Stat Pak: Feeding the beast

5 BULLET POINTS

1. Feeding the beast — Let's try to run some running back math, not 'hey cool numbers, bro,' but more like 'do they have enough left to be what they are and seem to want and need to be on offense'?

Junior LeShun Daniels made it two weeks before he suffered a high-ankle sprain. He was basically back last week. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game Daniels petitioned to play. He went through warmups, I thought he would be a go.

Ferentz said they made the decision two weeks ago to let it be with Daniels. The 6-0, 225-pounder will be back after the bye. Since a breakout game in which he had 123 yards on 26 carries (does it still classify as breakout?) against Illinois State, he's had 26 carries for 103 yards and has missed the last two games.

Daniels was legit at Iowa State before he suffered his injury. I think when he returns 100 percent totally completely healthy — I mean absolutely completely healthy — he will be a huge boost.

Senior Jordan Canzeri made it six games and a quarter. He had a totally completely unlucky play near the end of the first quarter against Northwestern, so I don't think there's any, like any at all, justification for 'see, told you they were running him too much.'

Canzeri has jumped through every hoop. During the broadcast, ESPN sideline reporter Tom Luginbill (hey, hope for Lugs to be on your sideline, he's great XnO and knows his personnel, you get valuable football insight and his Filmroom show is must-watch every week on ESPN) referred to Canzeri as 'diminutive.' And, yeah, he's not huge, but he plays huge.

Totally completely unlucky rollover on his ankle. He has a high-ankle sprain and it will take some time. I don't think he's back after the bye, but I'm not underestimating him, either.

Going into week 9 vs. Maryland at Kinnick, you'll have Akrum Wadley, the Big Ten offensive player of the week, Derrick Mitchell (who was fine after limping off in the fourth, maybe just a ding type of thing) and Daniels.

Five weeks and three running backs. OK, let's count Canzeri as a possible mid-November return.

We know right now Iowa is set up to run the football. I know national rush defense rank won't speak to the overall physicality of the run defenses the Hawkeyes still have in front of them, but it's the best gauge I can think of (if you've got anything, let me know).

— Maryland 101st 196.8 yards per game

— @ Indiana 71st 170.0 yards per game

— Minnesota 52nd 151.4 yards per game

— Purdue 103rd 198.1 yards per game

— @ Nebraska 7th 91.0 yards per game

The Huskers are legit and not dead in the B1G West. The Gophers have an air of 'run stoppiness' about them. The rest of it is buttered popcorn.

So, yes, I think Iowa has enough backs to feed the beast. I don't think they want to dip below the three ready-and-available, and, no, I'm not counting redshirt freshman Marcel Joly and true freshman Eric Graham.

2. Injury list — Let's try to handicap who'll be able to make it back after the bye (educated guesses, not up-to-the-minute updates):

— OT Ike Boettger: The sophomore suffered a high-ankle sprain. TO THE GOOGLE!!!

Here's a link on the St. Louis Rams website with, I assume, one of their team physicians saying four to six weeks. I'm sure there's some mitigation with O-lineman vs. running back.

The Maryland game will be three weeks for Boettger, so let's put him at 40 percent, with 'not playing running back' as positive factor.

— OT Boone Myers: The sophomore left the North Texas game on Sept. 26 with a neck/shoulder stinger and hasn't been in uniform since, three games now. TO THE GOOGLE!!!

From here: 'A 'stinger' is a common nerve injury resulting from trauma to the neck and shoulder, usually during sports participation ... [Stingers] are typically transient, but they can cause prolonged weakness resulting in time loss from athletic participation. Furthermore, they often recur. Treatment consists of restoring range of motion, improving strength and providing protective equipment. Return to sports participation depends primarily on re-establishment of pain-free motion and full recovery of strength and functional status.'

So, this is a matter of regaining strength and it can be chronic. Those are two mystery areas, so no percentage from me.

— WR Tevaun Smith: Sprained a knee against North Texas, missed two games and returned last week. He looked OK. He had a 39-yard catch called back because of an offensive pass interference penalty on him (50/50 call) and then had a long gain off a C.J. Beathard scramblepass (copyright me, expecting the 'New Kirk' royalties any time now) to NU's 10 called back because of a hold.

Smith is back 100 percent.

— RB LeShun Daniels: He is a running back with a high-ankle sprain. The Maryland game will be seven weeks out. He'll be hungry and 100 percent chance you will see him for Maryland.

— TE Jake Duzey: He played at the end vs. NU. KF said after the game he believes he'll be much more capable after the bye. Remember, he suffered a patellar tendon injury. That's a tough comeback. If he does return to full Duzey, what an amazing bonus that would be. Still, don't discount the rise of junior TE George Kittle. His blocking against NU was stellar.

It feels as if I'm missing someone . . .

3. Oh yeah, C.J. Beathard — It's like he needs a realignment. The junior QB looks like Silver Surfer sometimes and then, mostly after he's dragged down or has to stride out, looks like . . . well, here's the mic 'New Kirk' . . . Amos McCoy (forget who Amos McCoy is and just say the name to yourself and then get up out of your chair and, there it is, you have a limp).

The left hip is for sure banged up. That happened vs. Pitt. I think it's a muscle thing and not a hit thing (he also had a wonky hip that kept him out at Maryland last season). He definitely has something with the right groin and I think that's the one that really gets him. You can see him grab on his lower right leg at times. And then, late last week, hamstring started to waft.

Ferentz was effusive with his praise in the Northwestern postgame on CJB's toughness. That tells me the stuff we didn't see with CJB this week and the stuff that KF did see (what it took to get to the field) was considerable.

I think it lingers. There is one thing CJB could do and that's purify himself in the healing waters of Lake Minnetonka. Alas, Iowa doesn't travel to Minnesota this year.

4. Let's not forget RB coach Chris White in all of this — If I wouldn't have hit a wall yesterday after 17 hours of Saturday football, I would've beaten today's news to the punch and have had my ode to Iowa RB coach Chris White already in the hamper.

Instead, I'm at the back of the parade cleaning up after various farm animals in the wake of the news that White was named national RB coach of the week after the Hawkeyes rushed for 294 yards at Northwestern with RBs Nos. 2 and 3. (Kirk Ferentz snorted last week when OL coach Brian Ferentz won this and I asked about it. It's put out by coachingsearch.com, a site I consider really great in its XnO and coaching connections, FWIW. Here's the linky.)

I'll get more into this in my RB Akrum Wadley 'B1G offensive player of the week' post, but this is about setting a standard and sticking to it. Wadley clearly has the talent. That's never been the question. He had to do things . . . well, another post.

Credit to White here, though. The man is spinning a lot of plates, but his players have been ready when called. That shows depth of coaching. The room is engaged, hungry and ready to run.

5. What did Iowa do on offense? — I usually save this for Depth Chart Monday and maybe I'll get more in-depth there, but here are some quick obs on where Iowa threw the ball and how Iowa ran it.

— CJB threw just four passes longer than 10 yards. He completed his two intermediate attempts (great ball to WR Matt VandenBerg on a 'circus' route to the Iowa sideline for 18 yards — 18 air yards — and a back-shoulder throw to TE Henry Krieger Coble for 20 yards — 17 air).

— CJB was 0-for-2 on plus-20. So much went wrong on his second-quarter interception on an attempt to WR Jacob Hillyer. He didn't ID safety Traveon Henry. Or maybe he did and just severely underthrew the ball. He saw some color flash inside, but had time. This also was the one pass where maybe his leg injuries showed up. It was all upper body with no knee bend.

— There were some new names and unfamiliar faces in the targets: WR Riley McCarron got his first target in three games. Fullback Macon Plewa was targeted on the goal line, but CJB took a hit (this one actually had the official blow the whistle for injury timeout). Backup fullback Drake Kulick was targeted and had three carries (he's probably your fullback next year). QB Tyler Wiegers targeted true freshman WR Adrian Falconer, his first career target (I'm pretty sure).

— VandeBerg caught eight of his nine targets (impressive). TE HKC caught both of his targets.

— Tevaun Smith was credited with just the one target.

— As you would expect, Iowa's top two personnel groups were heavy with 12 (two TEs, one back) and 21 (two backs, one TE) tying with 22 calls each. (Of course, 21 was de facto 'victory formation' with the second offense impressively holding together for an 11-play drive that drained the final 6:04 off the clock.

Next probably won't surprise you, either. Iowa ran a lot of 11 (one back, one TE) out of shotgun (20 plays). A lot of that is CJB's leg injuries, but a lot of it, too, is it's the formation CJB prefers. I asked once, and he said he digs shotgun (not sure the personnel mattered as much to him as 'get open').

THREE STARS

1. RB Akrum Wadley — He did get two carries before he was 'the guy.' His second carry as 'the guy' was the 35-yard TD that served notice. It was only 9-0 and it was just 16-10 at halftime, but the bill for NU was in the mail.

Wadley showed amazingly quick feet. Is that the difference between he and Canzeri? Not that one is more effective than the other, it just looked different. Canzeri has more power; Wadley offers the hottest of feet. They have great vision and that is one thing that Wadley showed over and over in this game. He had that vision despite the fact he came off the bench and had just eight carries and 35 yards all season. He came in almost completely cold and gained 204 yards with four TDs (including three short yardage).

2. LB Josey Jewell — The sophomore finished with 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble (on his sack, which was a tremendous hit on QB Clayton Thorson).

Jewell's biggest play, maybe, was a tackle on third down from Iowa's 1. Jewell buzzed through traffic and dropped running back Justin Jackson for a 2-yard loss on a third-and-goal from Iowa's 1. This forced a field goal after the CJB pick gave NU first down at Iowa's 25. Jewell and DE Nate Meier also shared a sack on first down of this drive.

That is one way you respond to quick change.

3. QB C.J. Beathard — Second drive of the game, scramble to the right, steps out of bounds. The look on CJB's face there told you a lot. There's was pain, there was fight. You thought maybe he would tap out. Nope. You knew he was tough. Now you wonder how much more you can admire him.

3a. P Dillon Kidd — Not a big numbers day (39.2 avg), but dropped three punts inside NU 20, no touchbacks and just two of five punts returned. A field position winner here.

3b. S Brandon Snyder — That No. 37 kid doing all the running around on special teams was redshirt freshman Brandon Snyder. He got a hand on a punt that set up Iowa at NU's 41 and turned into a second-quarter TD.

3c. DE Nate Meier — Seven tackles and a half sack. Meier is playing up to and beyond expectations every week. Had at least two QBHs that weren't counted.

FILM ROOM

CB Desmond King mentioned a few blown coverages in the first half. Was the 34-yard pass to receiver Mike McHugh on corner Greg Mabin or should free safety Jordan Lomax have had his back? They'll never tell. Mabin slapped his hands together. Lomax didn't make eye contact. They straightened it out in the second half.

NU's longest pass play after this one was 11 yards, and that includes time against road No. 2s (not a very deep group, with the B1G limiting travel rosters to 70, even though this was a bus trip — No. 3 this season, ISU and Sconnie). It's the pressure valve. Teams will hit Iowa in zone. Iowa still is tinkering with pass rush, and you'd have to say last weekend (three sacks) was a success in that regard.

It was just one drive and they cleaned it up, so let's not run the red flag up the pole.

Here are the rankings for the passing games Iowa will face in the final five games:

— Maryland 114th (163.7 yards per game)

— @ Indiana 25th (284.0 yards per game, No. 1 in the Big Ten)

— Minnesota 91st (194.3 yards per game)

— Purdue 77th (215.4 yards per game)

— @ Nebraska 38th (256.3 per game, third in the Big Ten)

TWO PLAYS

1. Third-and-goal at Iowa's 1 — We've talked a lot this season about how improved Iowa's perimeter defense has been. This week, LB Cole Fisher told us that 75 percent of the time that's OLB Ben Niemann and his job setting an edge. Well, it sure was on this play.

The true sophomore controlled the block from superback/TE Dan Vitale, kept his outside shoulder free and forced Jackson to look to cut up field. There, Jackson met Jewell, who undercut him and ultimately was credited with the tackle for a 2-yard loss. Jewell was able to get there because redshirt freshman defensive end Matt Nelson ate the tight end and the pulling guard and still managed to keep his outside shoulder alive (this is what leverage is). Untouched path for Jewell. DT Kyle Terlouw got a piece. And Meier made it in from the backside.

The play was dead on arrival.

2. First-and-goal from NU's 4 — This was the TD where Wadley did a little bit of a high step. Why not? He already did a bow with his hands together (like in martial arts). He also did the 'feed me,' fake spooning food out of a bowl and into his mouth. Why not a little high step? (Well, his name is Ferentz.)

Wadley was barely touched because of blocks by, deep breath, TE George Kittle (schooled NU DEs all day, amazing performance sealing and just sticking to blocks), center Austin Blythe (pancaked the noseguard, who wanted Netflix and chill thereafter), tackle Sean Welsh (he's not in this stratosphere yet, but he looks like Yanda, seriously, look at him, spitting image) and fullback Adam Cox (his best game this season).

UP NEXT — BYE

— I'm going to read The Easter House by David Rhodes. Bellanca of BHGP fame turned me on to Rhodes, who, it happens, lives close to my father-in-law in the Wisconsin Driftless. I've been the worst reader ever. I want this, I need this.

— Maybe I can see 'Sicario.' I think it's already out of Cedar Rapids.

— Saturday, I'm nerding out on Big Ten football. I have to practice what I preach.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Touchdowns in the red zone

Iowa — 4 of 8

Northwestern — 1 of 2

Tracking the Hawkeyes: Week 1 vs. ISU — 4 of 5 (off), 1 of 1 (def); Week 2 Iowa State — 2 of 3 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 3 vs. Pitt — 3 of 3 (off), 2 of 3 (def); Week 4 North Texas — 5 of 5 (off), 1 of 3 (def); Week 5 Wisconsin — 1 of 4 (off), 0 of 2 (def); Week 6 vs. Illinois — 1 of 4 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 7 vs. Northwestern — 4 of 8 (off), 1 of 2 (def)

The takeaway: This halted a downward trend of 2 of 8 the last two weeks. Also, this is what a strong running game does for an offense, it closes the deal, shuts the door, punctuates the sentence.

3 and outs (forced by defense)

Iowa — 7

Northwestern — 3

Tracking the Hawkeyes: Week 1 vs. ISU — 3 (def), 2 (off); Week 2 vs. Iowa State — 4 (def), 4 (off); Week 3 vs. Pitt — 3 (def), 2 (off); Week 4 vs. North Texas — 6 (def), 3 (off); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin — 4 (def), 3 (off); Week 6 vs. Illinois — 5 (def), 1 (off); Week 7 vs. Northwestern: 7 (def), 3 (off)

The takeaway: Huge number for the defense. They all weren't three-and-outs, but after NU pulled within 16-10 late in the second quarter, Iowa forced punts or turnovers on the Wildcats' final seven possession. Wow.

Second half adjustments

Iowa — 296 yards, 7.1 yards per play (42 plays)

Northwestern — 80 yards, 2.75 yards per play (29 plays)

Tracking the Hawkeyes: Week 1 vs. ISU — 163 yards, 5.25 yards per play (31 offensive plays), 195 yards, 6.5 yards per play (30 plays on defense); Week 2 vs. Iowa State — 232 yards, 6.62 yards per play (35 offensive plays), 66 yards, 2.12 yards per play (31 defensive plays); Week 3 vs. Pitt — 165 yards, 5.5 yards per play (30 off plays), 124 yards, 5.1 yards per play (31 def plays); Week 4 vs. North Texas — 148 yards, 4.9 yards per play (30 offensive plays), 207 yards, 4.3 yards per play (48 defensive plays); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin — 69 yards, 2.55 yards per play (27 offensive plays), 177 yards, 4.21 yards per play (42 defensive plays); Week 6 vs. Illinois — 179 yards, 5.42 yards per play (33 offensive plays); 242 yards, 5.90 yards per play (41 defensive plays); Week 7 vs. Northwestern — 296 yards, 7.1 yards per play (42 offensive plays); 80 yards, 2.75 yards per play (29 defensive plays)

The takeaway: The second half was total domination and this is the number that spells it out. Season highs across the board for Iowa's offense. Iowa's final scoring drive was all rushes, including a 30-yarder on first down that was called back. Wadley right for 41 yards (zigzag). Mitchell up the middle for 24 on a power play. Mitchell zone right for 13 yards and a TD.

20-plus plays

Iowa — 4

Northwestern — 1

Tracking the Hawkeyes: Week 1 vs. ISU — 4 (off), 3 (allowed); Week 2 vs. Iowa State — 6 (off), 3 (allowed); Week 3 vs. Pitt — 4 (off), 3 (def); Week 4 vs. North Texas — 4 (off), 4 (def); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin — 2 (off), 3 (def); Week 6 vs. Illinois — 5 (off), 5 (def); Week 7 vs. Northwestern — 4 (off), 1 (def)

The takeaway: Three of Iowa's 20-plus were runs from the sophomore backs Wadley and Mitchell (two for Wadley, one for Mitchell). Iowa's long pass was 23 yards to . . . Mitchell. They were a crew that wrecked. Iowa's defense scored a season low here. NU's offense wasn't ready for its closeup. It wasn't ready at Michigan, it wasn't ready last weekend.

The Iowa/Greg Davis definition of explosive (it's 12-plus runs and 16-plus passes): 12 (Illinois State 9, Iowa State 12, Pitt 6, North Texas 10; Wisconsin 5; Illinois 9, Northwestern 12)

Magic points (scores inside of two minutes)

Iowa — 0

Northwestern — 0

Tracking the Hawkeyes: Week 1 vs. ISU — 3 (off), 7 (allowed); Week 2 vs. Iowa State — 7 (off), 0 (def); Week 3 vs. Pitt — 10 (off), 7 (def); week 4 vs. North Texas — 7 (off), 0 (def); Week 5 vs. Wisconsin — 3 (off), 0 (def); Week 6 vs. Illinois — 3 (off), 0 (def); Week 7 vs. Northwestern — 0 (off), 0 (def)

The takeaway: Iowa had a chance for magic points at the end of the first half. K Marshall Koehn slid a 34-yard FG wide right. After the kick, a Northwestern defender gave Koehn a playful slap on the helmet. Koehn gave him a not-so-playful shove. That's the kicker you want.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com