Iowa notes: Heartland renaming, fourth-down call, injuries

IOWA CITY — In the weeks that followed Iowa's win against Iowa State, few Hawkeyes knew where the team stashed the Cy-Hawk Trophy. After Iowa beat Wisconsin 10-6 on Saturday, the program placed the Heartland Trophy in the most unavoidable location: the atrium entering the football complex.

Unlike the ancient Iowa-Wisconsin series, the Heartland Trophy has little history. The trophy debuted in 2004, and Wisconsin kept it from 2010 through Saturday afternoon. Quickly after gaining possession, Iowa's players offered up a new name for the trophy, which is topped by a brass steer.

Iowa defensive end Sam Brincks grew up in Carroll and called the trophy 'Albert.' In the southwest Iowa town of Audubon resides a giant statue of 'Albert,' which is proclaimed the world's largest bull. The players quickly settled on Albert and the nickname became semifamous when defensive end Drew Ott posted a picture of the trophy on Instagram.

'We just came up with it,' Ott said. 'It sounded fitting. And I guess there's a bull named Albert in Audubon. We didn't know it. We were just talking about it, and I think (Brincks) said it, and it all made sense.

'You've got Floyd the pig and I like saying Floyd, so Albert sounds nice.'

Albert ... err, the Heartland Trophy, will next make its on-field appearance Oct. 22, 2016 when Iowa entertains Wisconsin at Kinnick Stadium.

A photo posted by Drew Ott (@mullott95) on Oct 3, 2015 at 2:04pm PDT

  Bringing Albert home! #8man#hairlines#beardbros#wheresbaz#time2play#CampFerentz

A photo posted by Drew Ott (@mullott95) on Oct 3, 2015 at 2:04pm PDT

LOOKING BACK

With 1:01 left in the first quarter, Iowa faced fourth-and-2 from the Wisconsin 8. The Hawkeyes employed three wide receivers, a tight end and running back Jordan Canzeri, who lined up to the far left in an empty backfield.

Iowa tight end Henry Krieger-Coble stood straight up against Wisconsin safety Michael Caputo. Krieger-Coble took three steps forward, then took three steps to the left before turning inside. Caputo hit and hugged Krieger-Coble at the 3-yard line, which prevented Krieger-Coble from gaining inside position. Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard looked strictly at Krieger-Coble, who shed Caputo once the ball was in the air, but the pass sailed past the tight end incomplete.

'We were trying to isolate our tight end and we had isolation, we had one-on-one,' Beathard said. 'Me and Hank were just on a different page on what he was about to do. We got a decent look. It wasn't the exact look that we planned on getting, that we were worked on in practice and that's how it is in games.'

All five of Iowa's players ran patterns outside the hash marks, which Beathard said was by design. Only Wisconsin safety Tanner McEvoy and linebacker Vince Biegel were positioned in the middle of the field past the line of scrimmage.

'We were trying to get isolation on the tight end, and that was part of the plan,' Beathard said. 'We saw what they did last year against us, and it was kind of a specific play in that situation and there wasn't really any check downs on that specific play. We got what we needed and wanted. We got a one-on-one match-up — which was good — and we just didn't convert.'

INJURY FRONT

Neither left tackle Boone Myers (neck) nor wide receiver Tevaun Smith (knee) were listed on Monday's depth chart, and both have different timetables for return.

Smith is out until after Iowa's bye on Oct. 24. Myers is considered day-to-day, as is backup running back Derrick Mitchell. None of the three traveled to Wisconsin last week.

Ferentz said Mitchell was out with 'an upper-body deal' but said it wasn't a concussion. Ferentz added that Mitchell continues to practice but 'I don't know how durable or dependable he is.'

Smith suffered his knee injury after making a catch along North Texas' bench in their Sept. 26 game.

Ott wears a wrap over his left elbow every day and night after suffering a gruesome dislocation against Iowa State.

'It went back into its place on its own after I got up and shook it around,' Ott said.

The injury forced him from that game, he played sparingly against Pitt and North Texas. Last week he had a strip sack against Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave, which led to an Iowa field goal.

Ott frequently ices his elbow to keep down the swelling. His weightlifting regimen includes arm curls and triceps work.

'It's getting better every day,' he said.

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