Competition strong in Iowa’s secondary

IOWA CITY - Iowa's secondary returns three starters from last year's team, but it appears competition is strong at both safety and cornerback.

True sophomore Miles Taylor entered camp as the leading contender to replace strong safety John Lowdermilk. But with spring practice concluding on Saturday, Taylor, red-shirt freshman Brandon Snyder and junior Anthony Gair are in a battle for that vacant position.

'We've still got a couple more days,” Iowa defensive coordinator and secondary coach Phil Parker said. 'Today (Taylor) might go out to start. I think we're going to rotate some guys in there and give them a chance with the first group over there to see where he's at.”

Taylor (6-foot, 195 pounds) played primarily on special teams last year. Gair (6-2, 210) started one game when free safety Jordan Lomax was suspended for a helmet-to-helmet hit. Snyder (6-1, 210) did not play.

'We've been moving around a little bit, and we kind of tried to figure out what's the right combination,” Parker said. 'I think Snyder and Anthony Gair are trying to figure that out, too, seeing if they're in the right spot to create some competition. But the last practice I (saw) some stuff I liked out of Brandon Snyder a little bit. So we'll see. It's still a long ways to go.”

Juniors Desmond King (5-11, 200) and Greg Mabin (6-2, 200) combined for 25 starts at cornerback last year, with junior Maurice Fleming (6-0, 205) spelling a banged-up Mabin against Pittsburgh. King is a mainstay at his position, but Fleming is pushing Mabin at the other corner slot.

'I think Fleming has really made a push this spring to where you could categorize it, there's only two now playing,” Parker said. 'Can you get three of them on the field at the same time? (That's) something we always look at, especially with the personnel group. But I think there's three of them that are above the other guys right now with Mabin and King and Fleming.”

Senior cornerback Sean Draper (6-0, 190) has three years of experience playing both corner and the slot. Parker also touted sophomore Malik Rucker (6-0, 180) as a contender for playing time.

TERLOUW STANDS OUT

Defensive line coach Reese Morgan joked last week that junior Kyle Terlouw is a 'pickup truck with used tires on it.” Wednesday, Terlouw laughed at Morgan's description but took his coach's words seriously.

'I think that means I've got a lot of work to do, and I agree with him 100 percent,” Terlouw said. 'I'm nowhere near ready to go. I'm just trying to get better each day, and I've got a lot of stuff to improve on.”

Terlouw (6-4, 288) was an all-state lineman at Lynnville-Sully High School and played two years at Iowa Central Community College. He spurned scholarship offers from Missouri State, Indiana State and Division II schools to walk on at Iowa. He red-shirted last season but has worked into Iowa's depth chart as the second-string defensive tackle behind sophomore Nathan Bazata.

'He's going to play for us next year,” Morgan said. 'He's going to get on the field. He's very tough. ... We're delighted to have him.”

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