The Iowa football team defeated Miami (Ohio), 45-21 on Sept. 3
By Blake Dowson
Freshman Nate Stanley is Iowa’s backup quarterback
This didn’t even seem like a remote possibility during the summer. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz had nothing but good things to say about now-presumably third-string quarterback Tyler Wiegers throughout the spring and summer, and Iowa’s head man spoke often about how advantageous it was for Wiegers to get reps with the first team last year when C.J. Beathard wasn’t practicing.
Stanley, a true freshman, has apparently won the backup job, however. He and Wiegers were listed as co-backups on the depth chart released on Aug. 26, but if the coaches weren’t planning on using Stanley as the backup all season, they wouldn’t have burned his redshirt during mop-up duty against Miami (Ohio).
Greg Mabin is going to be picked on a lot this year
This could be seen as stating the obvious, because anybody playing opposite a Thorpe Award winner will be picked on.
However, it seemed like a lesser-of-two-evils sort of deal. Quarterbacks definitely wouldn’t want to throw toward Desmond King, but throwing toward Mabin, who is now a two-year starter, wouldn’t exactly seem like fun, either.
That’s how most people (or at least this writer) saw it happening this season. Mabin did, in fact, get picked on against Miami, but not because King was shutting off half the field.
Mabin got beat on a fairly regular basis against the Redhawks, allowing them to outgain the Hawkeyes through the air.
That game film will give other teams a plan to attack the Hawkeyes. Glass-half-full people will say all of the balls thrown toward Mabin will just give him opportunities to get better.
The offensive line has some work to do
Strictly looking at the numbers, it doesn’t look as the offensive line struggled that much against Miami. Two sacks and one hurry aren’t reason to sound the alarms, after all.
But looking at how many times Beathard ended up on the ground or flushed out of the pocket during the game raises some hairs on the neck. Stanley winning the backup job indicates Iowa isn’t real solid at the quarterback position after Beathard on the depth chart, and if the All-Big Ten signal caller keeps ending plays on the turf, it could lead to disaster.
Greg Davis wants to get Akrum Wadley into space as much as possible
Another “duh,” right? But it was so obvious during the game. The difference between whether the ball is handed to Wadley or pitched to Wadley is night and day.
He isn’t a great between-the-tackles guy. LeShun Daniels Jr. has that role locked down, anyway. Wadley is special when you get him outside the hashes in space where he can use his elite shiftiness to make defenders miss, made evident by the 121 yards on 12 carries against Miami.
Wadley was used in the screen game, too, which could turn into a huge play for Iowa this season. Jordan Canzeri was used in that role a season ago, and Iowa got a bunch of big plays out of it. Wadley has the potential to be better than Canzeri in the screen game.
Anthony Nelson might be a force this season and seasons to come
The pass rush was probably the biggest question mark going into the Miami game, and maybe it still is.
The Hawkeyes got to the Miami quarterback just three times on Sept. 3, but the redshirt freshman Anthony Nelson carried his weight.
He registered 2.5 sacks and forced 2 fumbles in an altogether disruptive effort in his first college game.
Most of the hype around Nelson this summer was pointed toward the one on the other end of the defensive line — Matt Nelson. But for Anthony Nelson to have the start he did, while still developing into his 6-7 frame, is encouraging both now and for the future.