Depth Chart Monday: Receiver faces keep changing

The constant reshaping of Iowa wide receiver is kind of cool in one regard, and should be a little bit of an alarm in another.

In victory, this group takes to the field and snaps and tweets a group photo. That picture has been different, I'm pretty sure, nearly every week.

Of course, no Derrick Willies this week. Kirk Ferentz said on his radio show last Wednesday that the 6-4 freshman was leaving the UI and it was past the point of no return. I saw some tweets that radio play-by-play voice Gary Dolphin said after the game that the door was still open for a return. Dolph might know more than I do, but I'll buy into it when Ferentz says it (Ferentz did say that he spoke with Willies on Wednesday).

I didn't see redshirt freshman Andre Harris. I don't know what's going on there.

The constant in this picture has been senior Kevonte Martin-Manley. He's led or tied for the lead in receiving in four games this season.

Martin-Manley has been a huge playmaker this season. You look at his yards per catch and you shrug. It's 9.33 yards a catch and if you stop there, you stop there on KMM. That's a mistake. Eighteen of his 36 catches have resulted in a first down or a touchdown. He ranks No. 3 in school history with 158 career receptions, and his 1,618 receiving yards rank No. 16 all-time.

The 18 clutch catches are a big deal. He's a first-down maker.

Against Northwestern, the skinny kid in the WR picture was sophomore Matt VandeBerg. He suffered an undisclosed injury and missed Purdue, catching just one pass in the three games. Saturday, he led the Hawkeyes with five catches for 90 yards, a career game. of the WRs in the regular rotation, MVB is No. 2 with 17.22 yards a catch.

Iowa has had six different players led the team in receiving in its eight games. RB Damon Bullock and TE Jake Duzey have been the only interlopers.

Junior Tevaun Smith continued his rise Saturday with four catches for 76 yards, including a 31-yard TD. It was the second-best numbers game of his career (behind five for 97 with a TD last season vs. Michigan).

Senior WR Damond Powell can go off anytime. He had a quiet game Saturday, but had a streak of 62, 53, 85 and 36 yards in games going into it. He leads Iowa with 20 yards a reception.

After watching Maryland route its entire offense through wide receiver Stefon Diggs, I wondered why Iowa couldn't, doesn't or wouldn't. Against NU, the Halloween approach (one for you, two for you, one for you) worked. What it probably says, more than anything, is there's no one standout WR on Iowa's roster, at least compared to Maryland and Diggs.

It's interesting to watch OC Greg Davis and WR coach Bobby Kennedy piece it together.

The actual depth chart

. . . There's some moving around in the O-line.

I did see last week in warmups that redshirt freshman Ike Boettger tried some guard. He's still listed as No. 2 left tackle this week.

Senior Tommy Gaul is No. 1 at center. He played his best game against Northwestern. Junior Austin Blythe is the left guard, alongside LT Brandon Scherff. Junior Jordan Walsh, who had a couple of penalties but chilled and was solid, is No. 1 right guard with former starter Sean Welsh No. 2 (Welsh did play some). Redshirt freshman Boone Myers is No. 2 LG. He missed a little time with an elbow injury.

Running back is Mark Weisman and freshman Akrum Wadley. Why wouldn't it be? Jordan Canzeri sat out last week with an ankle injury. Radio said he has a high-ankle sprain. He suffered it in the second quarter at Maryland during a great start. He came back into the game, but this might be a week or two.

TV stuff

. . . Game is 11 a.m. Iowa time and on ESPN2. The announcers are Beth Mowins, Joey Galloway and Paul Carcaterra.

The Big Ten has tossed the 11/15 games into the 6-day windor thingie, so we won't know the Iowa at Illinois kick time until Saturday night or Sunday morning. The game will either be 11 or 2:30. There will be no sneaking in a night game.

More football nerdiness

. . . Iowa's personnel groups last week against Northwestern. The fullback is back. Seriously, great game from Macon Plewa. Iowa clearly was in its comfort zone on offense.

22 (RB, FB, two TEs)

- 23 (32.3 percent - Iowa hit big pass plays at least twice from 22, with Matt VandeBerg catching both, a 42-yard flea flicker and a 26-yarder from Iowa's 3. Plewa made his presence felt. Head and hand placement, he won nearly every one-on-one battle on iso plays. Fantastic effort.)

11 (one RB, one TE)

- 21 (29.5 percent -- Jake Rudock's 43-yarder to KMM, a pass that I think showed great timing and might've been Rudock's best of the game, came out of 11. The 31-yarder from Rudock to WR Tevaun Smith, who was one-on-one with #23, was from 11. Iowa also ran some inside zones out of 11. The O-line executed play-action passes out of this superbly.)

21 (RB, FB and one TE)

- 16 (22.5 percent -- Rudock hit SMith for a 23-yard gain out of this on a first-and-15, erasing a false start and fueling a FG drive. This is passing out of a heavy run formation. This is high-level execution.)

12 (one RB, two TE)

- 11 (15.4 percent -- This is Iowa's most constraining formation, IMO. Tommy Gaul and Andrew Donnal sprung Weisman for an 18-yarder on an outside zone during Iowa's first drive. On back-to-back plays out of 12, Weisman went for a 12-yard rush on an inside zone and then Rudock hit MVB on a play-action pass for a 13-yard gain.)

13 (RB, three TEs)

- 1 (1.4 percent - They ran it just once, but it was the flea flicker, a 42-yard gain from Rudock to MVB.)

Where Iowa's O did stuff

. . . Here's what they did and where they went (formations included):

Series 1

- pass short left (+5 Smith, 12), rush right (+18 Weisman, 12), rush right (0 Weisman, 22), rush left (+8 Weisman, TD, 22)

Series 2

- pass mid right (+23 Smith, 21), pass deep right (+42 MVB, flicker, 13), rush right (+4 Weisman, 22), fumble Rudock (-9, play-action fake, 22), pass deep left (incomplete, Hillyer target, 11)

Series 3

- rush left (+1 Weisman, 21), rush middle (+5 Weisman, 22), pass mid middle (+43 KMM, 11), rush middle (+2 Bullock, 21), rush left (+14 Weisman, TD, 21)

Series 4

- rush right (-3 Weisman, 22), pass short left (+5 Plewa, 21), rush middle (+5 Rudock, draw, 11)

Series 5

- rush middle (+4 Weisman, 22), rush middle (+3 Weisman, 22), pass short left (+5 KMM, 11), rush middle (+2 Bullock, 22), rush left (+6 Weisman, 21), rush middle (+2 Weisman, 22), rush left (+1 Wadley, 11), pass batted down (incomplete, Smith target, 12), pass mid middle (+18 KMM, 11), rush middle scramble (+6 Rudock, 12), rush middle (+2 Weisman, 22), pass deep right (+31 Smith, 30 air yards, TD, 11)

Series 6

- rush middle (+2 Weisman, 12), rush middle (+16 Weisman, 12), pass short left (+13 MVB, 12), pass short left (incomplete, Weisman drop, 12), pass short left (incomplete, KMM drop, 11), scramble (+7 Rudock, 11)

Series 7

- rush middle (+23 Wadley, 12), rush right (+8 Weisman, 22), rush right (+8 Weisman, TD, 22)

Series 8

- rush middle (-4 Weisman, 12), rush left (+2 Weisman, 12), pass mid middle (+17 Smith, 11), rush left (+6 Wadley, fumble, 11)

Series 9

- rush middle (+2 Rudock, 22), pass deep left (+26 MVB, 22), rush middle (+3 Weisman, 21), pass deep left (incomplete, KMM target, 21), pass left mid (incomplete, Smith target, 11)

Series 10

– rush left (+9 Wadley, 21), pass short left (+11 Hamilton, 21), rush right (+26 Wadley, 21), rush middle (+3 Wadley, 22), rush middle (+1 Wadley, 22), pass short middle (incomplete, Duzey target, 11)

Series 11

- rush middle (+6 Wadley, 22), pass short right (0 MVB, 22), pass short right (+9 MVB, 11), pass batted down (incomplete, deeper target, Hamilton open short, 22), zone read left (+13 CJB, 11), rush left (+2 Wadley, 11), pass short right (+4 Powell, 11), rush middle (+6 Wadley, 21), zone read left (+2 CJB, 11), rush left (+11 Wadley, 21), rush middle (+6 Wadley, 21), pass short right (-2 Powell, 21), pass mid middle (+12 Hillyer, 22), rush middle (+2 Wadley, 22), rush middle (-2 Wadley, 11), scramble left (+8 CJB, 11), rush right (+5 Wadley, TD, 22)

Points of interest

. . . (Great stuff from Iowa's sports info staff)

' Iowa has scored 30 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time since opening the 2011 season with four straight games with 30-plus points. The last time Iowa scored 30-plus points in three consecutive conference games was 2010 (Michigan, 38; Wisconsin, 30; Michigan State, 37).

' Iowa scored a season-high 48 points against Northwestern, its most points scored in a Big Ten game since Nov. 21, 2008 against Minnesota (W, 55-0).

' In Big Ten games only, the Hawkeyes lead the conference averaging 260.8 passing yards per game. The Hawkeyes are also No. 1 in pass defense, allowing 117.2 passing yards per game.

' Iowa leads the Big Ten in kickoff returns (26.5) and kickoff coverage (16.3). The Hawkeyes' kickoff return ranks fifth and their kickoff coverage ranks seventh nationally.

' Iowa has 10 interceptions, tied for the fourth most in the Big Ten. Eight different players have recorded an interception.

' Iowa has outscored its opponents, 87-31, in the first quarter. Its plus-56 scoring margin ties for sixth best in the nation.

' Iowa blocked a punt against Northwestern for the first time since 2011 (at Purdue), and scored on a blocked punt for the first time since 2010 (Eastern Illinois).

' Iowa will defend the Floyd of Rosedale trophy Saturday. Iowa is 0-1 in trophy games in 2014. The Hawkeyes lost to Iowa State, 20-17, in the battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy on Sept. 13. Iowa also has trophy games this season against Wisconsin (Heartland) and

Nebraska (Heroes).

' Saturday's game marks the fourth time in five years the Hawkeyes and Gophers play in Minneapolis.

' Iowa leads the Big Ten in kickoff returns (26.5), Minnesota ranks second (24.4).

' Iowa is allowing 15.8 first downs per game, No. 4 in the Big Ten. Minnesota averges 18.0 first downs per game, the fewest per game average in the conference.

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