Both of Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras’ first two touchdown passes this season have come on 50-50 balls thrown high into the corner of the end zone. But the odds on plays like that are a little better when Brandon Smith is the wide receiver being targeted.

Smith, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound wide receiver, has beaten single coverage in the end zone in Iowa’s last two games. In both instances, Petras lofted a high pass to Smith and the senior pass catcher displayed his impressive vertical leap and ability to come down with a contested pass.

“You’ve seen it throughout Brandon’s career here,” Petras said on a video conference Tuesday. “He’s an outstanding player. Really good when the ball is in the air. On a 50-50 ball I have confidence in him to come down and make the play. He proves himself week in and week out in practice and on the game field.”

Against Northwestern in Week 2, Smith made an acrobatic catch in the end zone with a defender draped all over him. Against Michigan State last week, the Lake Cormorant, Mississippi, native lunged in front of a defender to steal the ball out of the air for a touchdown.

When Iowa makes its way into the red zone, Petras — who has only started three games — and Smith already have the chemistry to connect for a score.

“When we’re in that situation we kind of click and know that it might be a big play,” Smith said. “Because we’re going to take advantage of that matchup. Both of those touchdowns were against single coverage. One-on-one type matchups, and I came up victorious on both of them.

“This is my fourth year out here. I feel like I’m a dangerous receiver in one-on-one matchups. More times than not, I’m going to come down with the ball.”

Hawkeyes preparing for Gophers’ RPO offense

The challenge the Iowa defense has in front of it this week is reading Minnesota’s run-pass option (RPO) offense.

“That’s a huge part of their pass game, whether it’s play action or them just trying to get the ball out quick,” linebacker Nick Niemann said. “For all the guys at the second level, and even the [defensive backs], it’s all about being able to recognize that they’re not running it and trying to get in those windows where you think the ball is going to be thrown. For me on the weak side, if I think it’s going to be an RPO, I can look for a slant behind me and try to slow that down and let guys get to the quarterback.”

Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan often has the opportunity to read the opposing defense at the snap and determine if he is going to hand the ball off or throw a quick strike to one of his receivers. The Hawkeyes had success against the Gopher offense last year, holding it to 19 points in an Iowa victory.

But an RPO offense could still present difficulties to Iowa, no matter how well the team defended it last season.

“That’s something that’s a really big point for me this week, and it was last year as well,” safety Jack Koerner said. “Making sure that I read the keys and that I can read run-pass really well. Because if I read run when it’s pass and get down too far, they’ll throw that pass in behind me. Or if I don’t get down far enough, then they’re gonna get a few yards on the run. It’s definitely something that I have to focus on this week.”

Schulte, Campbell both back at practice and could see snaps Friday

Defensive tackle Austin Schulte and middle linebacker Jack Campbell are both back at practice for the Hawkeyes. Both players were starters entering the season but have yet to appear in a game.

Schulte has missed time with an undisclosed injury, while Campbell was diagnosed with mononucleosis shortly before the first game of the season. Schulte will be available to play in Iowa’s road game Friday against Minnesota, but Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz isn’t sure how many snaps he will play.

Campbell is listed as the backup middle linebacker behind starter Seth Benson for the game against the Gophers, but Ferentz said he won’t see a full workload.

“He’s hardly in condition to go out and play 60 snaps, 70 snaps,” Ferentz said. “We’ll rotate him in. But he’s a really good football player and we have total confidence he’ll do a good job when he’s in there. But I think what we’ll do is rotate and split the reps and try to keep our guys fresh, and they’re going to need to be fresh because they’re up against a big challenge this week for sure.”