Tag: Spencer Petras

Iowa Hawkeyes favored over Rutgers Scarlet Knights via ESPN’s Football Power Index

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Iowa Hawkeyes are a slight favorite over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Iowa Hawkeyes should handle business on the road and start off Big Ten play with a win over Rutgers from SHI Stadium.

ESPN’s FPI gives Iowa a 56.7% chance to win this Saturday night over the Scarlet Knights. The Hawkeyes check in as the nation’s No. 48 team in the FPI rankings, while Rutgers is ranked is 72nd.

Right now, Iowa’s projected win-loss is 5.7-6.4 per ESPN’s FPI. According to the Football Power Index, the Hawkeyes have a 55.3% chance to finish with six or more wins and a 3.9% chance to win the Big Ten West.

For Rutger’s part, they’re expecting a mighty challenge from the Hawkeyes. Rutgers head football coach Greg Schiano commented in his weekly press conference on what he expects from Iowa.

“They play very hard. They are physical. They are technically sound. So it’s a great challenge for our guys, great challenge for our coaching staff. You put all that together and throw it in this Saturday night, wearing red to the game and packing the place, that’s what college football is all about,” Schiano said.

Iowa is 7-3 in its past 10 league openers and 12-11 all-time in Big Ten openers under head football coach Kirk Ferentz. The Hawkeyes also opened conference play in Piscataway, N.J., in 2016 and came away with a 14-7 win.

C.J. Beathard finished 12-of-23 passing for 162 yards with one touchdown pass to tight end George Kittle. It was running back Akrum Wadley, though, that had the game-winning, 26-yard touchdown run a play after safety Brandon Snyder stripped the football loose.

The Hawkeyes are hoping it doesn’t take quite the same late heroics this time, but, certainly, Iowa would be happy to leave with any kind of winning result. Below, here’s a look at how ESPN’s FPI currently sees the rest of Iowa’s schedule in terms of percentage chance to win each game.

Week 3 rewind: 3 Iowa Hawkeyes seeing stock rising, falling

The Iowa Hawkeyes moved to 2-1 after a marathon against Nevada due to lightning delays. Let’s check on some of the Hawkeyes’ stock trends.

Saturday night, and eventually into the wee hours of Sunday morning, saw the Iowa Hawkeyes move to 2-1 with a 27-0 shutout of Nevada. In a game that took nearly seven hours from kickoff to the clock hitting zero, the circumstances were some that many players, coaches, or fans have never dealt with before.

That said, there were positives to take away from this game. The Hawkeyes got some things going offensively and were able to string together some drives. Even more promising, the Iowa offense showed some big-play ability, a very welcome sight from an offense that was looking anemic.

The Hawkeyes defense did their thing. Whether it is 7 p.m., 10 p.m , or 1 a.m., the defense is going to be lights out week in and week out. Nevada could not get anything going on a wet field and the Iowa defense didn’t let them sniff an ounce of success.

Let’s get into a handful of Iowa Hawkeyes and some that are seeing their stock take a rise.

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.

Keagan Johnson, Nico Ragaini reportedly set for Iowa Hawkeyes returns

According to a report from Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown, Iowa wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini will play tonight.

For the first time in what feels like eons, there could be good news brewing at the wide receiver position for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Both Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini, Iowa’s two leading receivers last season, were once again absent on the depth chart to start the week.

The pair was practicing, though, and, according to one report out there, it sounds like the duo is set to make their 2022 season debut against the Nevada Wolf Pack from inside Kinnick Stadium at 6:30 p.m. tonight.

Big Ten Network’s Meghan McKeown reported that the pair should play tonight. That would be a welcome lift for an Iowa offense that hasn’t been able to do much of anything right thus far in 2022.

“Well, they’re practicing. That’s a starting point. That’s the first step to getting in a game and playing well is practicing. You can’t do it without practicing. Having them actually in a helmet and catching a ball with shoulder pads on, that’s encouraging.

“They’ve missed time, obviously. Nico is a more experienced player, and he’s been in the fight a lot sooner than Keagan. Keagan you’re looking about an eight-plus-month deficit right now, so that’s what he’s got to overcome. It’s great to see him out there, and it’s great to get Nico back, too. We have to be careful about how fast and how far we push them as we move forward,” Ferentz said in his weekly press conference.

Naturally, it would be a gigantic lift if both Johnson and Ragaini are back today and for the long haul. Johnson finished his true freshman season with 18 receptions, 352 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. Meanwhile, Ragaini reeled in 26 grabs for 331 yards and one score in 2021. Over Ragaini’s career, he has 91 catches for 968 yards and three touchdowns.

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.

‘I truly do believe that there’s good in front of this unit’: Iowa’s Spencer Petras remaining upbeat

Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Spencer Petras said he still believes “there’s good in front of this unit,” remaining upbeat ahead of Nevada.

Iowa starting quarterback Spencer Petras isn’t set to write any sort of eulogies on he or the Hawkeyes’ offensive fortunes in 2022. Immediately following the loss to Iowa State, Petras had this to say about whether or not his confidence has been shaken in any regard by poor play and the outside noise.

“For the most part, the only time I get that exposure is just during the games. I don’t have social media, so, no, I mean, I think that the biggest thing is just going to work every day and working to improve, because I still feel like this is not representative of our offense. And that’s I’m sure not what, you know, people want to hear because that’s what we’ve shown the last two weeks, but, you know, the process is kind of a long and winding road.

“Sometimes it all comes together, sometimes it all comes unraveled. It’s an old George Strait song, but I still have a lot of high hopes for our unit and for our team. This doesn’t change any of our goals. The only thing we can’t be now is undefeated, but the rest of our goals are still out in front of us. I sound like a broken record, but the key is just improving. I truly do believe that there’s good in front of this unit. We’ve just got to go do it,” Petras said.

Thus far, Petras has completed just 45.1% of his passes for 201 yards with no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. In his past six starts with extended playing time, Petras has just the one touchdown pass and nine interceptions. The Hawkeyes haven’t scored more than 17 points in any of those games.

To this point in 2022, Iowa is the nation’s worst total offense with 158 yards per game and scoring offense with seven points per game. The Hawkeyes rank 127th nationally in passing and rushing offense, respectively, averaging just 100.5 passing yards and 57.5 rushing yards per game.

Asked what went wrong most recently against Iowa State, Petras pointed the problems at his technique.

“You know, I think I need to reserve full judgment just until I watch the tape. You know, I can probably think of three or four plays right off the top of my head just my feet are, wasn’t clean with my feet, which seems to be, you know, that’s a good indicator if the play’s going to go well for me or not. Yeah, you know, just I think Iowa State played really hard, they played well. Good defense. Just got to be better next week,” Petras said.

Through a pair of games, Iowa is currently 7-of-28 on third down conversion tries. Like their other offensive statistics, that 25% conversion rate ranks among the country’s worst. The Hawkeyes’ third down conversion rank is No. 124 nationally.

“Yeah, and I think each one’s an individual play. You know, it’s kind of, I just think it’s execution. It’s overall execution to give you a pretty basic answer, because each play itself is its own thing. Right, like on one play, maybe it’s bad timing on my part and then the next play it’s something else. You know, it just depends. I do absolutely believe that we have a really good scheme. We just need to execute,” Petras said of Iowa’s third down conversion struggles.

The next chance for Petras and the Hawkeyes to show improvement will come against the Nevada Wolf Pack.

“Yeah, you know, young team, new staff, so it’s kind of limited with tape, but from what they have, the three games they have played this year, they have a pretty solid identity it seems,” Petras said of Nevada. “They know what they want to do, and that’s always a sign of I think a defense that’s, they know what they want to do because that’s what they think they’re best at. That presents a challenge for an offense just because they’re going to rep the hell out of a certain coverage and things like that, so we’ve got to be ready to attack it.”

[lawrence-related id=9893]

[lawrence-related id=9889]

[lawrence-related id=9884]

[listicle id=9800]

[listicle id=9806]

[listicle id=9881]

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.

‘It’s not an intentional derailment’: Spencer Petras remains Iowa Hawkeyes’ No. 1 quarterback

Kirk Ferentz said it’s “really tough to give an honest evaluation right now” and Spencer Petras will remain the starting quarterback.

The question that Iowa fans have been waiting on this week was answered Tuesday with a response that will leave a number of Hawkeye fans upset.

According to Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz, it’s still Spencer Petras that is the Hawkeyes’ No. 1 quarterback and he will start on Saturday against the Nevada Wolf Pack.

“He’ll start right now. That’s our plan, unless something happens in practice. We obviously have spent a lot of time looking at it, considering it, talking about it, and it’s not the same as last year, but there are some similarities I think in that I think it’s really tough to give an honest evaluation right now.

“I’ve talked to Alex about the same thing, just that no matter who’s in there right now, we’ve got some challenges, and we’ve got to work through those, try to improve in those, and then we’ll have a fairer way to assess I think. I think I speak for everybody in our program, we both have, all have faith in both players,” Ferentz said.

Currently, Petras is rated as the nation’s second-worst quarterback nationally in ESPN’s total quarterback rating among all qualified passers. The San Rafael, Calif., native has completed just 23-of-51 passes for 201 yards with zero touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

The Iowa media followed up by asking what Petras has done to retain his starting job, or if it’s a matter of Petras simply directing traffic better for an offense that does have some challenges beyond just the play of its quarterback.

“No, I think Alex is capable of that, and I think he proved that last year. I just go back to body of work. This kind of ties into some other topics I’m sure, but we were 0-2 at the start of the ’20 season. Then, we won 12 straight with him at quarterback, so he built up some credit right there, and I thought he played really well. Not in each and every game, but he did a pretty good job and led our football team, so, you know, he’s got a good resume going. And I think the other challenge right now, we’ve had some challenges to work through, and that’s where we’re at presently.

“So, that’s the challenge right now is to piece things together where whoever’s back there can have a better chance to perform in a way that we think and believe both of them are capable of, so that’s our bigger challenge right now I think at this point. I don’t think it’s, in my assessment or our assessment, it’s really fair to just pinpoint one person right now. I think that would be taking an easy route out,” Ferentz said.

Chad Leistikow, a columnist for the Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen, listed off Iowa’s point totals in each of Petras’ past six starts—7, 7, 3, 17, 7 and 7—and asked why that body of work was enough to justify him remaining the Hawkeyes’ top signal-caller.

Leistikow also mentioned that Iowa scored 27 and 33 points in Padilla’s first two starts last season against Minnesota and Illinois.

“That’s our assessment. Those are good points, but we’re looking at the whole thing, and that’s our assessment right now,” Ferentz said.

Once again, Ferentz was asked by reporters what the media and fans aren’t seeing right now that keeps Petras in that best position.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s like our whole football team. Probably the biggest difference between you guys and me right now, or us as a staff, is we get to see the guys day in and day out starting in January, and it’s true each and every year, so we’re a little bit more knowledgeable of our injury situation, missed time, all those kinds of things. Going back, there’s a lot of factors at play right now, you know, a lot of factors at play. I think we’ve beat that horse to death a little bit on Saturday, but whether it’s the receiver position, lack of time. And, I felt like we were in a pretty good position going back to Kids Day. I think we were on a good progress path at that point.

“And then, you know, some things happened the next couple weeks that have made it a little bit difficult. Long story short, I think we saw some improvement Saturday. There were some things that were more encouraging and some things that were really close. But close doesn’t get it, and that’s the challenge that we’re running. When we feel with this team that we have a chance to really assess things fairly, then we’ll make the judgments we feel necessary, and hopefully that’s coming soon,” Ferentz said.

As one final piece of this puzzle, Ferentz was asked if it’s safe to assume that Petras is practicing the best of his quarterbacks.

“Yeah, we think he is, but again, that’s not a knock on Alex. Alex is doing a good job, too. We’re not trying to drive this train off the road by any stretch. I mean, it’s not an intentional derailment,” Ferentz said.

[lawrence-related id=9781]

[lawrence-related id=9839]

[lawrence-related id=9798]

[listicle id=9693]

[listicle id=9698]

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.

After hearing ‘Nico is getting close,’ both Ragaini, Keagan Johnson absent on Week 3 depth chart

After saying it’s a possibility that wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini could return, neither was listed on the two-deep.

After another performance where Iowa struggled mightily offensively, reinforcements would be a welcome sight. Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said as much after the Hawkeyes mustered up just 150 yards of total offense and one touchdown.

“Hopefully, getting some players back would help us, but, you know, we can’t count on that. We’ve got to play with the guys we have and see if we can do a better job,” Ferentz said.

After Ferentz said that both wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini were possibilities to play this week versus Nevada, neither one was listed on Iowa’s depth chart to start the week.

It’s obviously not Iowa’s only offensive problems, but it’s fair to look at the situation and see how several skill players being out has exacerbated the Hawkeyes’ issues.

“It’s certainly a factor. It’s not an excuse, but it is a factor if you do the math on it. We’ve got I think by my count, three guys that were out pretty much from the start of camp that play outside on the perimeter. Not so much Nico’s was during camp, and then Diante Vines got hurt during camp, too. He was doing really well, so you take those two guys, (Brody) Brecht was out, Keagan Johnson has been out. That’s four players that last December I would have told you we were counting on,” Ferentz said.

While the Hawkeyes ponder whether or not Spencer Petras will remain the team’s starting quarterback or if somebody else will get a chance, everyone in the black and gold is hoping Iowa’s aforementioned top skill players return in a hurry.

Though Ferentz didn’t offer a specific timeline, it does seem like Brody Brecht, Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini could be back soon. He updated both Brecht and Ragaini’s statuses while answering if Iowa might consider some schematic changes.

“I’m not sure that’s going to help us right now. You know, really, we just need to find some ways to move the football and score it. I’m not sure that’s going to be going to a gimmick or wholesale change. You know, I mean, as I said earlier, we’re two weeks into it now, we should have a better idea of what we can do and what we can’t do and where the hotspots are and try to compensate for that, and then hopefully we’ll get some personnel back, too. I think, you know, Nico has a chance this week. Hopefully, Brody Brecht this week three, so maybe we can get him involved. Hopefully, that’ll be part of the solution here, but we don’t have a quick fix right now,” Ferentz said.

Nico Ragaini was Iowa’s third-highest in receiving yardage last season with 331 yards. Brecht is a 6-foot-4, 217 pound redshirt freshman out of Ankeny, Iowa, that the Hawkeye coaching staff is excited about.

Meanwhile, Keagan Johnson still hasn’t played in 2022 either. He was Iowa’s top receiving yardage leader last season among wide receivers with 352 yards on 18 grabs. After a strong true freshman season, there’s plenty of excitement about what the Bellevue, Neb., native could wind up as in Iowa City.

Ferentz was also asked in the postgame media availability if Johnson had a chance to return this week.

“I think it’s a possibility. He improved for the first time I can say that. He’s improved this past week and gave us maybe a little room for optimism. I think Nico is getting close. I don’t know if he is there. We’ll know more as the week goes on, so those two guys are definitely possibilities. Vines is going to be a while,” Ferentz said.

[lawrence-related id=9781]

[lawrence-related id=9798]

[listicle id=9698]

[listicle id=9693]

[listicle id=9776]

[vertical-gallery id=9702]

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.

‘It’s not going well for him right now’: Iowa set to ‘reassess everything,’ including starting QB

After just one touchdown through two games, Kirk Ferentz said the Hawkeyes will “reassess everything,” including the starting quarterback.

After Iowa was only able to muster up 150 yards of total offense and one offensive touchdown against Iowa State, it sounds like it’s officially time for the Hawkeyes to perhaps make some personnel changes.

Starting quarterback Spencer Petras had another rough outing, throwing for just 92 yards on 12-of-26 passing with a lost fumble and an interception.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz was asked why stick with Petras as the team’s starting quarterback at this point.

“I guess to me, both these games he’s still not getting enough help to really do a fair assessment. He hasn’t been perfect obviously. Nobody has. We’ve got a lot of moving parts right now on offense, and then we’re shorthanded a little bit at a couple positions. We’ll keep working through it, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, you know, and see what happens moving forward,” Ferentz said.

Then, as a follow up, Ferentz was asked point blank if Petras is the team’s sure starter in game No. 3 against Nevada.

“No, I didn’t say that. I just said today he played the whole game. In my judgment, it was the best way to continue through this game, and, you know, gave it some thought, but I felt like it was our best opportunity. We’ll reassess everything tomorrow,” Ferentz said.

With the Hawkeyes mired in an offensive desert, Iowa’s 24th-year head coach was asked why he hasn’t been the type of coach historically to quickly yank quarterbacks in general. Ferentz said part of that approach has been rooted in his quarterbacks having established reputations.

“I would agree with that comment or that statement if in fact that quarterback has built up some credit, you know, he’s got an account going. We’ve been around Spencer three years now. This is his third year playing as a starter, so we’ve been around him, seen him do a lot of really good things. And as a person, as a young man, he’s stellar. He’s been really good,” Ferentz said.

With that being said, ultimately, it’s just not working right now for Iowa, and that means that all options are on the table.

“He’s got all the attributes you’re looking for, but it’s not going well for him right now. It’s not going well for anybody on the offense quite frankly. If making a change is the best thing, then we’ll consider it. If not, we’ll just keep pushing forward, see what we can do,” Ferentz said.

Last week, Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz wasn’t completely letting Petras off the hook based on poor offensive line play.

“I felt like after watching the tape, the majority of that game, we had ample opportunity in the pocket to deliver the ball and do what we needed to do as far as making the read and getting the ball out to the correct guy on time. So, is the protection perfect? No, but if you’re waiting around for perfect protection, you’re not going to be happy with it ever,” Brian Ferentz said.

And the promise was that Iowa would play the best player, whomever that ultimately is.

“And the reality is, we’ve seen both quarterbacks play. Both guys have played well. Both guys probably have had times in their career they wish they had back — with Spencer we can look as recently as a few days ago. But the reality is they both demonstrated that they can do it. And what we need to do is find consistency at that position. I can just assure you that what we’re going to do is we’re going to continue to go with the guy, whomever that is, whenever that is, that’s going to give us the best chance to win football games,” Brian Ferentz said after the South Dakota State game.

Now, the questions are more pronounced than ever. Is Petras really Iowa’s best option at quarterback? Or, what are Alex Padilla and Joey Labas not doing to get opportunities to play?

“It’s really not that. The best way I can phrase it is we have a lot more exposure to what’s going on with our players on a daily basis. You get to see them on Saturdays, obviously you get to interview them, talk to them and all that, but we see them on a daily basis, and this goes back to the spring and last fall, as well.

“It has been our estimation that Spencer is the starter, and wanted to give him that chance again today. We’re sitting here right now, clearly we have to do better, and we’ll reassess everything this week,” Kirk Ferentz said.

Ultimately, the bottom line is Iowa needs more offensive production. As such, all options have to be on the table.

“We’ll assess all that tomorrow. Obviously the statement made about points scored, we’re not going to win moving forward if we can’t score more points than that, and we have a really good defense. But you’re not going to win a game, 7 points, 10 points a game, as a rule,” Kirk Ferentz said.

[listicle id=9693]

[listicle id=9776]

[listicle id=9698]

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.

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.

Revisit Iowa’s crushing 10-7 Cy-Hawk loss versus Iowa State through these stunning images

Revisit Iowa’s 10-7 Cy-Hawk setback through these stunning still images.

Iowa was handed a crushing defeat at home by the Iowa State Cyclones. Figuratively and quite literally, it dampened Hawkeye fans’ feelings about what 2022 might have in store.

Afterwards, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz had this to say about his group’s performance.

“Obviously, all of us are disappointed with the loss. Congratulations to our opponent. I thought our guys played with good effort and were ready to go. We got off to a really good start, positive start, and then from there things didn’t work out so well, obviously.

“I thought our guys really worked hard, missed some opportunities. Not that there were a lot of them, but the ones that were there, couldn’t cash in. Did a lot of good things on defense certainly and a lot of big special teams plays, and then stating the obvious, we have work to do, obviously, to move the football, and we’re going to have to score points to be successful. That’s where our focus goes.

“Just got a locker room full of guys that are really invested, that play hard, that care about each other. Don’t have many answers right now other than we go back to work tomorrow and see what we can figure out and try to move forward,” Ferentz said.

Iowa has some serious soul-searching to do over the coming days and weeks if they want to avoid this 2022 season turning into an outright failure. In the meantime, here’s a look back at the 2022 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series through these stunning still images.