By Jordan Hansen | [email protected]

The Hawkeyes falling to North Dakota State was unexpected, to say the least.

Here are a couple things we learned from Iowa’s struggle with the Bison

Iowa is not as good as we thought

This seems harsh and probably is, but there is certainly some truth to it.

Great teams are able to find a way to win the close, dirty games. Iowa was really, really good at that last year. This is not to say the team isn’t still talented and capable of winning the West Division (they absolutely are) but simply they probably aren’t going to the Rose Bowl again.

North Dakota State simply played better than Iowa. For a top-ranked Big Ten team, a Football Championship Subdivision team shouldn’t beat them, no matter how many straight national championships that team might have won.

The offensive line has problems

At the beginning of the year, ESPN picked Iowa’s offensive line as the best unit in the country.

This was false. They are not.

Injuries to talented starters James Daniels and Sean Welsh have not helped matters, but even Iowa’s tackles were getting thrown around a bit by the Bison defensive line. Iowa starting quarterback C.J. Beathard was sacked twice and the NDSU defense recorded two other QB hits.

Beathard has been running for this life quite often over the past few games and there needs to be improvement from the area. What should really scare Iowa is the fact they haven’t even played an elite front-seven yet. Certainly North Dakota State deserves some credit, but they are not Wisconsin or Michigan, two teams who will feast on the Hawkeye offensive line if something doesn’t change.

Something something Akrum Wadley

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said Akrum Wadley was fine after the game, but he only registered four carries on the day and did not see much, if any (haven’t watched the film yet) time in the fourth quarter.

Certainly, he did not rush or catch the ball the in fourth. In fact, on the last Iowa drive, it was all LeShun Daniels Jr., who did not really have a very good day either. Wadley, however, dropped a critical pass in the second quarter and just was not look his usual self during the game.

The Hawkeyes need a stable running back after Daniels and with Derrick Mitchell Jr. not even dressing for the game, depth at the position is absolutely a concern.

Josey Jewell is the Hawkeyes’ run defense

There was not a player who did more to stop the Bison running game than Josey Jewell.

He flew all over the field, was able to shed blocks and diagnose plays to incredible efficiency and probably was the Hawkeyes most valuable defender during the game. The defensive tackles (and line, in general) should get a little credit for doing what they did, but more often than not it was Jewell making a play.

Even so, the Bison rushed for over 230 yards rushing. That’s a massive issue. Iowa has long prided itself on its rushing defense. Simply put, it’s not that good this year.

Ron Coluzzi, kicking master

Perhaps Iowa’s most effective player, Coluzzi punted six times against the Bison, averaging a healthy 45.5 yards per kick.

He had two punts go over 50 yards and did not allow a single punt to be returned. Coluzzi was an absolute gem of a find and it would not be surprising if he ends up helping the Hawkeyes win a game at some point.

However, punting isn’t the only thing Coluzzi does — he handles kickoffs too. Three of his four kickoffs against NDSU were touchbacks and one even sailed through the uprights. Might want to consider him for long field goals, if we’re being honest.

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