JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
The Iowa football team beat Tennessee Tech 34-7 on Saturday in Iowa City in one of the more weird Hawkeye openers I can recall.
Weird as in it almost doesn't feel like Iowa played, due to the 1hr25m delay due to lightning strikes near Kinnick Stadium.
Those in attendance braved some torrential downpours and were likely chilled to the bone as you don't normally roll into Kinnick Stadium covered head to toe for games in early September.
Normally when I sit down to write out my post game thoughts, they flow out and I don't have to think about it...right now, I have to think about it. It was just a weird day...and also a costly one.
Mika'il McCall was injured in the first quarter, a leg injury and Kirk Ferentz told Rob Brooks at halftime of the radio broadcast that it looks like he is done for the year. Ferentz confirmed that in the post game saying it looks like a broken ankle. That made me and every other Iowa fan sick to their stomach, because McCall looked very, very good. He was everything people told me to expect; a powerful runner who cannot be arm tackled and who gets to and through the point of attack faster than any back on the team.
Now, we won't see him until next year...devastating for him and an injury that could prove to be devastating for the team this year.
He saw those early reps after Marcus Coker lost a fumble on his first carry of the year and then had another fumble early in Iowa's second possession. McCall came in the game and only left after getting hurt on his 9th carry for 61 yards.
James Vandenberg had a solid performance, completing 13 of 21 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, one of them an 88-yard strike to Marvin McNutt. He found McNutt in one on one coverage, something I expected Iowa would see a lot of, and McNutt made one defender miss and ran about 60 yards after the catch. McNutt finished with six catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He looks quicker than he ever has.
Keenan Davis made a nice grab near the Iowa goal line on an underthrown fade route that was tipped into the air, a 23 yard hook up...that shows good concentration by a player Iowa needs to come through this year.
The Iowa offensive line looked solid, but it was tough to get a feel for them as no one could establish tempo in a game played in such conditions.
The Iowa defense was flying around the field and the back seven look faster than they were one year ago. I thought the Iowa linebackers played a good game and the defensive line was very disruptive in the passing game, but I don't think we know much more about them now than we did before the game was played other than they didn't get manhandled on the day and they are a work in progress.
Several people have asked me if I want to adjust my preseason 8-4 prediction based on what I saw today...my answer is not really...I think this is a team that will win between 7-9 games and I would not be surprised with any of those win totals. We'll learn a little bit more next week, and then a little bit more after the Pittsburgh game. But we won't really and truly learn what this team is going to be until we get to October.
NOTE: By my reckoning, seven true freshmen played: Lomax, McCall, Hamilton, Grant, Collins, Law and Bullock
Jordan Bernstine played well today on special teams and at safety
Weird as in it almost doesn't feel like Iowa played, due to the 1hr25m delay due to lightning strikes near Kinnick Stadium.
Those in attendance braved some torrential downpours and were likely chilled to the bone as you don't normally roll into Kinnick Stadium covered head to toe for games in early September.
Normally when I sit down to write out my post game thoughts, they flow out and I don't have to think about it...right now, I have to think about it. It was just a weird day...and also a costly one.
Mika'il McCall was injured in the first quarter, a leg injury and Kirk Ferentz told Rob Brooks at halftime of the radio broadcast that it looks like he is done for the year. Ferentz confirmed that in the post game saying it looks like a broken ankle. That made me and every other Iowa fan sick to their stomach, because McCall looked very, very good. He was everything people told me to expect; a powerful runner who cannot be arm tackled and who gets to and through the point of attack faster than any back on the team.
Now, we won't see him until next year...devastating for him and an injury that could prove to be devastating for the team this year.
He saw those early reps after Marcus Coker lost a fumble on his first carry of the year and then had another fumble early in Iowa's second possession. McCall came in the game and only left after getting hurt on his 9th carry for 61 yards.
James Vandenberg had a solid performance, completing 13 of 21 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, one of them an 88-yard strike to Marvin McNutt. He found McNutt in one on one coverage, something I expected Iowa would see a lot of, and McNutt made one defender miss and ran about 60 yards after the catch. McNutt finished with six catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. He looks quicker than he ever has.
Keenan Davis made a nice grab near the Iowa goal line on an underthrown fade route that was tipped into the air, a 23 yard hook up...that shows good concentration by a player Iowa needs to come through this year.
The Iowa offensive line looked solid, but it was tough to get a feel for them as no one could establish tempo in a game played in such conditions.
The Iowa defense was flying around the field and the back seven look faster than they were one year ago. I thought the Iowa linebackers played a good game and the defensive line was very disruptive in the passing game, but I don't think we know much more about them now than we did before the game was played other than they didn't get manhandled on the day and they are a work in progress.
Several people have asked me if I want to adjust my preseason 8-4 prediction based on what I saw today...my answer is not really...I think this is a team that will win between 7-9 games and I would not be surprised with any of those win totals. We'll learn a little bit more next week, and then a little bit more after the Pittsburgh game. But we won't really and truly learn what this team is going to be until we get to October.
NOTE: By my reckoning, seven true freshmen played: Lomax, McCall, Hamilton, Grant, Collins, Law and Bullock
Jordan Bernstine played well today on special teams and at safety
