Hawkeyes determined to make first impression count to start the season

IOWA CITY — There’s only one shot at a first impression.

Most of Iowa football’s roster has been with the program for a long time. Logan Jones is starting his sixth season. Ethan Hurkett isn’t far behind him. It’s head coach Kirk Ferentz’s 27th season leading the program.

This Hawkeye team has a lot of returning faces, but there’s still a lot of newness engulfing the returners.

The beginning of any college football season is littered with “what ifs” and “who knows.” Some questions are bigger, or more important, than others. Maybe there’s an extra glimmer of hope or a growing pit in fans’ stomachs. It varies every year.

Iowa has one opportunity at this. One shot at setting the tone for the rest of the season.

“That being said, it's the first game, especially for our entire football team, a lot of our players — high percentage of guys — haven't really been out there playing offensively and defensively when it counts, and those kinds of things,” Ferentz said. “We'll be curious to see how they all react.”

The Hawkeyes have their own goals to accomplish Week 1: get the depth chart finalized, see who thrives under Kinnick Stadium’s lights.

They see the anticipation from fans about this season, especially on offense. It’s just how they’ll go about it.

Dependability is the key term across the board.

“Really just showing that we still, we still could be RBU,” running back Kamari Moulton said. “Knowing that (Kaleb Johnson) left, we still want to make that impact.”

“Just knowing that you could depend on us, and that it is a new season. We’re going to be here, and just really being consistent like no wishy-washy, just everything we know what we're doing and doing it well.”

Moulton earned the starting job at running back to start the season, after earning a good number of snaps at the position behind Johnson. Terrell Washington Jr. also is an option.

Iowa’s running back room lists four players in Week 1, with Moulton and Washington Jr. the top two and Xavier Williams and Jaziun Patterson right behind them. It’s a deep group, all with the goal of expanding Iowa’s run game without its NFL caliber rusher — and a lot of youth to develop along the way.

“Everybody is good at different things,” Moulton said. “And as a running back group as a whole, we're just all-around great players and athletes. I feel like, if anybody gets called in, we’ll all do what needs to be done.”

Or in some cases, first impressions are a lot more blunt.

“First goal for me, and really for the team, is just to win,” TJ Hall said. “And then really, every other goal will take take care of itself as long as we do our job.”

Winning, yes, is the top goal. A game against FCS’ Albany might mean the Hawkeyes have a decent tune-up before heading to Ames next week, but no one faces more pressure for a positive first impression like Mark Gronowski.

Good thing he’s played his fair share of games, and he’s already played at Kinnick Stadium just a few seasons ago. It’s just about playing well when the ones dressed in black and gold are all rooting for him, not against.

“I always want to exceed expectations when I get the opportunity to,” Gronowski said. “But, you know, knowing that it's a great opportunity, it's a blessing to be out there.”

With a quarterback playing in his fifth season, he also knows the Iowa coaching staff is the critic to please on Saturday, not always the fans.

“If I just can go out there, execute at a high level and have fun, it doesn't really matter what else other people are thinking out there,” Gronowski said. “As long as we have an efficient game on offense, we’ll be good ...”

Iowa football has its game plan set in stone. The first game jitters are back, in the best way possible for Hawkeye fans. The players feel it, too.

There’s a wealth of opportunities ahead. What other emotion is there to feel but anticipation?

It’s just a matter of what happens when Iowa takes the field, and how it’s all interpreted during each drive.

“I'm just excited. Excited for the opportunity, and just really blessed to be in this position,” Moulton said. “I just want to show the world what I can do.”

Comments: madison.hricik@thegazette.com