Cole Croston, Ike Boettger, and Boone Myers swapped places and improved the offensive line.
By Courtney Baumann | [email protected]
MINNEAPOLIS — Remember that game against Rutgers a couple of weeks ago? Imagine that, just with a whole lot more dropped passes and turnovers, and that was what the Iowa-Minnesota game looked like today.
Regardless, the team once again made it work and once again walked away with a 14-7 victory.
Some of this could be credited to the offensive line, which looked a whole lot better than it has this season, especially last week.
The same line that allowed 6 sacks against Northwestern last week gave up just one on Oct. 8 and did not allow any hits on quarterback C.J. Beathard.
Although, maybe it wasn’t quite the same line.
Between Oct. 4 and Oct. 8, head coach Kirk Ferentz made a few switches in the left guard and both tackle positions. Cole Croston, who has worked on the left side all season at tackle, moved over to the right side, which bumped Ike Boettger over to left guard, which moved Boone Myers to left tackle.
They weren’t big moves, but they made a difference.
“It’s kind of a throwback to last year, if you will,” Ferentz said. “I just thought it would be worth taking a shot at and see if Cole would feel more comfortable on that side. Boone slid out and did a good job, and I want to give Ike a lot of credit for going to the guard position … It looked like he really competed well there.”
It did seem as though Croston, who has been having a rough season so far, was more comfortable in the new position. The senior blocked and played much better than he has in the previous five games.
While the new position could have been tricky for the senior, Croston said the switch wasn’t something that took too long to get used to.
“It’s kind of the same fundamentals. You’re still setting the line out there on the pass and the run,” Croston said. “It’s basically all the same.”
Perhaps the biggest play of the game for Iowa came on Akrum Wadley’s 54-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter to give Iowa the lead, which it kept.
meep meep pic.twitter.com/yxNuGG5bdP
— Daily Iowan Pregame (@dipregame) October 8, 2016
The blocks made by the offensive line on that play opened up a lane for Wadley on the left side of the field and sealed out Minnesota.
Iowa had tried running that play late in the second quarter. It wasn’t as successful as the second one, but showed the team it was worth trying another time.
Wadley barely had to worry about the defense getting anywhere near him and high-stepped his way into the end zone.
The junior running back gave credit where credit was due, though, and recognized the offensive line on its role in the play.
“The line did a great job blocking and clearing it out, and George Kittle hit the last man seeing daylight. All I had to do was beat one man, and it was off to the races,” Wadley said. “[Coach White] talked about being patient, giving the line a chance to set up the blocks, then we hit the holes.”
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