By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Below is video of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrating with Floyd of Rosedale for the second straight year after beating Minnesota 23-7 on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium:
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
To get you all ready for Saturday’s game between Iowa and Minnesota, I put together a list of things you ought to know before these two face off at TCF Bank Stadium.
At the end, I’ll provide what I think are three keys to an Iowa victory.
Iowa Hawkeyes (3-1) at Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-0)
TCF Bank Stadium; Minneapolis, Minn.
Sept. 28, 2013
2:30 p.m. Central
TV: ABC/ESPN2 (Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham, Jeannine Edwards)
Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Ed Podolak, Rob Brooks)
Weather: 64 degrees; slight chance of rain; winds from W around 12 MPH
Brendan’s Three Keys to the Game:
1. Ball security
Iowa has lost four fumbles so far this season, including two in its last game against Western Michigan. Conversely, Minnesota has only lost one fumble in four games having run the ball nearly three quarters of the time. Simply put, the Hawkeyes have to be able to protect the football Saturday afternoon in a better manner than they have to this point and defensively, they’ll have to create some turnovers rather than bank on the Golden Gophers merely screwing up and gift-wrapping turnovers.
2. Red zone scoring
Think back to the last time these teams met in Minneapolis. Iowa received a career rushing day from Marcus Coker, yet the Hawkeyes found themselves coming up empty in the red zone on three occasions and ended up choking in the fourth quarter. Tying this in with the first key about ball security, Iowa has had a few empty possessions in the red zone this season because of turnovers. In a game where possessions are going to come at a premium, the Hawkeyes have to be able to come away with touchdowns in the instances where they do get inside the Minnesota 20-yard line.
3. Being more disciplined
Minnesota is the least penalized team in the entire Big Ten, having only committed 10 penalties. Iowa, on the other hand, had one game already against Missouri State where it committed 11 turnovers. While the Hawkeyes did limit penalties a lot better in a road win over Iowa State, Saturday’s going to provide a more hostile environment for them. Penalties — especially the kind such as false starts, delay of game, etc. — cannot happen in a game of this magnitude where emotions are bound to creep in on both sidelines.
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 preview Iowa’s Big Ten opener against rival Minnesota, as the battle for Floyd of Rosedale takes place Sept. 28 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. 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.
Joining as a guest this week in the podcast’s middle segment is Marcus Fuller, who covers Minnesota football for The St. Paul Pioneer Press. This week’s edition is approximately 75 minutes long, so enjoy:
Twitter handles:
HawkeyeDrive.com – @HawkeyeDrive
Brendan Stiles – @thebstiles
Chris Rowell – @Crowell34
Marcus Fuller – @GophersNow
*Intro sound byte credit to my former Daily Iowan colleague Ryan Young for putting that together.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz discusses the Hawkeyes’ upcoming Big Ten opener at Minnesota during his weekly press conference held Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013, at the Hayden Fry Football Complex in Iowa City.
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Take a walk inside the Hayden Fry Football Complex and there’s an atrium full of trophies. Most of these trophies are a result of Iowa bowl victories and conference titles.
Except for two.
One is the Cy-Hawk Trophy the Hawkeyes recently reclaimed after beating Iowa State back on Sept. 14 in Ames. The other is Floyd of Rosedale, a bronze pig that has spent the past year in the Hawkeye State after Iowa ended a two-game losing streak to Minnesota last season. That latter trophy is at stake yet again when the Hawkeyes travel to the Twin Cities to open up Big Ten play against a Golden Gopher squad that once again enters this border war with an unbeaten 4-0 record.
This time around though, it’s not a matter of Iowa taking something back as recent rivalry games have demonstrated, but rather keeping current possession of something.
“I’d hate to see Floyd go to someone else,” sophomore defensive end Drew Ott said. “I’m kind of fond of the pig.”
For the third time in four years, the Hawkeyes will be playing this rivalry contest in the unfriendly confines of TCF Bank Stadium. Unfriendly, because Iowa’s first two trips there in 2010 and 2011 both resulted in losses to what were inferior Minnesota teams at the time. The 2010 game saw the Golden Gophers jump out to an early 10-0 thanks to recovering a first-quarter onside kick and they ultimately prevailed 27-24. In 2011, Iowa held a 21-10 before surrendering 12 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to fall 22-21.
In order for the Hawkeyes to produce a different result there this weekend, they’ll have to do so against a version of the Golden Gophers that (at least on paper) is on even ground with them not just in the Big Ten, but in the Legends Division.
“Part of that is a credit to them, but part of the blame lies at our feet too,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said of those previous losses at TCF Bank Stadium. “If we play like we did the last two times, we’re not going to win the game. I’ll make that prediction right now.”
Battle of ground attacks
For all the points compiled by both Iowa and Minnesota so far this season, Saturday’s showdown has the makings of a physical, low-scoring tilt. That’s because these two teams share two major strengths in common — the ability to run the football offensively and the ability to stop the run defensively.
As far as the Golden Gophers are concerned, the running game is their identity, even with the likelihood of back-ups starting at both quarterback and running back on Saturday. Through four games, Minnesota has accumulated an average of 282 yards per game on the ground and nearly 73 percent of its 1,550 yards of total offense have been from running the ball. The Golden Gophers also lead the Big Ten with 16 of their 22 touchdowns coming via the run.
Mitch Leidner is expected to make his second career start at quarterback Saturday in place of injured signal-caller Philip Nelson, who’s currently dealing with a hamstring injury. In his debut, Leidner led Minnesota to a 43-24 win over San Jose State by rushing for a team-high 151 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries. As a result, he was named the Big Ten’s Freshman of the Week.
“It’s a little different, but we’ve seen plenty of those type of quarterbacks who look to make plays with their feet,” senior free safety Tanner Miller said. “That’s not really something we’re foreign to, so it’ll be good. It’s just something that we have to prepare for this week.”
At running back, the Golden Gophers are looking at David Cobb — who currently leads the team in rushing — getting the bulk of the carries with Donnell Kirkwood still dealing with a knee injury. In that same contest last weekend against San Jose State, Cobb rushed for 125 yards on 25 carries and scored two touchdowns on the ground.
But Iowa’s defense has improved by leaps and bounds from 2012 in large part because of its ability to stop the run, plus get off the field on third downs. The Hawkeyes’ rushing defense enters this game ranked fifth in the Big Ten giving up an average of 91.5 yards per contest and have yet to allow a single rushing touchdown. In addition, opposing offenses have only converted 14-of-58 on third down against Iowa so far this season.
To put that last point into perspective, opposing offenses had a 43 percent conversion rate on third downs in 2012.
“This year, I feel like the team chemistry is much better,” senior linebacker Christian Kirksey said. “We know that it’s very important to get off the field on third downs.”
Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes will look to have similar success running the ball on Minnesota like it did a year ago when running back Mark Weisman rushed for 177 yards and Iowa, in hindsight, had its finest offensive display of the entire season during the first half of that 31-13 win. So far, the running game has provided eight of Iowa’s 13 offensive touchdowns this season and a 244 yards per game average that’s currently sixth in the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes are expecting to see a more stout Golden Gopher defense this week, however.
“We had a lot of good play up front, but with that being said, that’s probably motivating their defensive line and their defense as a whole,” senior right tackle Brett Van Sloten said. “That wasn’t who they are and we know that we’re going to get a new Minnesota. We’re looking forward to this Saturday.”
Ferentz said he sees a more mature 11-man unit in Minnesota now, a group led by one of the league’s top defensive tackles in Ra’Shede Hageman, who is listed at 6-6, 311 pounds. Much like Iowa, the Golden Gophers have been able to key in on stopping the run this year by holding opponents to an average of 103 yards per game and they’ve only surrendered four touchdowns on the ground all season.
If Iowa’s going to have similar success Saturday, it just might come down to how the interior portion of its O-line — consisting of senior Conor Boffeli and sophomores Austin Blythe and Jordan Walsh — performs against Hageman, especially given that none of those three started last year’s contest at Kinnick Stadium.
“He’s a tough match-up,” Ferentz said of Hageman. “He’s a big guy. Very explosive, very powerful and very active. One of the leaders of their defense.
“It’s going to be a key match-up for us.”
Returning punts
Junior wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley t0ok back a pair of punt returns for touchdowns against Western Michigan last weekend, was named the Big Ten’s Special Teams Player of the Week, and now finds himself currently leading all of college football with an average of 31.1 yards per return, six more yards than the 25.1 average held by Fresno State wideout Isaiah Burse.
The success of Martin-Manley — who on Monday was named the Big Ten’s Special Teams Player of the Week — came in large part because the Broncos had a rugby-style punter, prompting special teams coordinator Chris White to design a new punt return formation that had fellow wideout Riley McCarron lined up a few yards in front of Martin-Manley as a second returner. Ferentz said the concept behind this design is predicated on successfully being able to field the punt. He added that the look may or may not return again this season, depending on game-by-game situations.
“It depends on who we’re playing,” Ferentz said. “If we’re worried about the ball hitting the ground, then we’ll implement that.”
This also led to discussion Tuesday of how various opponents use a variety of different punt formations in contrast to the Hawkeyes lining up in the traditional look with two gunners used by all 32 NFL teams. Ferentz described the use of various punting styles in college football as “a free-for-all” because every player is able to run down field upon the snap exchange between the punter and long snapper.
“People have taken advantage of those rules and it’s just … I’m not sure it’s great for the game, but that one is not gaining a lot of traction, either,” Ferentz said.
Martin-Manley said it can be challenging for him at times as a returner because the majority of Iowa’s opponents don’t run the traditional formation. He also said though that Iowa also uses a scout team for punting during practice to at least give him an idea of what he could expect to see more often than not.
“When they go in the spread, it’s like a lot of guys are gunners, so you don’t know who’s loose or things like that,” Martin-Manley said. “I had a couple of fair catches that I could’ve taken, but it’s just kind of hard to read it.”
PSU reaction
Prior to Ferentz’s press conference Tuesday, the NCAA announced it had modified some of the sanctions held against Penn State since last year when the school was given scholarship reductions and a four-year postseason ban as result of the child sex abuse scandal that surfaced in 2011 and led to the conviction of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on 45 counts of sexual abuse.
Upon the recommendation of former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, who oversaw Penn State’s implementation of Athletic Integrity Agreement (AIA) reforms, the number of scholarships awarded to Penn State goes up from 65 to 75 in 2014, 80 in 2015 and the maximum allotment of 85 scholarships by 2016. No modifications to the ongoing postseason ban were announced.
Ferentz was asked about the situation and came out in support of the NCAA’s decision.
“It just seems like the target got missed. That’s just my opinion,” Ferentz said in reference to the original sanctions announced by the NCAA in 2012. “But it seems like a lot of people that shouldn’t have paid a price, paid a price. That’s just my outsider looking in. I’m looking at the players and coaches, I guess. I’ve got a pretty narrow scope on that one.”
UI president Sally Mason, who is the chair of the Big Ten’s Council of Presidents & Chancellors (CPOC), issued the following statement Tuesday morning on the council’s behalf, also in support of the NCAA’s action:
“On the basis of Senator Mitchell’s briefing, the COPC reached consensus to support his recommendation to the NCAA. We support the NCAA’s announcement today acting on that recommendation.”
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — On Tuesday, 13 members of the Iowa football team spoke with the media to discuss the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten opener on Sept. 28 against Minnesota at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn.
Below is audio from each of the following players — senior free safety Tanner Miller, junior running back Mark Weisman, senior linebacker James Morris, junior offensive tackle Brandon Scherff, senior offensive tackle Brett Van Sloten, junior defensive tackle Carl Davis, sophomore punter Connor Kornbrath, sophomore wide receiver Tevaun Smith, sophomore defensive end Drew Ott, senior linebacker Christian Kirksey, sophomore wide receiver Jacob Hillyer, sophomore quarterback Jake Rudock and junior wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley:
Tanner Miller, Sept. 24, 2013
Mark Weisman, Sept. 24, 2013
James Morris, Sept. 24, 2013
Brandon Scherff, Sept. 24, 2013
Brett Van Sloten, Sept. 24, 2013
Carl Davis, Sept. 24, 2013
Connor Kornbrath, Sept. 24, 2013
Tevaun Smith, Sept. 24, 2013
Drew Ott, Sept. 24, 2013
Christian Kirksey, Sept. 24, 2013
Jacob Hillyer, Sept. 24, 2013
Jake Rudock, Sept. 24, 2013
Kevonte Martin-Manley, Sept. 24, 2013
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
Below is a PDF from the Iowa sports information department featuring the complete transcript from Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz’s press conference on Tuesday in Iowa City:
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 win obviously at home. We’ve finished up the non-league portion of our schedule and now we move on and start conference play. I’m sure everybody’s excited about that. We have a tough task traveling to Minnesota and playing a very good Minnesota team.”
On the play of his O-line and D-line and the toughness both groups have been able to provide so far in 2013:
“Well, I think we’re making strides. We’re not there yet by any stretch. But the guys have worked hard in the spring and camp and then certainly, you know, we’re probably a little further along than we were last year at this time, which we need to be. So far, so good. But we still have a lot of room for improvement.”
On if his team is like some of his good teams in the past that prided themselves on O-line play and having a strong run game:
“We’re on the right path, I think. We’re fortunate that we have two experienced tackles that are good players. They kind of set the tempo for the group. We’re not as experienced inside at the other three spots, but our two tackles are doing a good job and [C.J.] Fiedorowicz is a good blocking tight end as well, so that helps us out a little bit.”
On how Minnesota looks in the trenches and how it compares to when Iowa played it a year ago:
“Yeah, I think the big thing is they’re a more mature team, to me at least, looking across the line. They were 4-0 last year at this time, but I think they clearly are a more mature team than they were a year ago.
“They committed to playing some good young players a year ago and even before that and I think they’re benefiting from that right now. It looks like the guys are very well-coached. They’re on the same page, they’re playing really hard and they’re playing physically.”
On if he sees more of a different offense in Minnesota now compared to what Iowa has faced before:
“I’m not 100 percent sure about that. But they just look very comfortable doing what they’re doing and I don’t know how much has changed schematically. Maybe the percentage is. But they’re big and they’re physical up front. They’ve got a lot of big guys, including their tight ends. Their fullback is an excellent blocker. So it’s tough.
“Their best running back’s out, but their other two guys are doing a great job, so they really have three outstanding tailbacks. Then the other big part of the equation, which they kind of had with [MarQueis] Gray a couple of years ago, is they have a quarterback … well really, two quarterbacks that are playing well. [Jerry Kill] is using those guys extensively in the running game as well, too, so it’s a tough preparation.”
On if Iowa’s preparing for both Philip Nelson and Mitch Leidner and if he sees similarities in the two Gopher QBs:
“Yeah, I think we have to be ready for both of them, certainly. They’re not exactly the same, but they are similar. The good news is I guess it’s not as dramatic a difference between them. The bad news is they’re both very, very capable and both have played really well this year.”
On what makes Kevonte Martin-Manley an effective punt returner:
“You know, the thing that happened the other day, No. 1, he fielded the ball and one of those was a rugby kick. He saw the ball and was able to field it cleanly and that’s a challenge. He makes good decisions regarding that. That’s a good thing, and then the other part is he was smart about letting the blocking set up and the guys did a great job.
“I mean, both those returns, he didn’t do them alone, but he certainly got them started and he finished them. Kevonte’s not a burner. That’s not his forte, but he’s a pretty smart runner and that’s an important position back there, certainly. So that was great to see that Saturday, but we’re just pleased with the job he has been doing overall.”
On if the “All Players United” (APU) movement at a few schools last weekend came up with his team:
“Nobody has really brought it up here. I just read something last night about it. I’m just not quite sure … I don’t know if it’s with the video game deal or not. I don’t know. I guess I haven’t given that a lot of thought, to answer your question.”
On his childhood baseball team (the Pittsburgh Pirates) reaching the MLB postseason and if he still follows them:
“Nothing odd about that at all. Beat ’em, Bucs.”
On his memories of watching the Pirates while growing up in Pittsburgh:
“Yeah. When I was a kid, the Steelers finally came of age in the early 70s, but prior to that, they had many years of futility. Looks like they traded it off to the Pirates because when I was a kid, the Pirates were very good and they had a lot of success. It was ‘The City of Champions’ in ’79, both the Steelers and Pirates winning world championships.
“So it was a fun time to grow up in that area and then they fell on some hard times once Jim Leyland left there. They had some really good young players during the 90s and then for whatever reason, they had some problems. But they’ve certainly done a great job of building the franchise.
“It looks like they have a really marquee player in [Andrew] McCutchen and I think Clint Hurdle has done a wonderful job there, too. But the ownership and the organization is just committed to success. That’s the good news. The bad news is they’re in a really tough division with the Cardinals and the Reds. That doesn’t make it any easier for them.”
On if he was aware of how close Martin-Manley was to Kinnick’s punt return record and if there was thought of preserving it:
“You know, somebody mentioned it through headphones there somewhere in the second half. Nothing ever came of it, you know. We love Kevonte, we’re glad he’s on our team and all that, but it is Kinnick Stadium. With Nile Kinnick, it’s just unbelievable that he’s even in the same category. That’s an amazing feat. One of those rarities.”
On the interior of his O-line preparing to deal with Minnesota’s Ra’Shede Hageman this week:
“Well you know, just his physical size alone is very impressive. But he’s a very experienced player and a very talented player and a guy that’s a very dynamic performer. So he poses challenges and then they have other guys in there that are also I think very, very active, their other interior guys.
“They play two guys opposite Ra’Shede and both those guys are really tough players to block as well. They play an even scheme with two interior guys and both those guys are going to be a tough match-up for us, I think.”
On the news Tuesday morning of Penn State’s scholarship reductions being modified:
“I’m not really familiar with … did something transpire recently?
“I’d have to see the whole thing, but needless to say, I think the whole thing was a bad deal. So hopefully some steps are being taken to be a little bit more fair. I mean, that’s just my hopes.”
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
Right in the heart of the Big Ten’s football season, there is basketball worth discussing. This is because for the first time, the NCAA is allowing all Division-I programs to start conducting official team practices in the month of September.
That’s right. On Sept. 27 (Friday), all 12 Big Ten men’s basketball programs will be allowed to begin preparations for the 2013-14 season. This is new and perhaps beneficial to the game of college basketball.
Honestly, there are certain things the sport is doing (or is now being allowed to do, anyway) that make sense. Last year, coaches were allow to have interaction with their current players during summer workouts of up to two hours per week. Before 2012, it was just like football in that the only coaches allowed to have any type of interaction were strength and conditioning coaches. Now they’re being allowed to conduct practices earlier in the year.
This is better for the entire game because now instead of coaches having to condense a bunch of practices into a 2-3 week span before playing exhibitions or having closed scrimmages, they can spread practices out and not have to worry about overexerting any players.
Doing this allows true freshmen to get even more acclimated to their enviroments and establish even more of a comfort zone. In theory, this should also enable them to have more of an immediate impact for their teams in contrast to having to wait until they’re completely settled in. Considering the amount of players who leave school early (at least those that have a legitimate shot at the NBA), this improves the product at the collegiate level.
The schools with the NBA talent benefit. The schools that don’t also benefit because moving up practice dates allows them to develop more team cohesion before playing that first game. A conference like the Big Ten that’s already considered strong to begin with is going to stay that way because the depth of the league improves as a result of this.
Schools like Minnesota and Northwestern who are breaking in new head coaches are going to benefit because now Richard Pitino and Chris Collins have more time to get players to buy into what they’re selling. Programs on the cusp of making the NCAA tournament like Iowa benefit because the team cohesion it can develop (and frankly already has during the offseason) is going to pay off late in the season, whether the Hawkeyes are a bubble team again or in a legitimate position to compete for a Big Ten crown.
Then there are those like Michigan State who will have national title aspirations this season. Tom Izzo has even more of an opportunity to mold his team into the identity he wants it to have and that should only make a team like the Spartans more of a threat come March.
The Big Ten might not be as loaded now as it was in 2012-13, but it should have more depth and this early start time for team practices is only going to illustrate that more through the course of the winter. This is good for the sport.
OFFENSE:
SE 4 Smith, 8 Shumpert
LT 68 Scherff, 76 MacMillan
LG 59 Boffeli, 58 Simmons
C 63 Blythe, 57 Gaul
RG 65 Walsh, 78 Donnal
RT 70 Van Sloten, 73 Ward
TE 86 Fiedorowicz, 82 Hamilton/87 Duzey
WR 11 Martin-Manley, 17 Hillyer/23 Cotton
QB 15 Rudock, 16 Beathard/19 Sokol
RB 45 Weisman/5 Bullock, 33 Canzeri
FB 34 Cox, 42 Plewa
DEFENSE:
LE 95 Ott, 98 Hardy
LT 71 Davis, 97 Cooper
RT 90 Trinca-Pasat, 67 Johnson
RE 79 Alvis, 34 Meier
OLB 20 Kirksey, 39 Perry
MLB 44 Morris, 52 Alston
WLB 31 Hitchens, 55 Collins
LCB 19 Lowery, 7 Draper
SS 37 Lowdermilk, 21 Law
FS 5 Miller, 12 Gair
RCB 14 King, 35 Smith
SPECIAL TEAMS:
P 98 Kornbrath
PK 96 Meyer, 1 Koehn
LS 61 Kreiter
HOLDER 98 Kornbrath
PR 11 Martin-Manley
KR 23 Cotton, 33 Canzeri
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
A pair of Iowa football players were recognized by the Big Ten on Monday, as senior cornerback B.J. Lowery was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Week and junior wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley was named Special Teams Player of the Week.
Martin-Manley became just the third player in Big Ten history and first in Iowa history to return two punts for touchdowns in the same game after scoring on 83-yard and 63-yard returns, both of which came during the second quarter of the Hawkeyes’ 59-3 win over Western Michigan last weekend.
His 184 punt return yards compiled were 17 yards shy of the school record held by Nile Kinnick. Martin-Manley is the first Iowa player to receive weekly special teams honors from the Big Ten since current kicker Mike Meyer last season following a four field-goal effort against Michigan State.
As for Lowery, he came away with a pair of interceptions against Western Michigan that were both returned for touchdowns. The first pick-six was a 35-yard return that came in the final minute of the first half. The second one was a 13-yard return on Western Michigan’s first offensive play from scrimmage in the third quarter to put Iowa up 45-3.
Lowery is the first Hawkeye player to receive the league’s weekly accolade for defense since 2011 when former defensive lineman Thomas Nardo did so following a 12-tackle performance against ULM.