Last Friday (August 12) was media day for the Hawkeye football team.
On Saturday (August 13) the Hawks had Kids Day and a scrimmage.
Scrimmage
Hawkeye fans got a look at the team at Kinnick last Saturday, and here are some observations from the press box. I usually don’t sit in the press box to watch the football team. It’s too far away and I didn’t bring binoculars.
First of all, Spencer Petras is the man at quarterback. He didn’t take a lot of snaps but threw some get touch passes, he did.
Keegan Johnson was out so both Nico Ragaini and Arland Bruce stepped up.
Arland is going to be a playmaker with his speed and ability while Nico can make the tough catch in traffic.
Sam LaPorta was split out like a wide receiver and will be a tough matchup.
Luke Lachey, Sam’s backup, looks like he’s ready to have a good year.
The offensive line, with starter Mason Richman out, had some decent holes against a real good defensive line.
Leshon Williams, who started in place of injured Gavin Williams, looked strong going up the middle and scored on two short runs.
Hawk Defense
Iowa has depth all over including the front seven and defensive backs.
Riley Moss put on a clinic during the seven on seven drills.
The Big Ten Defensive back of the year broke up three passes in a row at one point.
True freshman Aaron Graves (DL) and Xavier Nwankpa (DB) made some plays and could start out on special teams.
Special Teams
Tory Taylor should make some All American teams if he keeps up his solid punting
Aaron Blom and Drew Stevens struggled last spring in the open scrimmage but neither missed a field goal last Saturday.
We will see how that plays out.
A couple of more weeks and “Black in Black” will escort the team out of the tunnel.
Hawkeye Offense
The Iowa offense averaged 23.4 points per game last season.
That was 10th in the Big Ten and 99th in the nation.
The Iowa running game averaged 3.4 yards per carry, 123.6 per game and the Hawks gave up 32 sacks.
How did Iowa finish 10-4, 7-2 in the Big Ten and win the West division?
Great defense and special teams.
The offense has to improve and it all starts up front.
Tyler Linderbaum will be tough to replace at center but four letterman are back and there Hawks should be improved.
Mason Richman (6-6, 308) started in 11 games last fall as a redshirt freshman playing in three games as a true freshman. David Davidkov (6-6, 309) is also a redshirt freshman and is the No. 2 left tackle.
Both were all state in high school, Mason from Kansas and David from Kansas, and although they are young, have shown improvement every day. Left guard is Tyler Elsbury (6-5, 308) who played in every game last year and was academic All-Big Ten. Matt Fagan (6-5, 296) is the backup as a senior and was academic All-Big Ten three years in a row. Logan Jones (6-3, 283) played defense, like Linderbaum did, his first year and was moved to center.
The coaches at Iowa are good at evaluating talent and putting players in the right position.
Michael Myslinski (6-3, 287) is the backup center who was an all-state player from Florida.
Right guard is Conner Colby (6-6, 308) who played in every game last fall as a true freshman with 11 starts. Conner is the first true freshman to start in the offensive line since 2017.
The last true freshman to start on the O-line — Tristan Wirfs.
Conner was named freshman All American by the football writers and has been playing tackle so far in fall camp because of injuries.
“Coming into camp we wanted to see him out there,” said offensive line coach George Bennet. “It’s probably a 50-50 split between tackle and guard. He is an everyday reliable guy who is sharp and loves to play football.”
Beau Stephens (6-6, 307) is a redshirt freshman listed as the backup right guard.
Jack Plumb (6-7, 297) is as three year letterman that will start at right tackle. Jack is another one of those high school tight ends that moved to tackle. The former Wisconsin prep played in all 13 games as a redshirt freshman in 2019. 2020 Jack played in six of eight games with six starts. Last season Jack played in every game with six starts, two at left tackle.
Backup right tackle Nick DeJong (6-6, 300) played in every game last year with seven starts, two at left tackle. The redshirt junior from Pella, Iowa played in seven games in 2019. Nick also played tight end in high school.
Tight Ends
I was surprised when both Sam LaPorta and Riley Moss decided to come back.
Sam is an NFL tight end and Riley was voted Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year.
I’ll talk about Riley when I get to the defense.
LaPorta (6-4, 250) already has the NFL body, speed, good hands and is a good blocker. In 2021, Sam led Big Ten tight ends in receptions (53), yards (670), yards after catch (299), yards after contact (206) and catches of 15 plus yards. “Super Sam” has caught 95 passes for 1,129 yards and four touchdowns in his 3-year career as a Hawkeye. LaPorta was second team All-Big Ten last year as well as winning the Team Hustle Award on offense.
Sophomore Luke Lachey (6-6, 252) is listed as the backup to Sam. Luke played in 13 games last year with three starts, eight catches for 133 yards and was academic All-Big Ten.
Iowa has nine tight ends on its roster. At least two of them have to step up as the Hawkeyes like to line up with two tight ends
Wide Receiver
Gone are Tyron Tracey and Charlie Jones.
Keagan Johnson (6-1, 194) and Nico Ragaini (6-0) are listed as the top wide outs.
Keagan played in 13 games last year as a true freshman catching 18 passes for 352 yards and two scores.
Keagan won the Team Hustle Award on offense and is nicked up but hopes to be ready for the first game.
“I’m still learning,” said Keagan. “I’m nowhere near complete but I feel like I can teach the younger guys.”
Nico is a 3-year letterman playing in 38 games with 10 starts, 91 receptions and three touchdowns.
The senior from Connecticut has 46 catches his sophomore season for 439 yards and two touchdowns.
Backups include Arland Bruce (5-10, 198) and Alec Wick (6-1, 196) a walk-on from Iowa City Regina.
Arland played in every game last year with four starts. The sophomore from Kansas had 25 receptions for 209 yards and one score. Bruce also ran the ball 10 times for 65 yards and three scores.
Alec was first team all-state from Regina catching 75 passes for 1,401 yards and 16 scores.
He also played soccer, basketball and baseball at Regina.
Next week I’ll look at the running backs, who will start at quarterback and the defense.
