By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

Every Thursday during the 2013 football season, HawkeyeDrive.com will feature “Talkin’ Hawks,” a podcast to get you ready for the Hawkeyes’ upcoming game and other college football action.

This week, we look back on Iowa’s 38-14 win over Purdue last weekend and discuss the Hawkeyes going through their bye week before resuming Big Ten play next week against Michigan. Former Iowa defensive back Chris Rowell joins me to provide insight on the Hawkeyes and share his thoughts on all the games featured in this week’s HawkeyeDrive.com Pick ‘Em. Rowell will be a part of the podcast every week all season long.

With this being Iowa’s bye week, there’s only one segment. We plan to return to the normal format next week. This week’s edition is approximately 62 minutes long, so enjoy:

Twitter handles:

HawkeyeDrive.com – @HawkeyeDrive

Brendan Stiles – @thebstiles

Chris Rowell – @Crowell34

*Intro sound byte credit to my former Daily Iowan colleague Ryan Young for putting that together.

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Four members of the Iowa football team spoke with the media Wednesday inside the atrium of the Hayden Fry Football Complex to discuss the team’s ongoing bye week, early preparations for its next game against Michigan and a variety of other topics.

Below is audio from those four players — sophomore quarterback Jake Rudock, senior right tackle Brett Van Sloten, senior linebacker Christian Kirksey and senior linebacker James Morris:

Jake Rudock, Nov. 13, 2013

Brett Van Sloten, Nov. 13, 2013

Christian Kirksey, Nov. 13, 2013

James Morris, Nov. 13, 2013

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz discusses a variety of matters with the local press on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013, at the Hayden Fry Football Complex in Iowa City. Iowa is currently going through the second of two bye weeks this season and returns to action against Michigan on Nov. 23.

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz met with the media Wednesday afternoon inside the Hayden Fry Football Complex atrium and discussed a variety of topics, ranging from the Hawkeyes’ handling of their current bye week to what they have to do going into their final two games of the regular season.

Below is audio of Ferentz’s meeting with the press Wednesday afternoon in its entirety (approximately 13 minutes):

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

Back in August, I made a list of preseason bowl projections that not only focused on the Big Ten, but projected all 35 bowl games for the 2013-14 season. With the Iowa Hawkeyes now bowl-eligible, I figured it’d be worth re-visiting this matter and providing new projections based off what has actually taken place this season.

The following are adjustments made from then to now and other points of note:

1) Big Ten gets the Rose Bowl and that’s it

For now, it’s a safe bet the Big Ten only gets one BCS team unless Ohio State plays for the national title as I originally projected back in August.

2) Only seven Big Ten teams

Unless Northwestern wins at least two of its final three games (which right now, I don’t believe happens), the Big Ten is going to have one fewer team than I initially projected. Back in August, I had Northwestern and Indiana both making bowl games and Minnesota staying home. Obviously, I was way off on Minnesota as the Golden Gophers are currently 8-2. As for the Hoosiers, they’re no longer in the discussion unless they win at either Wisconsin this week or Ohio State next week (I highly doubt either of these happen).

3) The formula behind putting this all together

Right now, 58 teams are already bowl-eligible and I have a total of 77 teams reaching this mark, meaning seven teams are going to be left home for the holidays despite reaching the six-win plateau. After filling conference tie-ins, as well as placing BYU in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl, I was left with five vacancies and a pool of 12 teams to fill those five spots.

– The following five bowls have  vacancies — the AdvoCare V100 Bowl (SEC tie-in), the BBVA Compass Bowl (SEC tie-in), the Little Caesars Bowl (Big Ten tie-in), the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl (AAC tie-in) and the Poinsettia Bowl (Army is no longer bowl-eligible)

– The following 12 teams were among those considered for the five vacancies — (8-4): Bowling Green, Ohio, Toledo; (7-5): Notre Dame, Western Kentucky; (6-6): Maryland, Florida Atlantic, UTSA, Central Michigan, Utah, ULM, Texas State.

Seeing how I had five teams projected as finishing 7-5 or better, it was pretty easy this week to fill the five vacant spots. I also factored in bowl pay-out when filling the five vacant spots.

Below are my projections as of Nov. 13, 2013 (the next list of bowl projections will take place Nov. 20):

BIG TEN BOWLS:

Rose Bowl — Ohio State vs. Stanford

– Pretty self-explanatory: Ohio State wins the Big Ten and Stanford wins the Pac-12.

Capital One Bowl — Michigan State vs. South Carolina

– Michigan State ends up here after winning Legends Division; South Carolina ends up here after winning SEC East, but losing to Alabama in the SEC title game.

Outback Bowl — Wisconsin vs. Missouri

– If the Capital One doesn’t take Wisconsin, this is as far as the Badgers are falling as long as they’re 10-2 and don’t receive a BCS at-large; Assuming Missouri doesn’t end up winning the SEC East, the Tigers are a good bet to end up in Tampa from the SEC.

Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl — Nebraska vs. Oklahoma

– Boy, wouldn’t this be something if a pair of former Big 8 foes met in the desert?

Gator Bowl — Michigan vs. LSU

– This would have quite the storyline with Les Miles facing his alma mater.

Texas Bowl — Minnesota vs. Texas Tech

– Yes, it’s a rematch of last year’s game, but I don’t see Minnesota falling any further than this unless Iowa wins either or both of its remaining two games; As for Texas Tech, its loss to Kansas State over the weekend now leads to the possibility of the Red Raiders ending the season with five straight losses after starting 7-0 and it’s either them or a 6-6 West Virginia that Texas Tech beat on the road taking the Big 12 spot here.

Heart of Dallas Bowl — Iowa vs. North Texas

– If Iowa loses its last two and finishes 6-6, this is where it’ll likely end up unless the Big Ten somehow ends up with two BCS teams. Now, if the Hawkeyes win either or both of their remaining two games, they should likely move up the pecking order and have a shot at either the Gator or Texas Bowls depending on how else things around them unfold.

Obviously, this would also present quite the storyline with Dan McCarney coaching a North Texas squad that will probably end up playing close to its own backyard here unless the Mean Green win C-USA. If North Texas does win C-USA, then Rice is a likely candidate for this game.

THE OTHER BCS BOWLS:

BCS National Championship Game — Alabama vs. Florida State

– Don’t see either team losing between now and season’s end, meaning the match-up I originally projected to happen in the Sugar Bowl now happens instead in the BCS National Championship. Alabama would obviously be 13-0 after winning the SEC, while Florida State would be 13-0 after winning the ACC.

Orange Bowl — Clemson vs. Oregon

– Orange Bowl would get the second and third choices of at-large teams. Its replacement for Florida State will be another ACC team in Clemson to keep the close ties it has with the conference. The following at-large choice would be Oregon assuming the Ducks win their last three games, but don’t play for the Pac-12 championship.

Sugar Bowl — Auburn vs. UCF

– Sugar would get the first and fourth choices of at-large teams as long as Alabama stays No. 1. The Crimson Tide’s intrastate enemy Auburn gets taken to replace Alabama and represent the SEC. The following choice would then be UCF if it wins out and wins the AAC outright and the Fiesta Bowl explanation below will dive a little deeper into that thought.

Fiesta Bowl — Baylor vs. Fresno State

– Unless Oklahoma State wins at Texas on Saturday, then beats Baylor at home the following week, the Bears are in line to win the Big 12. Fresno State gets in because it’ll likely finish in the top 12 of the final BCS Standings (assuming it wins out) and finish ahead of AAC champion UCF, therefore making it so it has to receive a BCS at-large spot. If you’re wondering why I have the Big Ten only getting one BCS team, this is the significant reason why. This is also why I have UCF in the Sugar Bowl instead of being the leftover here for the Fiesta Bowl.

ALL OF THE REST:

New Mexico Bowl — Oregon State vs. San Jose State

Las Vegas Bowl — Boise State vs. USC

Idaho Potato Bowl — Buffalo vs. UNLV

New Orleans Bowl — Tulane vs. UL-Lafayette

Beef O’Brady’s Bowl — Middle Tennessee vs. Ohio*

Hawaii Bowl — East Carolina vs. Colorado State

Little Caesars Bowl — Ball State vs. Notre Dame*

Poinsettia Bowl — Western Kentucky* vs. Utah State

Military Bowl — Rice vs. Syracuse

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl — BYU vs. Arizona

Pinstripe Bowl — Cincinnati vs. West Virginia

Belk Bowl — Houston vs. Georgia Tech

Russell Athletic Bowl — Miami (Fla.) vs. Louisville

Armed Forces Bowl – San Diego State vs. Navy

Music City Bowl – Mississippi vs. Boston College

Alamo Bowl — UCLA vs. Oklahoma State

Holiday Bowl — Arizona State vs. Kansas State

AdvoCare V100 Bowl — Pittsburgh vs. Bowling Green*

Sun Bowl – Duke vs. Washington

Liberty Bowl — Marshall vs. Vanderbilt

Chick-Fil-A Bowl — Virginia Tech vs. Georgia

Cotton Bowl — Texas vs. Texas A&M

BBVA Compass Bowl — Toledo* vs. Rutgers

GoDaddy Bowl — Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

Below is a written transcript of Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz’s teleconference on Tuesday with the Big Ten media:

Ferentz’s opening statement:

“It was good to get the victory Saturday. You know, both teams really competed hard and I’m just happy that our guys came out with the win, so that was certainly good. This is an unusual year in that we have two bye weeks and I think it probably came at a good time. Certainly, they’re a little bit tired right now, so it gives them an opportunity to get rested up a little bit and then we’ll try to get ready for our last two ball games.”

On the perception of playing “old-fashioned football” en route to returning to bowl eligibility:

“Uh, you know, I guess my first response would be just look at the first Big Ten Championship Game. You know, both of those teams didn’t necessarily run the offense that’s the flavor of the day or flavor of the week. You know, they were a little bit more traditional and if you look at it, there have only been two Big Ten champions so far out of the championship game at least and it has been Wisconsin two times.

“You know, there are perceptions about a lot of things out there, especially about styles of play and that type of thing. But the bottom line is doing the best thing for what your players can do and you know, if it means being more ‘old-school’ or whatever, then that’s one thing and then there are other places. You look at what’s going on at Baylor right now. They’re certainly very well-suited to play the way they play. So I think everybody just tries to do what they think is best, given their personnel.”

On how the bye week is used in terms of keeping the three running backs Iowa typically uses being fresh:

“Well, the biggest thing is both [Damon] Bullock and [Mark] Weisman have had a lot of work, so we’re probably resting those guys and we’re going to try to do that with all of our guys that have accumulated a lot of snaps. We’ve got guys that, you know, have played upwards of close  to 800 plays, so some of those guys you want to try to let them get their legs back a little bit and freshen up.

“Then the other guys, we’ll continue to push forward a little bit and I think that’s the one thing we saw with Jordan [Canzeri] Saturday. You know, his legs a little bit fresher maybe than some of the other guys. He hasn’t had the wear and tear, so hopefully it’s a chance to rest the guys that have gone hard and then maybe push the other guys forward a little bit.

“The biggest thing I think is to try and get the guys who are nicked up healthy, so we can have a really good week of preparation next week for our next opponent.”

On how the defenses this season of teams like Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin compare with other Big Ten defenses he has seen over the years:

“You know, probably the first thought I would have is we played Michigan in ’85 and I don’t think they had given up a touchdown. That was, I believe, in late October. You know, we kind of got physical or maybe got nasty or whatever. I think we did score a touchdown, it just never went through. Anyway, we won the game 12-10. You know, we got the victory, but they came out of it still not giving up a touchdown.

“Then go back to, I think it was 2006. I think it was. You would probably know better than I. Michigan and Ohio State were both extremely good on defense and then they met and it was a score-fest in that last ball game. So it’s very hard to predict sometimes, but all three of those teams that you just mentioned are all playing really, really well on defense. You know, they play a different style. All three of them play a different style of defense, yet they’re all very, very effective.

“I think it goes back to the question earlier about offense. There’s no one way to be successful in football, but the bottom line you have to have good players and they have to be well-coached and they’ve got to play hard on Saturday. I think that’s certainly describes all three of the teams that you mentioned.”

On what the next two games against Michigan and Nebraska will say about how successful Iowa’s season ends up being:

“Well you know, I mean, it’s pretty easy. We’ll be 6-6, 7-5 or 8-4 and you know, one’s two better than the other and then one’s right in the middle there. So they’re all important. Certainly, we surpassed last year’s total, which is a positive and that was certainly a goal of ours. But we still have two games left.

“We’re thrilled to be at this point. When we got together last Tuesday, that was really the message and the best we could do coming out of that week was six wins and we got that done. So you know, we’ve got two games left to play.

“You know, we live in a world where everybody wants to predict the future and it used to be know in August. But now I think everybody wants to know in February what the record’s going to be next year and that’s why everybody plays. I think that’s the exciting part about it. There are a couple of conference races going on right now, or division races, and the national scene. All of those things.

“This, to me, is when football is really enjoyable, in November where you’ve got a lot of different levels, but everybody is playing for something and every game means a lot.”

On whether how Iowa finishes this season can tell him anything about next year’s outlook:

“Um, you know, I’m not really too focused on next year right now. I’m just worried about the next two games and hopefully we’ll have a bowl game to go with it. But you know, our thoughts are … right now we have a bye week, so I can think a little bit more globally and I’ll worry about the rest of this month. but when Sunday comes, we’ll just worry about the next game out there.”

On the progress made by defensive end Drew Ott and how his career has reached this point:

“Yeah, I think he has really progressed well and, you know, last year we made the decision to go ahead and play him, knowing that he wouldn’t start necessarily. Now you know how much he can play. Right now, we have four freshmen who are doing the same thing and they’re playing for us. None of them are starting. Well, one is starting, but that was out of injury and necessity.

“But I think the benefit of playing a guy in his first year is it just makes him better suited to go into his second year and that was kind of our thought last year. We thought that Drew would have an excellent chance of earning a job this year, which he has done. And you know, seeing him progress and improve immensely even during the fall last year, but more so during the spring and summer … he’s hardly there yet, but the one thing about him is he’s just a tough-minded guy. An extremely hard worker and he’s a great team guy and he has got that attitude that a lot of our really good players have had.

“So he’s not there physically yet and how could he be? He’s only in his second year and he was ‘under-sized’ coming out high school. But you know, he’s working really hard and I’m just thrilled he’s on our team. I mean, he has done a really good job and we’ve very excited about what’s in front of him.”

On not voting in the Coaches Poll and if that’s something he would consider a tough responsibility to have during the season:

“Yeah, I’ve got a couple of thoughts on that. First of all, I’m the last guy to ask about BCS stuff. I have no idea how all that works, other than I know if you win, that’s good. The more you win, the better it is. Secondly, I’m not on that poll and that’s for a reason — only because the only teams I ever feel I can comment on are the teams that we see week-to-week on film or the ones we’ve already played. But you know, I see a lot less than the average fan as far as how Oregon or Stanford looked, that type of thing.

“Then the third thing is I guess a couple of years ago, they started making the BCS voting or poll voting public, which that’s just one more nightmare for everybody to have to endure. So, that’s the world we live in and I’m just trying to stay out of that one, if at all possible. Unless they mandate it, you can count on me staying out of it.”

Every Monday, we will be running a weekly series titled “State of the Big Ten,” which will be made available to all members of HawkeyeDrive.com. This series of columns will focus on one major headline regarding the conference and go in-depth on the subject at hand.

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

Stanford’s 26-20 victory over Oregon on Nov. 7 sent shockwaves across the college football landscape. It also may have potentially proven costly for the Big Ten.

Prior to last week’s contest in Palo Alto, Calif., the Ducks were in line to play No. 1 Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. As a result, Florida State — the beneficiary of Oregon’s loss — would’ve had to settle for the ACC’s slot in the Orange Bowl. The likelihood of the Seminoles playing a team like No. 14 Michigan State or No. 17 Wisconsin here looked very good, assuming either or both teams reached at least 10 wins (and in the Spartans’ case, win the Legends Division). Stanford would’ve been in the Rose Bowl regardless, just replacing Oregon.

Now though, the Big Ten’s odds of getting two BCS teams has become much slimmer. Yes, No. 3 Ohio State is sitting right there now if either Florida State or Alabama slips up before the season ends. But the chances of either doing so appear very unlikely, at least if this past weekend has given any indication. Assuming the Buckeyes don’t catch either and still have to settle for the Rose Bowl, now the probability exists of an 11-1 Oregon taking that Orange Bowl spot the Big Ten thought it had before and playing Clemson, who would be the ACC team replacing Florida State.

One of the following three things is going to have to happen now for either a 10-2 Wisconsin or 11-1 Michigan State (entering the Big Ten title game against Ohio State) to make a BCS bowl. The first scenario is obvious — if the Buckeyes end up in the national title game. Then one of these teams would be a virtual lock to replace Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. This is obviously the best case scenario for the Big Ten, having the Buckeyes play for a national championship and having two of its teams playing in Pasadena less than a week apart.

The second scenario would only apply to Michigan State, which is beating Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. That would obviously put the Spartans in Pasadena, and then a 12-1 Ohio State suddenly becomes an option for the Orange Bowl as opposed to an 11-1 Oregon, or even say a 10-2 Clemson if the Orange Bowl went against the grain and didn’t pick an ACC team in place of the Seminoles.

Finally, the third scenario would consist of both Northern Illinois and Fresno State failing to get through their seasons undefeated. If one of these two teams goes undefeated and finishes in the top 12 of the final BCS standings, it has to be given one of the three at-large spots in play. Right now, Fresno State is 14th in the BCS Standings, while Northern Illinois is 15th. This is why many current bowl projections list Fresno State in the Fiesta Bowl and UCF in the Sugar Bowl (remember that the AAC champion is assured a BCS at-large this season).

If none of these three scenarios pan out, then the Big Ten is probably just sending its champion to the Rose Bowl and that’s it. There are only seven bowl-eligible teams from the conference at the moment and unless Northwestern beats Michigan this weekend, it’ll probably stay that way, meaning the Big Ten wouldn’t fill its entire allotment. This will likely be the case regardless of whether there’s a BCS  at-large since there are eight bowl tie-ins.

But considering how the Big Ten handles bowl payouts through equal revenue sharing, there’s a major monetary difference between having a team like Iowa play in the Heart of Dallas Bowl versus a team like Wisconsin playing in the Orange Bowl — which obviously has a much bigger payout — and not having a team playing in Dallas on New Year’s Day.

Before this major shake-up in Palo Alto occurred, the Big Ten seemed to be in a decent position to have two BCS teams. It would’ve been even better now for the Big Ten had Oregon won since Notre Dame’s loss over the weekend at Pittsburgh all but assures the Fighting Irish won’t be picked for a BCS at-large.

Four weeks remain and any one of those three aforementioned scenarios can still occur. But the bowl positioning is now tighter and the Big Ten trying to avoid two straight years without a BCS at-large team after putting two teams in BCS games for each of the previous seven years prior is now in more jeopardy than before.

Every week, we will post the TV schedule for all games featuring Big Ten teams. Here is where and when you can watch them this week:

Nov. 16:

No. 3 Ohio State at Illinois, 11 a.m., ESPN

Purdue at Penn State, 11 a.m., BTN

Indiana at No. 17 Wisconsin, 11 a.m., ESPN2

No. 14 Michigan State at Nebraska, 2:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2

Michigan at Northwestern, 2:30 p.m., BTN

*All times listed are Central Standard Time.

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

Check out all of these links to content posted on Saturday after Iowa’s 38-14 win over Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Please note, anything with “premium” in parentheses are links that can only be accessed by those logged in as either a paid subscriber or three-day free trial member to HawkeyeDrive.com:

RECAP: Hawkeyes hammer Purdue en route to bowl eligibility

COMMENTARY: Canzeri standing out (premium)

VIDEO:

Kirk Ferentz

Jordan Canzeri

Drew Ott

Mark Weisman

Louis Trinca-Pasat

Don Shumpert

Mike Hardy

James Morris

Brett Van Sloten

Jake Rudock

Christian Kirksey

Kevonte Martin-Manley

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — All week long, there were ongoing questions about the Iowa Hawkeyes’ offensive identity, and to be more specific, how the running game wasn’t on par with where it was earlier in the season.

Whatever questions surrounded Iowa’s ground attack before playing Purdue on Saturday were answered after hammering the Boilermakers to the tune of a 38-14 win that makes the Hawkeyes bowl-eligible, as they now sit at 6-4 overall with two games remaining (3-3 in the Big Ten). Iowa reaches bowl eligibility one year following a disastrous 4-8 campaign in 2012.

“You can only sit in front of a fireplace for so long, so it’s really exciting,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “The best part about it is you keep your team together for another month and you always have a chance to compete against a good opponent. Those are the two best byproducts, by far.”

Purdue’s defense came in giving up an average of 212 yards per game on the ground, far more than any other team in the conference. Iowa accumulated 318 yards rushing on 52 carries Saturday, with the bulk of those carries and yards coming from third-string running back Jordan Canzeri.

Just a week after leading the Hawkeyes in rushing with 58 yards on five carries against Wisconsin, Canzeri was at it again Saturday. He picked up 14 yards on his first carry and became more and more prominent in Iowa’s game plan. The sophomore emerged with 165 yards rushing on 20 carries and scored the Hawkeyes’ first touchdown of the game from two yards out to put them ahead 7-0 early in the second quarter.

“The line just had great blocks again, and the call was great,” Canzeri said about that first carry. “You know, whenever you have a good play like that, it does spark you up a little bit and then for it to spark the team up, too, it’s a great thing.”

Meanwhile, the Hawkeye defense was holding its own. Whether it was a toss sweep or a short-yardage pass being called by Purdue offensive coordinator John Shoop, the Boilermakers couldn’t muster much of anything. One big reason why was the play of Iowa’s defensive ends — junior Mike Hardy and sophomore Drew Ott.

Hardy was second on the team in tackles Saturday with six of them, while Ott recorded five tackles and a team-high 1.5 sacks for the Hawkeyes.

“After we made some adjustments, that helped us out a lot,” Ott said. “It put me and Mike both in better positions to make plays, so after that got done, I think we did a pretty good job.”

The one time Purdue was able to strike came off an Iowa miscue in the second quarter when junior wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley muffed a punt that the Boilermakers recovered at the Iowa 35-yard line. Purdue would score six plays later when quarterback Danny Etling connected with Kurt Freytag for a 2-yard strike that tied the game at 7-7.

Martin-Manley would redeem himself though on the ensuing Hawkeye possession. Two plays after sophomore quarterback Jake Rudock overthrew a wide open Martin-Manley in the end zone, Iowa faced 3rd-and-7 from the Purdue 22 when Rudock went to Martin-Manley, who proceeded to come down with a touchdown catch while being double-covered by Boilermaker defensive backs. That score gave the Hawkeyes a 14-7 lead with 1:57 remaining in the first half and the score would remain that at halftime.

“I told him when we got back to the huddle, ‘Man, we can make those plays all the time. You trust me, we trust you,'” Martin-Manley said. “Plays like that was what we needed.”

Momentum had swung in Iowa’s favor to start the second half and it permanently stayed with the Hawkeyes following a key play early in the third quarter. Purdue had driven into Hawkeye territory when senior linebacker Christian Kirksey recovered a Raheem Mostert fumble at the Iowa 29-yard line.

“The ball just popped out and I happened to be there to pick it up,” Kirksey said.

On the ensuing series, Iowa literally ran 71 yards down the field and went up 21-7 when junior running back Mark Weisman scored from four yards out with 3:43 left in the third quarter. From there, the Hawkeyes continued pounding the football and Rudock eventually threw his second touchdown pass of the game near the goal-line to sophomore tight end Jake Duzey, giving Iowa a 31-7 lead with 6:29 left.

Now knowing it will play a 13th game sometime in either late December or early January, the Hawkeyes can now position themselves to potentially move up the Big Ten’s bowl pecking order when they return to the gridiron Nov. 23 to play Michigan at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa has a bye next week before playing its home finale for the season.

For now though, the question becomes how much more involved Canzeri becomes in the ground game going forward in contrast to juniors Mark Weisman and Damon Bullock. Weisman had 30 yards rushing and a touchdown on nine carries, while Bullock had 85 yards rushing on 10 carries.

“We’ll see what happens,” Ferentz said. “But he performed really well today and I thought he ran tough.

“We’ve got confidence in all of those guys.”

By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Iowa did what many expected it to do Saturday afternoon, pounding Purdue into oblivion as the Hawkeyes left Ross-Ade Stadium with a 38-14 victory over the Boilermakers.

Going against a porous run defense that surrendered over 200 yards per game on the ground coming into Saturday’s contest, Iowa compiled 318 yards rushing on 52 carries. In the midst of that, one name stood out from the rest — sophomore running back Jordan Canzeri.

All season long, Canzeri has been the No. 3 running back behind juniors Mark Weisman and Damon Bullock. The depth Iowa has been able to sustain 10 games into this season is pretty remarkable given the number of injuries throughout the past decade that have plagued former Hawkeyes at this position.

Now here’s what has become obvious because of that depth — Canzeri needs to be the No. 1 running back for Iowa these final three games (including its pending bowl game now) and going into 2014.

This is no knock on either Weisman or Bullock. Both have been good players and both have traits the Hawkeye backfield needs to possess in terms of depth. But with Canzeri now having rushed for team-highs in each of the past two games along with the fact he has remained durable, he has to be the feature back going forward.

Iowa went 3-and-out on its opening series. Against Purdue. Yes, that same Purdue that was ranked dead last in the Big Ten against the run. Canzeri came in to start the Hawkeyes’ next series and much like his first carry against the Badgers where he cut back and ran up the middle for 43 yards, his first carry Saturday went for 14 yards and got Iowa out of the shadow of its own end zone from the 5 to the 19-yard line.

Canzeri has the following in his repertoire — the ability to cut back when nothing’s there initially, the ability to keep his feet moving, the ability to keep moving forward unless he’s getting absolutely no support from his blockers (which shouldn’t be the case with this offensive line) and the ability to turn on the jets once he finds an opening. He might not be the biggest back, but he has something defenses clearly aren’t prepared for. Purdue sure as heck wasn’t on Saturday and it showed all game long.

When Iowa’s offense looked stagnant, Canzeri was the guy who gave it a boost. That’s not to say the Hawkeyes didn’t get contributions all around, because they did. But Canzeri’s the guy that jump-started everything with his ability to make those explosive plays that offensive coordinator Greg Davis has continuously preached Iowa’s needs to have in order for his system to be effective.

At this point, there’s no reason to look back and wonder what if because theoretically, Iowa is probably where it should be right now at 6-4 (if anything, that win over Minnesota is looking more and more impressive by the day). The four teams that have beaten the Hawkeyes are all better than them right now, as evident by all four being ranked. Against the teams Iowa came in superior against, the Hawkeyes have beaten all of them (Saturday included).

If the notion of not starting Canzeri is to surprise teams, it’s at the point where neither Michigan nor Nebraska nor whichever Iowa plays in its to-be-determined bowl game is going to be surprised. If that element of surprise wasn’t gone after last week, it certainly is now. Let’s also keep in mind too that before last season (2012) even began, Canzeri was set to be the No. 1 running back before injuring his knee because he was the guy who had to fill in for a suspended Marcus Coker in the 2011 Insight Bowl.

This isn’t to say Iowa shouldn’t use more than one running back. If Bullock, Weisman and freshman LeShun Daniels get a few carries here and there, that’s fine. But the Hawkeyes’ recipe for success against Purdue really ought to be what they do going forward if they want to meet their aspirations of doing more than simply reaching six wins and ending up somewhere in Texas around the holidays.