Iowa’s defense has stifled opposing running backs in 2024, but hefty challenge looms

IOWA CITY — Jay Higgins is particularly proud of his shared tackle with fellow Iowa linebacker Nick Jackson last month at Minnesota.

“I was sitting on my B gap, came back to the weak C and Nick was already on the tackle,” Higgins said.

As Higgins did his part, he kept an eye on what Jackson was doing. They “met at the bottom of the pile” and Higgins had a few words for his friend.

“Nick, that was a great play, dude,” Higgins remembers telling him.

Plays like that have been commonplace with the Hawkeyes’ defense, which has been one of the most efficient groups in the country at defending the run. Iowa ranks fourth in the country with only 62 rushing yards allowed per game. Iowa’s 2.41 rushing yards allowed per carry is fifth-best in the country.

“Obviously our front line has really been good, and we’ve got two good backers,” defensive coordinator Phil Parker said during Iowa’s bye week. “It’s hard to run the ball against us.”

Higgins also gave credit to Iowa’s defensive line, which has thrived despite losing two NFL-caliber players. (Logan Lee is on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ active roster, and Joe Evans was on the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad for much of last month.)

“Those dudes are playing amazing,” Higgins said. “Sometimes, the ball is not even getting up to the second level. Any time you’re in that situation, it’s always a good thing.”

Defensive ends Max Llewellyn, Brian Allen and Ethan Hurkett each have 3.5 tackles for loss so far this season. In the interior, Aaron Graves and Yahya Black are not far behind with 3 and 2.5 tackles for loss, respectively.

Iowa’s ability to stop the run is all while the Hawkeyes remain relatively conservative in terms of supplementing the box with help from the secondary.

“We want to stop the run with the four guys up front, the two linebackers and we’ll sneak a guy down once in a while. … We want the secondary to help, but we don’t want to give up those big plays,” Parker said.

Iowa’s success in this facet also is despite going against capable running backs such as Minnesota’s Darius Taylor, Iowa State’s Abu Sama and Troy’s Damien Taylor. All three have recorded at least one 100-plus-yard performance this season.

Minnesota’s 79 rushing yards against Iowa were the fewest for the Gophers against Iowa since 2019 although that is partially because Minnesota only attempted 21 rushing attempts.

“I don’t know how many times they ran the ball, but they didn’t run the ball as much as they usually try to run the ball against us,” Parker said. “So I think some people understand that, ‘Hey, we want to stop the run.’”

Stopping the run is certainly not a new recipe for success on Evashevski Drive. The Hawkeyes allowed 111.8 rushing yards per game (15th-best in FBS) and 3.14 rushing yards per carry (eighth-best in FBS) in 2023. They led the FBS in 2022 with only 2.83 yards allowed per carry.

CBS college football analyst Gary Danielson told The Gazette last month ahead of calling the Iowa-Iowa State game that Iowa’s defensive players “know what to do.”

“They’re strong up front,” said Danielson, who also will be on the call for this week’s Iowa-Ohio State game. “They don’t get knocked down a lot. They’ve got a middle linebacker that understands the defense and never gives you the same look twice.”

Iowa’s stellar run defense is about to face a much bigger challenge this week — likely the biggest challenge the unit will face all season — as it heads to No. 3 Ohio State.

The Buckeyes have two running backs with track records of competing at an elite level against tough competition. TreVeyon Henderson was a first-team all-Big Ten honoree last year, and Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins was a first-team all-SEC honoree.

The duo has combined to rack up 666 yards and nine rushing touchdowns through Ohio State’s first four games. Judkins is averaging 8.3 yards per carry on his 47 attempts, and Henderson is averaging 8.9 yards per carry on his 31 attempts.

“We always are going to get a fresh back,” Higgins said of the Ohio State tandem.

Higgins was particularly complimentary of Henderson and Judkins’ “ability to see the open gaps and hit it.”

“I don’t think on tape they’ve been tackled from like an arm tackle yet, so definitely need to bring our feet on every tackle,” Higgins said. “Both of them have big-play ability. … They’re really good in the pass protection, which probably goes unnoticed, but they’re always picking up the right blitzer and things like that.”

That leaves the onus on Iowa’s defense to make solid tackles like the one Higgins was so proud of from the Minnesota game.

“I said, ‘That’s going to look good on tape,’” Higgins said. “And it did.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

Sign up for our curated Iowa Hawkeyes athletics newsletter at thegazette.com/hawks.