Iowa Spring Game Experience

The morning started off with snow. When I woke up I

couldn't believe it. Really Iowa football gods? Snow on spring day! I guess the 82 degrees earlier this week was for something more important.

Iowa Practice Field

My girlfriend and I arrived to Iowa City amongst the wind and snow about 10 o'clock. We first hit up the Iowa Hawk Shop Sale inside the east side of Kinnick. Definitely a lot of cool gear and cheap too. Definitely provided me with my Hawkeye wardrobe for awhile. One lady had about 17 things from what I saw. Definitely a Christmas shopper.

Iowa Hawk Shop Sale

We took our stuff back to my car and then went into Kinnick. I was able to meet up with Iowa native and rap artist, Limestone. We talked as he had just gotten done with shooting some of his music video for his Black and Yellow Iowa Remix. We then went down into the North Endzone and I was able to see the likes of Jon Miller(HawkeyeNation), Tom Kakert(HawkeyeReport) and Mike Hlas and Marc Morehouse of the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Also to my surprise was former Iowa TE Tony Moeaki. It was good to chat with him for a bit. Also on the sidelines were current recruits Austin Blythe, Marcus Grant, Jordan Canzeri, Riley McMinn and John Lowdermilk. Right before I left for the day I chatted with former Iowa DE Christian Ballard. Christian is definitely excited about his draft prospects and said that he has talked with the Cleveland Browns, Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys and is meeting soon with the Redskins.

Me with Christian Ballard

When it came to the actual scrimmage there was really only one word to describe the experience for me.

Unfulfilled. Honestly that's the best way I can express how I felt. Oh yea, and cold.

The game really isn't actually a game, more of a glorified practice. At one point even my girlfriend asked, “Why are more than half the players just standing around.” The players jog around, going through individual drills and offensive or defensive schemes. They did a 7on7 drill and other offense vs defense type situations. It definitely makes you wish it was September already. But today we were left with the practice. Some good, some negative and a lot of “we'll jsu twait and see” went through my mind as I watched. Here's what I saw:

Watching Vandenberg it is obvious he is ready to go. Crisp, clean and making great decisions on where to distribute his passes. What was very surprising was the emergence of AJ Derby. Derby, listed as the #3 was head and shoulders above current #2, John Weinke. Also random out of the day was that Weinke actually punted during a drill. Decent at that. Not sure what that meant.

Derby was quick, decisive and completed many down field passes, one of them to Keenan Davis in the 7 on 7 drill.

Davis was by far the star of the offense. Quite a few spectacular catches on a day with wind, cold and wetness wasn't ideal for great catches. Other WR Kevonte-Martin Manley looked to be the #3 WR at this point.

TE is definitely still a work in progress in my opinion. C.J. Fiederowicz has the look of a beast. He is athletic and has an amazing ability to be a top TE. But he still has a way to go.

Running Back looked good and RB De'Andre Johnson impressed. Quick and cuts well.

By far the best overall play of the day came from the Offensive Line. Definitely creating holes, time and overall dominating the defensive line. Not sure yet if that is a good thing but we'll take it.

Defensively, it looked like the strength actually exists with the secondary. Jordan Bernstine and Greg Castillo looked good. Castillo should be one of our CB's. Bernstine could possibly be either Strong Safety or a CB, we will have to wait and see.

At Linebacker it is obvious James Morris is a stud. The other two that shine are Anthony Hitchens and Christian Kirksey. Quick from side to side and athletic. The defense overall will be smaller this coming year, but definitely faster.

Now when I say smaller I forget about 6'5, 310 DT Carl Davis. Davis Should anchor the Defensive Line with Daniels, Daniel and Binns. A step back from last year's defensive line, but a hard-nosed group nonetheless.

Overall I think the Hawkeyes are solid, but still need the playmakers to step up. Obviously that's still 5 months away but you like to see certain players emerge now. Keenan Davis definitely did that today. I also hope/expect that some of the true freshman will step in. Offensive players like RB's Rodney Coe or Mika'il McCall and WR Marcus Grant could step up into playing time.

Also, defensive players like safety Nicholas Law and defensive tackle Darian Cooper could be huge to the success of the defense. Other players like Jordan Canzeri or Damon Bullock could have a special teams effect also.

Now we wait until August. Hope everyone stays healthy and no other issues rise up. On Iowa and Go Hawks!!

Joseph Larsen

Community Contributor