Minnesota’s defense to provide latest ‘challenge’ for Iowa football

IOWA CITY — As Iowa’s offensive and defensive linemen went through warmups on a snowy field Tuesday at the beginning of football practice, Logan Jones was in for a bit of a surprise.

“I got pelted by all of our D-linemen,” said Jones, Iowa’s center and a former defensive lineman. “I went up for a high-five with Joe (Evans) and he threw a snowball right at my stomach.”

The offense had some shots at the defense, too.

Linebackers coach Seth Wallace was a popular target among the fullbacks on Iowa’s scout team, according to linebacker Jay Higgins. Jones had his chance to fire back at the defense, too, after practice.

But looking ahead, Jones and the Iowa offense will have a more menacing opponent than a snowball-wielding teammate this weekend at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Saturday’s Iowa-Minnesota game will be a battle of two of the best defenses not only in the Big Ten, but in the country.

Iowa ranks fifth in the FBS in points allowed per game with 13.9 and first in yards allowed per play with 3.81.

Minnesota is fourth in points allowed per game with 13.1 and 16th in yards allowed per play with 4.83.

“They’re very physical up front,” Jones said. “They know what they’re doing. They know their assignments. So we’re just going to have to get physical and get vertical with these guys.”

It will not be the first time Iowa goes up against one of the top defenses in the country.

Michigan is first in the country with 11.2 points allowed per game. Illinois is third with 12.5 points allowed per game. Ohio State is seventh with 15.6. Iowa State is tied for ninth with 16.7.

Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State, Iowa State and Wisconsin also all are ahead of Minnesota in yards allowed per play. The Hawkeyes lost all but one of those games.

“They have a clear identity,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said of the Gophers’ defense. “The bottom line is they play it really well. … It’s going to be a challenge for us.”

When Iowa runs the ball this weekend, quarterback Spencer Petras said those will be “tough yards” to pick up.

“They clearly try to stop the run quite a bit,” Petras said. “They like to play with their safeties really low and load the box. … Every run play, it’s going to be heavily contested.”

It will be another test for an offensive line that has shown mixed results in 2022. It struggled for the first half of the season and had success against Purdue and especially Northwestern before again struggling against Wisconsin.

Snap timing

Snap timing has been among the issues continuing to bug the line.

“You’d like to think in November you’re past that,” Ferentz said.

Jones took responsibility for that problem Tuesday, knowing he “should be the first guy off the ball every time.”

“I don’t know really how to explain it,” Jones said. “Sometimes I’m a little late. Sometimes our guys are jumping it. … I just got to work on it in practice, then apply it in the game.”

Jones believes part of it is a “confidence thing.”

“Sometimes I’m doing it,” Jones said. “Sometimes I’m not.”

While Petras said he will “get on his a-- about it,” the quarterback has seen improvement.

“There’s certain situations where he maybe snaps it late,” Petras said. “It’s not an egregious late snap. It’s just I like it early.”

Jones is “learning how much of an advantage that is,” Petras said. Perfecting it “just takes time,” though.

“We’re not a clap cadence team — where there’s no anticipating anything, it’s just once the quarterback claps you snap the ball,” Petras said. “We’re very rhythmic.”

An improvement in snap timing would undoubtedly pay dividends in Saturday’s battle for Floyd of Rosedale.

“It helps everything if you can get off the ball before the D-tackle,” Petras said.

Iowa has won the last seven games against Minnesota, but the Gophers are a three-point favorite.

“Bottom line is we're going up there, it's a November road contest, a rivalry game and we'll have to play our best to be in this thing,” Ferentz said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com