Your Northern Illinois two deeps: Rudock wins QB 1

You kind of got the feeling all along that it was going to be Jake Rudock.

Clue No. 1: Here's offensive coordinator Greg Davis on media day, when this, ostensibly, was a competition: “Jake is extremely bright, very bright. He's getting us into the right plays, making the right decisions.”

Right plays, right decisions.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz made it official Friday, naming the 6-3, 205-pound sophomore the Hawkeyes starting QB for the opener next Saturday against Northern Illinois.

"We plan to start Jake in our season opener," Ferentz said in a statement, "and we are all confident he will do a quality job."

Rudock was the lead QB in spring drills. He took all of the snaps with the No. 1 offense in last Saturday night's scrimmage.

Ferentz and offensive coordinator Greg Davis said it was an open competition. Rudock was the lead in every public appearance through spring and summer.

Here's Rudock, also from media day: "When you know more, it helps a lot,” he said. “You can make reads quicker. You can be more confident with what you're telling the line if you're moving the protection somewhere. You can say, ‘I want you to go this way, because here's what's happening.'”

Right plays, right decisions, confident in what he tells the team.

There was media day when Ferentz said Rudock had a "head start," even though he cushioned that statement.

"He was the No. 2, or at least he got the majority of the No. 2 snaps last year, so that gives him a head start certainly, but I don't think I wouldn't call it major," Ferentz said. "To me it's not like everybody else is really chasing him. It's not one of those situations.

"It's like every player needs to take what they do best and use it to their advantage, and Jake does that. He's a smart guy and a good, capable player. That's part of it. But I really think the key thing right now for all three of the guys is what they do in these 20 some practices here before we really get to game week."

Smart guy. Right plays, right decisions. Confident in what he tells the team.

Of course, there was what Iowa showed at last weekend's scrimmage, Rudock taking every snap with the No. 1s. Ferentz didn't make the call then, but it seemed like it was a matter of time.

"I've said all along that he's more experienced and that plays to his advantage," Ferentz said.

All along.

SE - 8 ** Don Shumpert ^ 6-3 200 Sr.

4 Tevaun Smith ^ 6-2 200 So.

LT - 68 ** Brandon Scherff 6-5 315 Jr.

76 ** Nolan MacMillan 6-6 294 Sr.

LG - 59 * Conor Boffeli 6-5 295 Sr.

58 Eric Simmons 6-2 295 So.

C - 63 * Austin Blythe 6-3 300 So.

57 Tommy Gaul 6-3 277 Jr.

RG - 65 Jordan Walsh 6-4 290 So.

78 * Andrew Donnal 6-7 305 Jr.

RT - 70 *** Brett Van Sloten 6-7 300 Sr.

73 Ryan Ward 6-5 290 #Fr.

TE - 86 *** C.J. Fiedorowicz ^ 6-7 265 Sr.

82 ** Ray Hamilton ^ 6-5 252 Jr. OR 87 * Jake Duzey 6-4 245 So.

QB - 15 Jake Rudock 6-3 205 So.

16 C.J. Beathard 6-2 195 #Fr. OR 19 Cody Sokol 6-2, 215 Jr.

WR - 11 ** Kevonte Martin-Manley 6-0 205 Jr.

23 * Jordan Cotton 6-1 192 Sr. OR 17 * Jacob Hillyer 6-4 205 So.

RB - 45 * Mark Weisman 6-0 236 Jr. OR 5 ** Damon Bullock 6-0 200 Jr.

33 * Jordan Canzeri 5-9 187 So.

FB - 38 Adam Cox 5-11 215 So.

42 Macon Plewa 6-2 234 So.

PK - 96 *** Mike Meyer ^ 6-2 190 Sr.

1 Marshall Koehn 6-0 195 So.

LE - 95 Drew Ott ^ 6-4 265 So.

98 * Mike Hardy 6-5 275 Jr.

LT - 71 * Carl Davis 6-5 315 Jr.

97 * Darian Cooper 6-2 280 So.

RT - 90 * Louis Trinca-Pasat 6-3 290 Jr.

67 Jaleel Johnson 6-4 307 #Fr.

RE - 79 ** Dominic Alvis 6-4 265 Sr.

94 Riley McMinn 6-7 260 So. OR 34 Nate Meier 6-2 235 So.

OLB - 20 *** Christian Kirksey ^ 6-2 235 Sr.

39 * Travis Perry 6-3 232 So.

MLB - 44 *** James Morris ^ 6-2 240 Sr.

52 ** Quinton Alston ^ 6-1 232 Jr.

WLB - 31 *** Anthony Hitchens ^ 6-1 233 Sr.

55 ** Marcus Collins 6-0 222 Jr. OR 36 Cole Fisher 6-2 228 So.

LC - 19 *** B.J. Lowery ^ 5-11 193 Sr.

28 Maurice Fleming 6-0 188 #Fr.

SS - 37 ** John Lowdermilk ^ 6-2 207 Jr.

21 ** Nico Law ^ 6-1 200 Jr.

FS - 5 *** Tanner Miller ^ 6-2 207 Sr.

12 Anthony Gair 6-2 200 #Fr.

RC - 27 * Jordan Lomax 5-10 195 So.

35 Gavin Smith 5-10 190 Sr.

PT - 98 Connor Kornbrath 6-6 215 So.

1 Marshall Koehn 6-0 195 So.

Punt returns: 11 Kevonte Martin-Manley

Kickoff returns: 33 Jordan Canzeri; 23 Jordan Cotton

Deep Snaps: 61 * Casey Kreiter 6-3 250 Jr.

Holder: 98 Connor Kornbrath

* – – Letters won

^ – – Redshirt year still available

# – – Indicates redshirt freshman