Iowa football rewind: Run defense, offensive line quietly thrive against Rutgers

IOWA CITY — Iowa football’s win against Rutgers was a tale of two halves.

Iowa had three points in the first half.

Then in the second half, Iowa had 19 points in what was the team’s highest-scoring half against a Power Five team since Iowa’s 21-point first half against Kentucky in last year’s Music City Bowl.

“First half looks like Iowa football,” offensive lineman Mason Richman said after the 22-0 win. “Second half was like, ‘Oh, what the heck was that?’”

The surge of offense perhaps overshadowed what was another outstanding defensive performance. Rutgers averaged a meager 3.1 yards per play against the Hawkeyes after averaging 5.2 yards per play against its first nine opponents.

Most notably, Iowa held Kyle Monangai, the Big Ten’s leading rusher entering play, to 39 yards on 13 carries.

“If the running back got it going, which you can see why, he's a good football player,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “That was a big key for us to keep him under control, and it was a team effort. The guys up front, the linebackers certainly, safeties filling in, but it is easier said than done.”

Here are a few more observations after taking another look at the film:

Offensive line

Iowa’s offensive line certainly was not 100 percent from a health standpoint, but one would not have noticed from how the position group played against Rutgers.

The offensive line’s improvement was immediately evident. On the second play of the game — a second-and-1 with Iowa in a two-tight-end set — Iowa called a simple outside zone run play. Running back Leshon Williams went untouched for more than 20 yards as it turned into a gain of 24.

Iowa’s 3.9 yards per rushing attempt will not wow many people who are scanning the box score, but that number comes with a few caveats.

Rutgers frequently left Iowa’s wide receivers in one-on-one coverage while loading the box. It is no surprise considering Iowa’s past passing woes, but nonetheless, it created a heftier challenge for the offensive line.

The Hawkeyes also did not have the continuity that many teams would like to have on the offensive line. Logan Jones, who was listed as questionable going into the game, started at center before exiting following the first drive.

On Iowa’s first three drives, it had three different offensive line groupings on the field. True freshman Kade Pieper also received some in-game snaps at left guard late in the game.

Iowa’s pass protection also had a good day against Rutgers. Quarterback Deacon Hill was kept clean on 83.9 percent of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus.

That protection made a noticeable difference as Hill had his best performance of the sophomore’s career. Hill completed 73 percent of passes when kept clean versus 20 percent when under pressure.

Keeping it away from DeJean

It was obvious Rutgers did not want to give Iowa defense and special teams star Cooper DeJean any opportunities to make more highlight-worthy punt return plays.

The Scarlet Knights were largely successful in that pursuit.

Rutgers’ Flynn Appleby punted nine times. Eight of those punts either went out of bounds, was downed by a Rutgers player or resulted in a DeJean fair catch. DeJean’s lone punt return went for three yards.

Keeping DeJean away from spots where he could make plays seemed to be more than just a special teams strategy. Rutgers’ Gavin Wimsatt only threw to DeJean’s receivers twice — which is tied for the fewest attempts this season, according to PFF.

Both were incompletions. DeJean leveled a hard enough hit on Rutgers wide receiver JaQuae Jackson on one of those plays that Jackson had to exit the game.

The injury aside, limiting throws toward DeJean was a wise idea considering DeJean has only allowed receptions on 45.7 percent of passes thrown his way this season, according to PFF. He has allowed only one 15-plus-yard reception.

DeJean has been especially effective in the last three games, with quarterbacks going 3-of-11 when throwing to his receivers.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com