Takeaways from Iowa Football Practice

Our one and only look at the Iowa football team before the kickoff of the 2024 season took place on Saturday afternoon. Let me just say that the weather was about as good as I have ever experienced for a Kids Day when it is generally extremely hot and uncomfortable. Saturday it was sunny and mild for August in Iowa with temps around 70 degrees.

While the weather was different, what we usually see on the field with the defense looking stronger than the offense happened once again. But, in some respects it wasn’t as dominant as it had been in the past when it comes to stopping the ground game. However, it was not a pretty day in the passing department.

Let’s dive into some takeaways from our look into the world of Iowa football on Saturday afternoon.

THE QUARTERBACKS STRUGGLED

There’s no two ways about it, the Iowa quarterbacks had a rough day. There were at least two picks that would have been taken in for scores and incomplete passes on about 60% of the overall throws.

Was some of that due to a really good performance from the first and second team defense?

Probably.

Was some of it simply because the quarterbacks were off target with their throws?

Probably that too.

Leading the way in the struggle department was Cade McNamara, who was off target a lot early. He then threw an interception that Quinn Schulte would have scored on before somewhat righting the ship a bit and completing passes. It should be noted that Luke Lachey was held out of 11 on 11 and that would impact the passing game. However, it shouldn’t impact as much as it did. Overall, we had McNamara at 9-26 passing.

Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan has officially moved up to second string at this point. He did a decent job while facing mostly the second unit on defense. But, his accuracy was also off. Perhaps it was simply one of those days for the Iowa quarterbacks. Remember what we saw today was a snapshot of the practices so far, but Kirk Ferentz did say after practice that it was representative of what they have seen so far in camp.

I wouldn’t hit the panic button yet with McNamara. Remember he’s basically been hurt/sidelined for two years. We are just over a week into practice where he is facing 11 on 11, so there’s some ring rust that needs to be dusted off. But, if two weeks from now the struggles continue, then Kirk Ferentz might have a decision to contemplate.

Right now I don’t see this as a quarterback controversy, but two weeks from now….maybe. I’d also want to see more from Sullivan and I suspect Ferentz and offensive coordinator Tim Lester might start to take a look at the Wildcat transfer a bit more against the first team defense this week to see what that looks like.

THE RUN GAME LOOKED HEALTHY

While the passing attack was struggling, the Iowa ground game looked rejuvenated and pretty healthy. Iowa’s starting five stuck together their expected spots and perhaps most importantly, the created a very good push up front in the ground game.

It really didn’t matter who the back was. From Kaleb Johnson to Kamari Moulton to Max White and Xavier Williams, Iowa’s ground attack seemed to win the line of scrimmage a lot on Saturday. They got a good push and open holes for their backs and that’s a positive development.

I also think the use of motion by Tim Lester is really helping the ground game. We saw some jet sweeps as well and those looked pretty good.

Overall, I really like where the run game is headed right now. It’s better with room to grow.

GET THE BALL TO WASHINGTON

Sure it was against either the second or third team defense, but Terrell Washington Jr. makes things happen when he has the ball in his hands. There’s a reason why they are also working him at wide receiver. Iowa needs playmakers on the field and Washington is one of them. He was dynamic in the run game and solid off sweep action. Iowa needs to find ways to get him the ball in space and let him work.

NESTOR AND CASTRO ARE DANGEROUS

It was a bit interesting that when the first team defense took the field that TJ Hall was out there at one cornerback position and Jermari Harris was on the other side. By the way, it’s pretty clear that Harris is the top corner on his side of the field. I think that race is over. But, there might be some competition for the other side.

Hall left with a minor ankle issue and should be ok moving forward. But, readers here know we love what John Nestor brings to the table. He’s high energy and high impact on the field. We got a glimpse of what it’s like when he and Sebastian Castro are like on the same side of the field and that will be a danger zone for anyone with a football in their hands. Both of them fly around in a fearless manner and make impact plays.

DAKIN IS A GOOD ONE

We haven’t really gotten to see Rhys Dakin do a whole lot in a practice setting other than pre practice warm-up sessions. On Saturday we did get a glimpse of what it could be like when the lights are on and it was pretty good. His first kick was around 65 yards and landed inside the five yard line and kicked back. Guessing Iowa fans probably felt like that reminded them of a guy named Tory Taylor.

SOME SIGNS OF DEFENSIVE LINE DEVELOPMENT

The starting four for the Hawkeyes on the defensive line looked as you would expect. Yahya Black is going to be a problem and I thought the other three starters preformed pretty well. I came into this Saturday concerned about the depth along the defensive line. But, after watching them, I think I see some positive signs.

Max Llewellyn showed signs in the second half of last season and that continued on Saturday. It was also a pretty good day for Brian Allen off the edge and Kenneth Merriwether is starting to show signs that he can help as well. He’s a very intriguing player who is starting to show signs of being a Chauncey Golston starter kit.

Tackle is a bit of a work in progress. I liked some of the reps from Jeff Bowie, who has battled quite a few injuries in his career. While it was against third string offensive linemen, once again we saw Maddux Borcherding-Johnson made a few nice plays.

By the way, look out for that fearsome foursome of freshman along the defensive line. It might be a year or two before they are all ready, but buy stock now on Drew Campbell, Joseph Anderson, Devan Kennedy, and Chima Chineke.

Overall, still questions about the depth of the defensive line, but steps in the right direction.

SPEAKING OF FRESHMEN

I just mentioned those four linemen and they all need some weight, but there is plenty of promise. Kennedy is at defensive tackle and I think Chineke eventually lands there too with Anderson and Campbell on the outside. I think Campbell might be the further along at this point than the others.

I also like the trio of freshman linebackers. Derek Weisskopf and Cam Buffington could end up getting a look at special teams this year. They, along with Preston Ries are going to be very good.

I was hoping to get a long look at Jaylen Watson since Phil Parker had mentioned him on our podcast, but he was sidelined today. A name to mention today was freshman walk-on safety Kyler Gerardy. He’s a Quad City kid who could be following in the footsteps of Brett Greenwood and Jake Gervase. He had a pick six today later on in practice.

On offense the one guy that jumped out was Reese Vander Zee. Fellow freshman wide out KJ Parker was sidelined today and Vander Zee looks the part. He’s big at 6-foot-4 and he can move. I was hoping to see more of Brevin Doll, but he received limited work, however, running back Xavier Williams is a bowling ball that runs hard and moves the pile. Really impressed by the way he ran today.

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