Markel Smith Off to Slow Start

[JonDMiller]

Found this on the Milford Prep site

 

[Sparky]

Ouch.

 

[smhawk]

Is this an iowa committ?

 

[Sparky]

Is this an iowa committ?

He was being recruited by Iowa and then didn't get in because he didn't qualify academically.

 

[NEIChawk]

Ouch is right....that looks more like Jake's yards per completion....

 

[Hawkfnntn]

Is Davis moonlighting as their O coordinator too?

 

[Eda]

Give the kid a break. He's obviously been too busy studying to get prepared for the football games.

Priorities.

 

[MoseSchrute]

Looks like he'll fit right in.

 

[JHHawk]

Not writing him off yet...but he is our #1 recruit, so this is not impressive. I thought he might even be getting carries this year if he had been able to make it. ...maybe not.

 

[iowalaw]

Dear lord! This was the crown jewel in our recruiting class, and he's averaging 2 yrds per carry in high school?! I am pretty sure highly touted guys like Wegher, Shaw, Young, etc. were averaging something like 15 yrds per carry in hs.

 

[ICHawk24]

Good article on Smith. His stats have certainly improved.

http://iowa.scout.com/2/1461429.html

Smith isn't in high school, he is at a prep school.

 

[docholihawk]

Don't give up on Smith already. Not everyone starts out as lightning in a bottle. Sometimes you need to get comfortable and when they do big things can happen.

 

[deanvogs]

Good article on Smith. His stats have certainly improved.

http://iowa.scout.com/2/1461429.html

Smith isn't in high school, he is at a prep school.

I like how they run that prep school like college, as it prepares them for the rigors that are coming for them when they hit college. Going into next years fall practice, it will be like he is a RS FR, instead of an incoming FR.

 

[HoundGuy]

He has picked it up as of late....

STAT

8/23

8/31

9/7

9/14

9/22

9/28

10/5

10/12

10/19

10/25

11/2

11/14

TOT

RUSH ATT	8	11	4		18	1	17							59
YARDS	20	23	5		94	75	64							281
PER CARRY	2.5	2.1	1.3		5.2	75	3.8							4.8
TD	1				1	1	1							4

 

[iowalaw]

Wait, our top RB recruit in the past two years has yet to crack 100 yards in a hs game this year? I hate to say it, but this looks like one where we should probably look elsewhere. There are 50 kids each week in each state that run for over 100 years in high school. Surely one of them will have interest in the U of I.

 

[DesMoinesHawki]

Lets not be too hard on him. Isn't this the kid that ran for more than 7,000 yards in high school in Missouri ... Who knows how good or bad his OLine is, etc.

 

[alexzelada]

Wait, our top RB recruit in the past two years has yet to crack 100 yards in a hs game this year? I hate to say it, but this looks like one where we should probably look elsewhere. There are 50 kids each week in each state that run for over 100 years in high school. Surely one of them will have interest in the U of I.

Here's the phone number to pass your recommendations along 1-800-I-G-N-O-R-E-D

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Wait, our top RB recruit in the past two years has yet to crack 100 yards in a hs game this year? I hate to say it, but this looks like one where we should probably look elsewhere. There are 50 kids each week in each state that run for over 100 years in high school. Surely one of them will have interest in the U of I.

I doubt anyone is running for `100 years' as you say in your post. That's a long time. We will take Markel any day of the week. He's the real deal and will be a welcome addition to the 2015 team. With Bullock and Weisman moving on...we need a back like him. Honestly...he could be the starting tailback next year.

 

[iowalaw]

Uhhhh, guys, I hate the be the bearer of bad news, but Smith did not improve as the season went on. I looked it up. In his last game, Smith had 4 carries for -1 yards. (10/25). The game before that he had 2 carries for 3 yards. The game before that he had 3 carries for 6 yards.

I can say with certainty that every RB on the current Iowa roster put up better stats than that prior to coming to Iowa. In fact, it is possible that every RB in Iowa football history put up better stats than that.

Maybe Smith is hurt? Maybe the competition is better this year than he is used to. But there is no excuse for a kid to average 1 yard per carry at any level to be expected to be a decent Big 10 running back. It's time to move on.

 

[seepig]

Do you think maybe they don't have a very good offensive line and that could be the culprit?! I haven't seen a good RB do much of anything without blocking. And how would you know with games where he has carried 1x, 4x etc.