Iowa’s defense locked into ‘suck it up’ mode

IOWA CITY — The question went Kirk Ferentz's way on Tuesday. At that point in time, the Iowa Hawkeyes had exactly 10 days left in their season. Ferentz had already done the math, and so his answer on Tuesday isn't likely to change for Saturday or next Friday.

Yes, the Iowa head coach is aware the Iowa defense is approaching marathon or iron and or, really, adjective you want to put in front of the noun 'man' that means endurance.

The No. 5 Hawkeyes (10-0, 6-0 Big Ten) also enter game 11 against Purdue (2-8, 1-5) Saturday morning at Kinnick Stadium. This is game 11. At this point, Iowa's defense is what it is, and that's the 11 starters who've been plugged in for a boat load of snaps this season. Iowa isn't going to suddenly sprout starter-level rotational players. A few of those guys do exist on the depth chart and a few do see some time, but the Iowa staff is all in with the starting 11.

And it's just another eight days until the Black Friday season finale at Nebraska.

'Yes, I'm aware of it,' Ferentz said. 'We keep an eye on everything, all the stats that way. But on the other side we've only got like, whatever it is, 10 days left, so suck it up.

'Suck it up. We'll rest later on.'

Let's throw some context in for what 'suck it up' might exactly mean for some of Iowa's defenders.

Six of Iowa's front seven players — defensive linemen and linebackers — have played more snaps this season than they ever have. Yes, five of the six are first-year starters and a big jump in snap counts has to happen at some point in a starter's career.

Middle linebacker Josey Jewell is a good example. The sophomore played in 11 games last season and started in the final four. According to snap count numbers provided by @Hawkeyegamefilm, Jewell played 351 snaps in 2014 (41 percent, and this doesn't include special teams). This year, Jewell is at 653 snaps with maybe as many four games left (if the Hawkeyes win Saturday, they will earn a spot in the Big Ten championship game and this would be the program's first 14-game season).

A couple more points of context: Jewell's 653 snaps is 99 percent of the 662 defensive snaps. But he also plays special teams, so that adds to the snap count, and we're talking high-effort, long-distance snaps when it comes to special teams.

Also, what's an optimum snap count for a player along Iowa's front seven? It's probably different for every program and probably depends what defensive coordinators want to get out of their D-lines. Eighty percent is probably the top end for defensive linemen. Linebackers and safeties across the board generally see snap counts in the 90-percent range.

That's probably the math that Ferentz mentioned in the program's tracking.

Iowa's track record is playing first-team D-linemen as much as they can handle. When Iowa has had good depth (2009 and 2010 D-lines come to mind), it has rotated. Defensive end Drew Ott's season-ending knee injury in October has taxed Iowa's depth. Mostly, though, Iowa has stuck with the players who've gotten it done up front in most seasons.

Here are some other gigantic leaps in snap counts for first-year starters:

— Outside linebacker Ben Niemann is credited with 657 snaps (99 percent, second on the defense behind only free safety Jordan Lomax with 662). As a true freshman special teamer last season, Niemann played 26 snaps.

— Defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson saw time last season in rotation, piling up 231 snaps (around 30 percent of Iowa's 847 defensive snaps in 2014). This year, he's at 547 (83 percent).

— Linebacker Cole Fisher played 26 snaps mostly on special teams in 2014. This year, as starting weakside linebacker and on special teams, he's at 620 (94 percent).

— Defensive tackle Nathan Bazata played 72 snaps in rotation last season. He's at 538 (81 percent).

— Defensive end Parker Hesse didn't play last season while redshirting. He stepped in for Ott and has now played 470 snaps (70 percent).

— Strong safety Miles Taylor is the only first-year starter in the secondary. He played 19 snaps mostly on special teams in 2014. This year, he's at 575 (87 percent) to go along with special teams duties.

Niemann acknowledged that, yes, the snap counts have climbed, but he said he files his health alongside accountability.

'You have to take care of your body, that's a big thing,' the sophomore said. 'You have to get treatment and all of that stuff. Obviously, last year compared to this year, it's a lot heavier load and I'm still on a couple of special teams.

'It's doing little things like eating right, sleeping right. That stuff can catch up with you if you don't take care of yourself.'

In October, when running back Jordan Canzeri rushed a school-record 43 times in a victory against Illinois, Ferentz said he didn't believe in throttling snap counts. This week, he repeated that in regard to defensive personnel.

'I don't believe in pitch counts. I told you that earlier,' Ferentz said. 'I think that's all bullcrap. And Bert Blyleven (a former Minnesota Twins pitcher who threw 4,970 innings in a 22-year Major League career) would back me up on that.'

Baseball isn't football, and pitching isn't linebacking.

Still, Iowa has made it this far. This is game 11 and a cavalry of reserves isn't going to magically appear.

There are eight days left and two games left in the regular season. There are eight days and two games of sucking it up left for Iowa's defense.

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