Iowa football rewind: A closer look at tight end productivity, Seth Anderson’s touchdown

IOWA CITY — Luke Lachey had a big grin on his face after Saturday’s Iowa football win as a reporter asked about having four tight ends on the field at one time.

“When Coach (Abdul) Hodge came in and he wrote up that personnel grouping, I went straight to the receivers room and tried to find Nico (Ragaini),” the Iowa tight end said. “He wasn’t in there. But Vines was. I was like, ‘Come on, Diante. Look at this.’”

The idea of having two, three or even four tight ends on the field at one time — something that may seem somewhat countercultural in the age of spread offenses — was a frequent tool for the Iowa offense in its 24-14 win over Utah State.

Iowa lined up with two or more tight ends on almost 70 percent of its plays, excluding the final kneel down.

It is no surprise considering how much production the tight ends accounted for in the Week 1 victory.

When quarterback Cade McNamara threw to his tight ends Saturday, the former third-team all-Big Ten honoree was 10-of-13 for 88 yards. When he threw to his wide receivers, he was 3-of-11 for 72 yards.

His second touchdown pass — a 3-yard play-action completion to tight end Erick All — was while Iowa had four tight ends on the field. Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson also scored his 3-yard rushing touchdown with four tight ends ahead of him to block.

While conventional wisdom would suggest having more of a team’s productive weapons on the field would bear better results, lining up with more tight ends on the field was not always the most effective option against Utah State.

Iowa averaged 2.4 yards per play with two or more tight ends on the field, compared to 4.1 yards overall. (For perspective, the Hawkeyes averaged a Power Five-worst 4.2 yards per play last year.)

McNamara’s three biggest completions — the 36-yard touchdown pass to wideout Seth Anderson, 31-yard third-down throw to Lachey and the 29-yard connection with wideout Nico Ragaini — all were while the Hawkeyes were in 11 personnel (one tight end, one running back and three wide receivers).

Iowa can experiment with 13 and 14 personnel because of its depth at tight end. Third-teamer Addison Ostrenga is “a guy who we’re really high on,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said Saturday. Fourth-string tight end Steven Stilianos, meanwhile, has experience from four years with FCS-level Lafayette College.

“Tough transition from a smaller school, but boy, he has really done a good job and started getting everybody's confidence last spring the way he was practicing,” Ferentz said of Stilianos. “Kind of continued that through August. So I think we have some depth there.”

Development opportunities on defensive line

Nine different defensive linemen took 15-plus snaps in the win over Utah State, per Pro Football Focus:

In comparison, two linebackers took 15-plus defensive snaps, and six defensive backs took 15-plus snaps.

How did Seth Anderson get so wide-open on his touchdown

As Anderson hauled in his first touchdown reception as a Hawkeye, the nearest Utah State defender was more than 10 yards behind him. So how did he get so open?

Anderson was lined up out wide on the left side. He began running a go route on the inside of cornerback Michael Anyanwu.

Anderson did a double-move, turning as if he was going on a corner route before proceeding on the go route. It faked out Anyanwu, who stumbled at the 16-yard line and could not catch up.

Meanwhile, All drew the strong safety with him on an in route long enough that Anyanwu was the only one who would’ve had a shot at Anderson.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com