With Drew Ott banged up against Iowa State, the rest of the D-line had to play on.
By Ryan Rodriguez
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AMES — Iowa’s victory over Iowa State on Sept. 12 was a catharsis for the Hawkeye faithful. In the week leading up to the game, Iowa had endured the passing of Hawkeye legends Tyler Sash and Roy Marble, and the Hawks came out with a 31-17 win.
However, it came at a tremendous cost.
The loss of senior defensive tackle Drew Ott in the game’s opening quarter cast a sour note on an otherwise joyous day for the Hawkeyes.
Should the injury, which appeared to involve Ott’s left arm, prove to be significant, it would be a devastating blow for Iowa’s defense, one that may not fully heal this season.
It’s Ott’s importance to the team that makes the way the defensive line played in his absence seem downright heroic.
“It was a bummer when he got hurt, because he’s one of the most experienced guys we have on the D-line,” junior defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson said. “But with a guy like Parker [Hesse] stepping in, we didn’t miss a beat. He played at an extremely high level for us.”
Ott’s one-on-one battles with Iowa State offensive tackle Jake Campos were one of the game’s most interesting subplots in the first 15 minutes.
A true defensive stalwart, Ott was the leading factor on just about every inch of penetration the Iowa line had early on. His loss threw the Hawk defense into a tailspin for much of the first half until it was able to regroup at halftime and put together a stronger second half.
Much stronger.
“There really wasn’t a whole lot we changed; we just had to come out with a different mindset in the second half,” Johnson said. “We knew what was on the line, and all we cared about was coming out victorious.”
Hesse, a redshirt freshman, was thrown into the melee immediately after Ott’s departure, a development that caused many Hawkeye fans to gnash their teeth.
Hesse racked up 3 tackles, 2 solo, as well as a hurry-up on Cyclone quarterback Sam Richardson.
In a development few saw coming, Iowa’s defensive line stepped up and actually played their best football of the day with Ott sitting on the bench with his arm wrapped in a sling.
“I don’t think it was a matter of just a couple people, you know; we really had to win this one as a unit,” senior defensive end Nate Meier said. “The defense as a whole had a lot to do with that.”
All in all, Iowa’s defensive line accounted for half of the team’s 4 sacks and 3 of the Hawks’ 5 tackles for loss, holding the Iowa State offense to no points in the second half.
“It was nothing all that special, nothing all that spontaneous; Parker Hesse and Matt Nelson just came in and played great for us,” Meier said.
Again, should Ott miss a significant portion of time (we’ll likely know more Tuesday), questions about the line’s sustainability will inevitable arise, as they should. There’s no getting around that Ott is the best defensive lineman Iowa has — perhaps the best lineman, period — and without him, the Hawks are a significantly weaker team.
But tough teams can take a punch and come back, even win, and head coach Kirk Ferentz’s team showed that against Iowa State.
“If we want to be competitive in November the way we want to be, you have to figure out a way to win games like this,” Ferentz said. “There certainly was nothing easy about that ball game.”
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