You can make your own judgement, but I know what my choice is.

I don’t care that they are a good FCS opponent, this Iowa team went into the season with aspirations of making it back to the Big Ten Championship game! That’s how you start out the season at home?! It was an embarrassment, it was a disgrace, and a disservice to every fan that sat through that mess in Kinnick Stadium Saturday. Ferentz and his staff need to figure it out, or this is going to be a long, long season.

That said off the top, let’s look at five of the biggest takeaways for the Hawkeyes versus South Dakota State.

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.

‘It’s a neat tradition’: South Dakota State, John Stiegelmeier honored to take part in Hawkeye Wave

South Dakota State head football coach John Stiegelmeier said the Hawkeye Wave is “a neat tradition” and his team is honored to take part.

One of the best traditions in college football is the Hawkeye Wave. When the Kinnick Stadium clock hits zero at the end of the first quarter, 70,000-plus fans in attendance divert their attention from the football field to the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital. In unison, fans wave to the pediatric patients and their families to symbolize that their fight—and life itself—is bigger than football.

South Dakota State head football coach John Stiegelmeier is well versed in the Iowa Hawkeyes’ tradition and said his team will embrace it.

“Well, it’s a neat tradition, and so it’s again an honor and it’ll be I think very meaningful to be part of it. You know, we do things like that. When we have our barefoot game, our guys take their shoes off at the end of the game and their socks off and we try to raise funds for Samaritan’s Feet and things like that. So, we don’t do that tradition, but we have things like that in our program that we’re more than just student-athletes, so it’ll be good. We practiced it. We practice everything, so we practiced that already and so nothing will surprise us,” Stiegelmeier said this week as his team prepares to visit Iowa City.

Indeed, Stiegelmeier and South Dakota State have helped raise money for Samaritan’s Feet in the past. For those unfamiliar, Samaritan’s Feet is a humanitarian relief organization that puts shoes on the feet of children all around the world. Their mission is to serve and inspire hope in children by providing shoes as the foundation to a spiritual and healthy life resulting in the advancement of education and economic opportunities.

At Iowa, over the course of this offseason, fans decided that the song played during the Hawkeye Wave should be left up to the kids to decide. Now, the Kid Captain at every home game will choose the song to accompany the Hawkeye Wave.

Even as a pair of long-tenured, highly successful college football head coaches in Stiegelmeier and Kirk Ferentz get set to try and capture a season-opening victory, it’s great to see a pair of head coaches for both programs embrace causes that are larger than football.

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South Dakota State is ‘really proud’ of what former commit, Iowa LB Seth Benson has accomplished

South Dakota State head coach John Stiegelmeier says his program is “really proud” of former commit and now Iowa linebacker Seth Benson.

Once upon a time, Iowa Hawkeyes linebacker Seth Benson was committed to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. Like his parents before him, it looked like Benson’s future would take place in Brookings, S.D.

Instead, Benson got an offer from Iowa, and it was simply too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“I’m a big family man. That was the hardest thing. I wanted to be a loyal guy, too,” Benson said to Inside the Hawkeyes. “And I had committed to a school and a program (at South Dakota State). I was going to be five and a half hours from my family. I had to think about that. But ultimately, I didn’t want to look back and say, ‘What if?'”

He doesn’t have to worry about that what if anymore. Now, Benson is part of one of the nation’s top linebacking corps alongside Jack Campbell and Jestin Jacobs. The 6-foot, 232 pound Sioux Falls, S.D., product registered triple-digit tackles a season ago, racking up 105 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and one interception.

By his potential head coach and now this week’s opponent’s admission, Benson and company are perhaps the country’s finest collection of linebackers.

“I think across the board, I mean, their d-line is very physical and makes a lot of plays, their linebacker corps is the best we’ll ever see, their defensive backs are very good. The thing I love about their defense—and they may prove me wrong—but, they don’t do a lot. They rely on being sound, understanding their defense and then doing their job.

“I’ve watched them against a lot of really good opponents and they’ve had success doing that. I think it’s going to be really hard to run the football based on their front seven and, ideally we can pass the ball, but, again, that means you’ve got to be able to block their pass rush, which is part of their front seven. So, it’s going to be a tough game. Really good defense and looking forward to seeing it because I’ve got a lot of respect for the Iowa football team,” South Dakota State head coach John Stiegelmeier said.

The cool thing is, listening to Stiegelmeier’s weekly press conference, there’s no animosity or sour grapes that Benson ultimately wound up somewhere else. It’s not lip service either. As he should be, Stiegelmeier is genuinely happy for Benson and all of his successes with the Hawkeyes.

“It’s going to be a treat. It doesn’t matter whether we lose a guy to the University of South Dakota or the University of Iowa, I try to look those guys up, make it a point to look them up at the end of the game, and just see how they’re doing and congratulate them on their successes. In a goofy way, I think our whole staff is really proud of what Seth’s accomplished. I mean, he had committed to us and then he got this opportunity. His dad played here, his mom went to school here, was an athlete and we said, ‘Go for it.’ And not that he needed us to say that, but I think what he’s done there is really special and he should be proud of it and we’re proud of him,” Stiegelmeier said.

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Kirk Ferentz, John Stiegelmeier share mutual respect for one another, mirroring programs

Between the two head coaches, there’s over 50 years of head coaching experience and 363 wins while at their two programs.

After the 2022 season ends, Iowa Hawkeyes head football coach Kirk Ferentz and South Dakota State head football coach John Stiegelmeier will have a combined 50 years of college head coaching experience between the two of them.

When the Hawkeyes and Jackrabbits get their respective 2022 seasons underway on Saturday at 11 a.m. on FS1 from inside Kinnick Stadium, the two head coaches will boast a combined 363 head coaching wins at Iowa and South Dakota State. The longevity of both is unique to college football.

As the buildup to the game reaches its crescendo, one of the questions posed to Stiegelmeier was if he saw any similarities between the two programs. If you stop and think about it, there are some striking similarities. Tough, hard-nosed programs led by two of the longest-tenured head coaches that like to feature talented tight ends and emphasize physical running games.

“I do. At different levels, but a lot of similarities in terms of coaches’ tenure. We want to be physical on offense. They are very physical on offense. Run the ball, use tight ends. They use a fullback, we use tight ends. Defensively, I think we maybe have a little more variety, but still want to be sound. When you put on the film and you watch how people line up against formations and things like that, you can’t outnumber them. We take pride in doing the same thing, so there’s a lot of similarities. It’s at a different level and more scholarships, but our guys will be ready to play,” Stiegelmeier said.

It’s clear the amount of respect that Stiegelmeier has for Ferentz individually.

“I’m honored. I look forward to meeting him. I look forward to picking his brain. He’s only a couple years older than me, but I’m sure he’s got some really good insight in the success of his program. I respect what he’s done, what the Iowa Hawkeyes have done through the years and, again, it’s going to be an honor to meet him and compete against him,” Stiegelmeier said.

Ferentz echoed many of those sentiments about Stiegelmeier and South Dakota State.

“Yeah, so I think I’m older than him—I figured I was. That’s unusual that somebody is that close and then he’s got more tenure. But I have great admiration for him. He’s done a great job with the program. Not that I know them intimately, but I’ve followed them now the last several years, and I just watch the way they operate. We’ve seen them in crossover tape. You pretty much form opinions about anybody when you watch tape, at least that’s how I form opinions about programs, and every tape I’ve seen going back a couple years with them is really—whenever the tight end that got drafted, I don’t know if he’s in Philly or whatever, you know who I’m talking about, but I remember them playing against somebody there, and they’re a good football team and a good football program.

“The other thing I’m impressed with, they lost four coaches this past offseason, but if you look at the guys they’ve hired, there’s a lot of common DNA in there. So they’re very confident about who they are, what they are and how they do things. That to me is impressive. Like they know who they are, and it’s worked really well for them, and he’s a first-class coach, first-class gentleman,” Ferentz said.

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Iowa Football week 1 opponent offense outlook: South Dakota State Jackrabbits

The Hawkeyes host South Dakota State in week one. Here is an offensive outlook for what the Jackrabbits will try to do and who to watch.

Welcome to week one! The 2022 college football season is finally upon us and it kicks off for the Iowa Hawkeyes as they host the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

There is no shortage of hype surrounding the Jackrabbits as we enter the season. They advanced to the semifinals last year in the FCS playoffs. They get their quarterback, Mark Gronowski, back from injury. They return their top target at wide receiver and they have a proven running back. Let’s get into our outlook of the Jackrabbits’ offense.

The Jackrabbits averaged 36 points per game last season to go along with 212 yards rushing per game and 229 yards passing per game. They are balanced and they do what they do very well. Managing the game is an area they also did well in. They averaged over 31 minutes in time of possession, which would have been good enough to be in the top-30 in FBS in that statistical category.

Mark Gronowski, QB

Mark Gronowski retakes his spot at the helm of the offense after missing last season due to injury. During his 10-game campaign in the 2020 season, he was a dangerous dual-threat quarterback with 1,565 yards and 15 touchdowns through the air to go with 577 yards on the ground and seven touchdowns. Gronowski can hurt a defense both ways.

Jaxon Janke, WR

The top receiver for the Jackrabbits, Jaxon Janke, is also returning. The senior exploded last year posting a stat-line of 72 catches for 1,176 yards and five touchdowns. He is expected to be Gronowski’s No. 1 target this fall. With 16.3 yards per catch, Janke can hurt a team down the field with his size at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds. He will have size on nearly all of the Hawkeyes’ cornerbacks and be a great week one test.

Tucker Kraft, TE

The Hawkeyes are not the only team in this game with a current tight end that will be jumping to the NFL next spring. Tight end, Tucker Kraft, had 65 receptions for 773 yards and six touchdowns. Albeit against FCS competition, all of those numbers topped Sam LaPorta’s career highs. Kraft is 6-foot-5, 255 pounds, and, once he gets the ball in his hands, it takes a handful to bring him down.

Isaiah Davis, RB

In the backfield, the lion’s share of the snaps should go to Isaiah Davis, a junior running back. Davis has not been the lead back yet in his career, but in his two seasons he has still contributed 1,519 yards and 17 touchdowns. At 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, Davis is not afraid to be a bruiser and will give the Hawkeyes’ defense all they can handle meeting him in the hole.

While they reside in the FCS, South Dakota State is no slouch and will be looking to come into Kinnick Stadium and make a statement on Saturday. The Jackrabbits don’t just want to hang around, they truly believe they can upset the Hawkeyes. For Iowa, the defense should be ready to take on these individuals and slow them down to start the season off on the right foot.

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