By Blake Dowson |  [email protected]

The Iowa football team heads into this weekend’s matchup against Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse North Dakota State sporting a 2-0 record and riding a 14-game regular-season winning streak.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz and a select number of players spoke with members of the media on Tuesday about the team’s win against Iowa State, its upcoming game against North Dakota State, and a large range of topics in between.

Offensive line health

Center James Daniels did not play against Iowa State, and it does not seem likely that he will get the thumbs-up for the North Dakota State game, although Ferentz said he hasn’t been ruled out yet.

Sophomore Lucas LeGrand replaced Daniels in the starting lineup last week, and he said it was a learning experience, which is good, because he will likely top the depth chart on Saturday as well.

“I learned a lot from film,” he said. “There were a lot of teaching points. I’m trying to work on that this week in practice and get better.”

Guard Sean Welsh went down during the Iowa State game, and sophomore Keegan Render came in to play his first significant snaps as a Hawkeye.

Welsh is expected to be ready to go by Saturday.

North Dakota State isn’t a normal FCS school

The Bison are a good football team. Period. There’s no, “They’re a good football team … at the FCS level.”

The winner of five-straight FCS national championships has also won its last five games versus Football Bowl Subdivision opponents — Kansas, Minnesota, Colorado State, Kansas State, and Iowa State.

In its 11 games against FBS teams, North Dakota State is 8-3. The Bison practically foam at the mouth for an opportunity to take on the big boys.

“Certainly you look at them, they’re a model program. They’ve had amazing success,” Ferentz said. “Five national championships in a row … that’s awfully impressive. Five wins the last five times out against FBS teams … all those, I assume, are on the road. They’re no strangers to having success on the road going into venues and playing well.”

NDSU lost its star quarterback to the NFL draft last season — Carson Wentz went No. 2 overall to the Philadelphia Eagles and has a pro win under his belt. But not all is lost for the Bison at the position. Wentz sat for eight weeks in 2015 coping with a wrist injury, and now-sophomore signal caller Easton Stick filled in for him, winning all eight games.

Ferentz likened the way NDSU head coach Chris Klieman and his staff develops players to that of his own program, and he said the two schools recruit the same type of projection players.

Both teams play hard-nosed, grind it out football, something Iowa has not played against yet this season.

“We haven’t looked at it at all like it’s an FCS opponent,” quarterback C.J. Beathard said. “They play like a Big Ten team. They’re tough, physical, well-coached.”

C.J. Beathard’s progression

As good as Beathard was in his first year as the full-time starter in 2015, it’s becoming clear that he is getting better with each game.

Last season, he wowed people early in the year with his ability to maneuver outside of the pocket and pick up yards with his feet. Injuries ended up nagging him most of the season, however, and the 2016 version of Beathard has focused on staying behind the line of scrimmage more.

He has been extremely accurate to this point, completing 32-of-48 passes, and he has made altogether good decisions.

“You’re always working on accuracy as a quarterback. Every ball, you need to throw with an intent,” Beathard said. “You try to throw it in a certain place … Over the past year, I’ve gotten more experience under my belt so I know what it’s like going out there and playing in front of a lot of people.”

Beathard has also grown a lot as a signal caller, as made evident on Sept. 10 against Iowa State. Wide receiver Matt VandeBerg said after the game that the offense often goes to the line without a play even called, and that Beathard surveys the defense before making a call.

That’s the mark of a well-rounded, NFL-caliber quarterback.

“It definitely helps the offense if you can put someone in there at quarterback that can check out of a play they don’t like without a look to the sidelines,” Beathard said.