Throughout the first eight weeks of the season, Iowa’s secondary was one of its most formidable units.
Recently named Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year Desmond King was picking off everything thrown in his direction while fellow cornerback Greg Mabin and safety Jordan Lomax dished out physical punishment to anyone they came across.
It was this combination of airtight coverage and punishing physical mentality that kept opposing quarterbacks honest and typified Iowa’s “bend but not break” mentality.
While the team is still as physical as ever, the final few weeks of the season revealed some significant gaps in Iowa’s defensive coverage. The Hawkeyes have given up just shy of a third of their total passing yards this season in their last three games.
“The work is not done. In fact, if anything, its just getting started,” Mabin said after Friday’s win over Nebraska. “We had been kind of lackadaisical the previous two or three weeks, so we know we were going to have to be much better from here on out.”
There was an almost humorous disconnect between watching Friday’s win over the Huskers and then looking at the final stats.
Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong failed the eye test with flying colors. Poor decision-making all game resulted in Armstrong virtually giftwrapping Iowa a win with four interceptions on the afternoon.
And yet, as poor as his performance was, he still completed 25 passes for almost 296 yards. It didn’t end up costing Iowa, but that yardage didn’t come out of thin air.
“One way our coaches always tell us to defeat a receiver is to put them on the ground,” King said. “We have to be physical. We have to make sure we don’t let them get off the line easily and keep eye discipline in our coverage and stay in it.”
The Black and Gold have gotten away from that mentality at times throughout the season, and when it happens, it’s usually obvious.
Armstrong, for all his accuracy woes, looked like he may have finally figured out the Iowa secondary the final two drives of the game, throwing for six consecutive first downs as he helped march his team down the field and into scoring range on back-to-back possessions.
When Armstrong took too long to make a throw, Iowa had enough time to catch up and keep everyone covered long enough for another defender to pressure him into a bad decision.
It was when the Huskers were operating with speed and precession that Iowa looked gassed. Four throws — all of which were under 20 yards and all within the span of about 1:30 — from Armstrong gave the Huskers one last chance to tie things up before a botched onside kick sealed their fate.
Fatigue played a part in that, no doubt. After all, when a team attempts 45 throws in a single game, it’s going to wear down its opponent. But that mentality is not unique to Nebraska.
Facing what will undoubtedly be a similar gamelan from Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook, the Hawks will have their work cut out for them Saturday against a much more precise Spartan squad.
How they handle the increased pressure could very well be the difference in a Hawkeye win or loss.
