Iowa’s defense has a big-play problem, but Kirk Ferentz sees it as a ‘correctable’ issue

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s defense has a reputation for a couple things.

One is forcing turnovers. The other? “We're known for not giving up big plays,” football coach Kirk Ferentz said on Saturday.

The 2024 season has been an obvious exception, as big plays have burned the Hawkeye defense in two of their three games.

Iowa gave up 62- and 63-yard touchdown receptions in its Week 3 win over Troy and a 75-yard touchdown reception the week before in its loss to Iowa State.

Already through three games, Iowa has allowed more 50-plus-yard plays (three) than it did in all 14 games of the 2023 season (two). Iowa State, Penn State and Northwestern did not have any 20-plus-yard plays at all in their 2023 games against the Hawkeyes, let alone 50-plus-yard plays.

The three 50-plus-yard plays given up in the 2024 nonconference slate outnumber those given up in the Hawkeyes’ 2021, 2022 and 2023 regular-season nonconference slates combined.

“Giving up big plays makes it tough to play winning football, so it’s something we have to get corrected,” Ferentz said in his Tuesday news conference.

Iowa safety Quinn Schulte attributed the big plays to “poor communication in the back end and poor technique and fundamentals.”

“You go over the film, you correct the mistakes and then you move on,” the Cedar Rapids native said. “Focus on fundamentals for next week and try to get better.”

The last time Iowa gave up two 50-plus-yard plays was in the 2021 Big Ten title game against Michigan, when the Hawkeyes allowed a 67-yard touchdown run and a 75-yard touchdown reception in their 42-3 loss.

Both of the Troy touchdown receptions last weekend happened as wide receiver Devonte Ross beat Iowa cornerback T.J. Hall. The first one — the 63-yarder — was a “mental error,” Ferentz said.

“As a defensive back, you’ve always got to keep the ball in front of you,” Ferentz said. “That’s just paramount.”

Ferentz tied the second one to “fuzziness with the communication.”

“Everybody has got to be on the same page, and there’s certain leverages or techniques that have to be used,” Ferentz said. “And it may move more than one guy. Quite frankly, quite typically, it does.”

Iowa is obviously without All-America defensive back Cooper DeJean this year after he was a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, but that alone seems to be an unlikely culprit for the big-play woes. When DeJean was sidelined for the last five games of the 2023 season with his lower-leg injury, Iowa only gave up one 50-plus-yard play.

“The good news is we’ve played good defense with all the same guys on the field,” Ferentz said.

Hall, despite giving up the pair of big plays, remained one of Iowa’s first-team cornerbacks on Monday’s depth chart along with Jermari Harris. Ferentz said “all four are really close” when asked about the cornerback pecking order between Harris, Hall, Deshaun Lee and John Nestor.

“I feel confident with all four,” Ferentz said.

Defensive issues aside, Ross also returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown against the Hawkeyes on Saturday. It was the first time Iowa allowed a punt return for a touchdown since 2015. Ferentz on Tuesday called it “junior high coverage, quite frankly.”

“That guy could have had a cup of coffee and stopped at our bench … and then kept going,” Ferentz said. “Nobody was even close. That’s just bad football.”

Fortunately for Hawkeye fans, Ferentz sees Iowa’s big-play issues as “correctable.”

He analogized it to the correctable issue of having too many penalties.

Iowa committed seven penalties in its season opener against Illinois State; in the two games since, Iowa committed only three penalties (and one was an intentional delay of game). The Hawkeyes are tied for eighth nationally in fewest penalty yards per game.

“Sometimes it’s just a matter of, ‘Hey, we’ve got to concentrate better, and we’ve got to be a little more tuned in to what’s going on,” Ferentz said.

Of course, the stakes of a penalty are a lot lower than the stakes of allowing a 63-yard touchdown reception. Iowa, Ferentz said, “can’t have those lapses.”

“You just don’t get those back,” Ferentz said.

Had it not been for Iowa State’s 75-yard touchdown reception in its 20-19 win over Iowa, the Hawkeyes might very well be the ones hoisting the Cy-Hawk trophy.

Iowa overcame the big plays against Troy — all three when counting the special teams blunder — but the margin for error will be much slimmer against Big Ten competition starting Saturday at Minnesota rather than a Troy team that ranks 123rd in the country in yards allowed per play.

“We’re certainly going to have to improve as we start to move into conference play now,” Ferentz said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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