Iowa notes: Defensive corrections, rivalry revisited, Canzeri returns

IOWA CITY - Iowa gave up 51 points to Minnesota on Saturday, so the film wasn't kind to the Hawkeyes defense on Sunday. In fact, it may have been worse than expected.

'We had over 20 corrections that we went over as a team, as a defense,” cornerback Greg Mabin said. 'We came together and worked through them. I feel like we're going to be more prepared for this week because we're going to be seeing those plays against from here on until the rest of the season.

'It's never been as high as 20 plays, I can tell you that much.”

Minnesota rushed for 291 yards on 59 carries, the highest number of carries against Iowa since 2011. The Gophers completed 10 of 14 passes for 138 yards and generated 23 first downs. Minnesota also held the ball for nearly 37 minutes and converted 10 of 15 third-down opportunities.

'There's a lot of correction that needed to get done,” linebacker Quinton Alston said. 'Mostly it was Coach (Phil) Parker and Coach (Jim) Reid and all of the defensive coaches saying we need more hats on the ball. It can't just be one guy tackling the guy and everyone else standing around.”

'There were a lot of corrections we needed to fix and go over,” Iowa safety John Lowdermilk said. 'It was just little things that beat us that we can easily fix, and I think flushing that and getting on to Saturday. The earlier we can get on to that, the better. We know we're a lot better than that and we know we're a lot more physical than we showed.”

ILLINOIS BACK ON

Illinois and Iowa meet for the first time since Nov. 1, 2008, and plenty has happened around the college football world since their last game.

The Big Ten was an 11-school league back in 2008. Each team played two opponents annually (for Iowa it was Minnesota and Wisconsin; for Illinois it was Northwestern and Indiana), and the other league schools six times over an eight-year period. Iowa and Illinois simply cycled off one another's schedule for 2009 and 2010. They originally were slated to play Oct. 8, 2011 for Iowa's homecoming.

Then the Big Ten added Nebraska for 2011 and revamped the schedules. Iowa and Illinois originally got pushed back until 2015, then brought up to 2014 when the Big Ten added Maryland and Rutgers. They're now placed in the same division and will compete annually - or until the next wave of realignment.

'I've said it before. It's kind of weird,” Ferentz said. 'I did an awards luncheon over in Quad Cities across the river in April. And that was the first time it really struck me driving over, I don't know why I was thinking of it, but started thinking about playing in Champaign and it struck me odd that we haven't been there since ‘08.

'So I think it's good. I think it's one of the nice things about the East/West Division in the conference. I think it's really going to be, just feels a bit more natural. And so if we don't play Rutgers for six years, I don't know when we play them, but that's not as big a deal as when you don't play one of your border states.”

CANZERI TO RETURN

Running back Jordan Canzeri missed his second consecutive game last week. Canzeri was suited up and participated in pregame warm-ups, but Ferentz declined to play him against the Gophers.

Canzeri, a junior, began the season banged up in training camp, then hurt a heel returning a kickoff against Iowa State. He has played in seven games, averages 4.0 yards a carry but doesn't have a touchdown.

'It's a bad year for him in general,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'Put it in one little capsule. And he was eligible to play the other day. He didn't look great in practice.

'I don't think putting Walter Payton in would have changed things on Saturday. There's no sense having him go backwards. So we expect him to be healthier and hopefully he'll be part of our rotation Saturday.”

SPEARMAN BACK

Red-shirt freshman Josey Jewell will open at weakside linebacker Saturday, and sophomore Reggie Spearman will back him up after a two-game suspension for a drunken-driving arrest.

The duo competed for that position during camp, but Jewell suffered a broken hand that required surgery. Spearman claimed the starting job, which he held until his arrest.

'Both those guys are competing for that spot,” Ferentz said. 'Josey got injured, busted his hand, so Reggie got it by default. Now it's going the other way by default.

'They're both good young guys, but they're young guys.”

COLDER WEATHER

According to weather.com, Saturday's forecast includes a high temperature of 39 degrees. It's likely to be 6-10 degrees colder at kickoff with winds reaching 11 mph from the south.

'I think you have to get used to it each year,” quarterback Jake Rudock said. 'We've been practicing in the cold and in the wind, and Coach Ferentz does that for a reason for all the guys. We all have to play in any weather that's out there.

'If it's raining and hurricane-like conditions, it's hurricane-like conditions for them.”

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