Quickest Slants

This is a QB competition, controversy

. . . Offensive coordinator Greg Davis met with the media today.

If the Hawkeyes played today, he said junior QB Jake Rudock is about 80 percent and wouldn't be the starter. He said sophomore C.J. Beathard would be.

And then he went to the real news, which is that both QBs will play when the Hawkeyes come out of the bye week for a home game against Indiana on Oct. 11.

'What you can expect is that we'll probably play two, with no set series or numbers or whatever,” Davis said Tuesday. 'We do feel like we have two guys who have earned the right to play and have played pretty well, so that's the way we'll approach it as we get closer [the Oct. 11].”

Later in the news conference, Davis was asked about strengths and weaknesses, specifically Rudock's. He declined to go down that list.

'I'm not going to enumerate, this guy can place this many balls, you know,” Davis said. 'Y'all can decide that. I think you already have. The truth is, as a staff, we think we have two [quarterbacks] and we're going to play two. And then at some point, it'll shake itself out.”

And then Davis was asked about 'check down” passes and some assumptions were made. The question was quarterbacks getting into the routine of checking down and not scanning the field. Rudock's name wasn't mentioned in the question.

'If you're asking me does Jake check down too quickly . . .” Davis said.

The question didn't mention Rudock. Davis said, 'You said ‘a quarterback.'”

There was some defensiveness. There's going to be some of that. This is delicate. Iowa has had some QB trauma since last spring. Cody Sokol was a senior on the outside looking in and left for a chance to start at Louisiana Tech. Freshman Nic Shimonek also transferred.

Who knows where this is going to go, but keep in mind the politics of the words the coaches say.

Early in the part 5 video, there's a question about how Beathard worked his way into this. Davis talks about the third down throw CJB made to tight end Ray Hamilton. It was a beaut.

Transcripts are attached. The video is going to come out in more parts. I'm restricted to two- to four-minute clips.

Don't ask your players if they're injured, they'll always say no

. . . The buzzards have picked at Brady Hoke and Michigan since Saturday's fateful decision not to pull QB Shane Morris from last week's game after his health was clearly compromised.

It's bad. I think the protocol is hugely flawed. Several accounts have said there were calls for Morris to 'hit the ground.” I guess this signifies injury and the team's training staff goes into action.

Here's the flaw with that: You're asking a player to tap out. Players don't tap out. Players wear capes and stop locomotives with their pecs. They leap tall safeties in a single bound. Even if none of that is true, that's what they think.

They are not going to tap out. You have to tap out for them.

Protocols failed Hoke, Michigan, Morris and the officials. There has to be some leeway for an official to stop the game if he notices injury. Yes, they're not doctors, but we're already asking them to make so many subjective decisions, why not one more? Why not one more in the name of player safety?

Hoke is fired times 10 for what's happened on the field. He takes a big share of this, too, but it's also an indictment of injury detection. That's an F-minus.

Right now, every coach whose football team plays on TV is feverishly going over this protocol. I know I would. I would make sure the decisions, however tough they may be, are being made by clear-minded, objective medical professionals.

Here's Kirk Ferent from the B1G teleconference

. . . I don't think there's anything serious going on. Oh yeah, quarterback. Maybe some injury updates.

Opener

- Happy to get victory. Didn't come easy. Tough game. Happy guys pulled it out. Looking forward to a week off. Hopefully, we'll improve as a football team.

Q on rush defense, hallmark of Iowa, similarities in this group that takes you back

- We've had good D-line play for several years. We were counting on good play up front. We've seen that from all four starters, and would throw in Mike Hardy. Improving at LB, hardly there yet. Byproduct of opponents we've played. As the year goes on, I'm sure that number will grow. (Opponents haven't been running teams.) It's a bad feeling when you can't stop the run. It's a bad feeling. It's a sinking feeling when people run the ball down your throat. It's one of the starting point for every defense.

Q on LBs and secondary

- I think we're improving. I think the linebacker position was an untested area coming into the season. We paid a little bit for that initially. I think we're settling down a little bit. Quinton Alston is the stabilizer in the group, being the oldest guy and really the most experienced. He's the guy we're rallying around a little bit. The other guys who have played the most, Bo Bower, Reggie Spearman and Josey Jewell, the last two weeks have done a good job. Travis Perry has jumped in there as well. I think we're making progress. We're not out of the woods yet, but we're making progress. I think we're doing better on the back end. Really pleased with the safety play we're getting right now.

Koehn, is he the guy going forward and is punting up in the air

- You're right on both cases. We made the decision last week that Marshall would do all the kicking (for that game). They'll keep competing. Mick's done a really good job in practice. Hopefully, what we're seeing is Marshall gaining confidence. He's got a little different air about him now than he did a month ago. It's like any new player. You've got to go out there and play and experience some unwanted results as well as success. I think he's learned from it. I think he's feeling a lot better about himself. He's kicking well and we're really happy about that.

Dillon was improving. He didn't have his best day Saturday. It was a close competition back in August. We'll let those guys (Connor Kornbrath) continue to compete.

Bullock and MVB health

- I don't expect either of them to practice today or tomorrow. Or Thursday, a full practice. We're they're at for our next game, I'm just not sure. Hopefully, we'll have a better handle on that next Tuesday. I think they both have a realistic chance to be ready. We'll have to look at it day-to-day.

LeShun Daniels in the third-down role last week

- LeShun has been doing well all year. He had a good spring and he had a really good August. He's doing a great job. We're really pleased with him. The problem has been where do you fit everyone in? He did a really nice job the other day on third down, he did well with his protections that type of thing. We're just glad he's on the team and we'll see what we do here as we move along.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@sourcemedia.net