Stop me if you’ve heard this before: the defense played great. They held the opponent under their season averages for yards, first downs and points. The special teams came up with big plays. The offense did almost nothing.
Wait, no, you can’t stop me. I have the keyboard and can’t hear anything you scream into the void. And after Saturday’s déjà vu performance from the Hawkeyes in their 16-13 loss to Iowa
State, you are no doubt screaming into the void. That is, unless you have succumbed to the apathy that overtook Iowa basketball a season (or tw0? three?) ago.
If there’s one thing you can count on with Iowa football under Kirk Ferentz, it’s that no matter how insane the approach of doing the same thing over and over and over and expecting different results may be, he’s going to keep doing it. There may be some small tweaks on the margins. There may be some updates in the offseason. But at the end of the day, this is Iowa football and this is Kirk’s Iowa football team. He’s going to do it HIS way and his way is to ram his head into a brick wall over and over until the brick wall starts to crumble or he finally goes unconscious.
So here we are again, entering week three and the end of the non-conference schedule with Iowa at 1-1, the offense among the worst in the nation and a new depth chart to evaluate. Think the loss on just 13 points led to changes?
Noted Notables
- Despite what all the pitchforks might desire, no change at QB for the Hawkeyes in week three. Mark Gronowski has certainly not lit the world on fire through his first two games with just 127 yards on 21 of 39 passing, but his legs are apparently enough to keep him in the lead over backup Hank Brown. Gronowski has 76 rushing yards on 27 carries with a pair of rushing TDs.
- Also no change at RB. Kamari Moulton remains sidelined and it’s still Terrell Washington, Jr. at RB1. While he was the starter last week, he finished with just 5 carries for 8 yards – the fewest of the three RBs who played and are listed on the depth chart this week. Jaz Patterson was the leader against ISU with 60 yards on 11 carries (5.5 per carry) but is listed with an OR at backup RB alongside Xavier Williams, who ran for 26 yards on 7 carries against the Cyclones. He’s Iowa’s leading rusher on the season with 148 yards.
- At TE, we’re working under the assumption that Addison Ostrenga is done for the year and with that Zach Ortwerth moves to the top of the depth chart. Converted FB Hayden Large is now #2. Interestingly, Iowa lists a third TE without an OR. This is the first time I can recall seeing that. It comes for true freshman DJ Vonnahme from Carroll Kuemper HS.
- Elsewhere on the offense, we saw Gennings Dunker go down in the third quarter on Saturday but return. He then left again on Iowa’s final drive, but remains listed as the starter at RT. Given the level of competition on Saturday, it will be interesting to see if Iowa rolls him out there or tries to get him healed up. The Mountain, Cannon Leondard, is his primary backup on the depth chart this week.
- As with QB, no changes out wide. Guessing we get nothing there until Vander Zee is healthy again.
- On the defensive side of the ball, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. At least Phil has again proven he can hold up his end of the bargain. Sigh.
The Hawkeyes are poised to host UMass under the Kinnick lights on Saturday night. Game time is set for 6:40pm CT. You can catch this week’s game on BTN.
