Drew Stevens remains Iowa’s top option at kicker despite shaky showing against Nebraska

IOWA CITY — Drew Stevens’ shaky showing Friday against Nebraska did not seem to shake Iowa football’s long-term confidence in its second-year kicker.

The current plan is to give Stevens the nod as the team’s top kicker against Michigan in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game, Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz told reporters on Sunday afternoon via Zoom.

"We’ll see how the week goes, but as I sit here right now, my plan would be Drew,“ Ferentz said. ”Drew’s played really well for us.“

Stevens has made 34-of-44 field goal attempts since making his collegiate debut last year as a true freshman.

Stevens was benched in the second half of Iowa’s 13-10 win over Nebraska after he had two blocked field goals and two kickoffs that landed out of bounds. Marshall Meeder, a walk-on transfer from Central Michigan, replaced Stevens and hit a game-winning 38-yard field goal attempt.

“He’s done a lot of good things for us — really good things — and on Friday, it just wasn’t working for him,” Ferentz said.

The two blocked field goals were Stevens’ first two misses from less than 40 yards out.

“He’s got a really good resume,” Ferentz said. “He’s an outstanding performer. I’m confident he’ll bounce back here and be ready to go on Saturday.”

Diante Vines, Kaleb Brown ‘have a chance’ to play

Injured Iowa wide receivers Diante Vines and Kaleb Brown “have a chance” of playing in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game, Ferentz said.

“I don’t know if I can gauge how optimistic, but I’m optimistic,” Ferentz said. “We’ll know more tomorrow, Tuesday, give you a report on Tuesday afternoon, but I’ll just leave it at this. I think they both have a chance.”

Brown exited Friday’s game with an injury, cutting short a productive month of November for the Ohio State transfer.

After not having any catches in September or October, Brown had 14 receptions for 142 yards in Iowa’s four games in November.

Vines has not played since Iowa’s 10-7 win over Northwestern on Nov. 4. His 12 receptions this season are the fifth-most on the team despite his prolonged absence.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com