Iowa special teams gains, but not disaster-proof

IOWA CITY -- Kirk Ferentz took the blame for the onside kick that contributed greatly to the Hawkeyes' defeat at Minnesota last weekend.

With 8:22 left, Minnesota kicker Jordan Wettstein earned Big Ten special teams player of the week with a fake kickoff, pivot and masterful onside boot that caught Iowa completely flatfooted.

Minnesota recovered, drove for a touchdown and secured Floyd of Rosedale for the second straight season in a shocking manner.

"The onside kick, I'll take that one," the Iowa coach said Tuesday. "How's that? Just as soon as he started making his approach, I almost called timeout. I'm standing next to an official. I should've in retrospect, but I didn't. So, that's the way it goes."

That's the way it's gone for Iowa special teams in the last two seasons.

Chronologically, there was Eastern Illinois' fake punt, the fake punt that Wisconsin used to vault to a win at Kinnick Stadium last season, an onside kick Minnesota sprang in the first quarter of its 2010 win over Iowa and then Saturday's onside pivot to Big Ten player of the week and a pig.

Ferentz said he doesn't see vulnerabilities, but instead his Iowa's special teams units as progressing.

"No, I don't think so. I think we're gaining ground, quite frankly," he said. "That's one of the things I'm optimistic about. I think we're gaining ground.

". . . The root of the cause is I'm not overly concerned about. I think there are things that certainly can be addressed."

It might be difficult to process given last week's struggles -- the onside kick and two Mike Meyer failed field goals (24 and 43 yards) -- but Iowa is inching forward.

After Louisiana Monroe, Iowa's kick coverage team ranked in the 100s in FBS with an average of 24.3 yards per return. The Hawkeyes are now No. 55 with 20.9 a return. Punter Eric Guthrie is fifth in the Big Ten with 42.5 yards a punt and was named to the Ray Guy Award list this week. The Hawkeyes are 14th nationally in punt coverage, allowing just 4.17 yards per return.

Going into last week's 0-fer, Meyer had a streak of five straight field goals.

"He's a good kicker," Ferentz said. "We all have games like that. The best miss them. Things like that happen. He's not the best yet, but he's got a chance to be a really good player here. He's going to work through that."

So, the numbers say there is something to Ferentz's statement on gaining ground.

"We've taken a lot of big shots on special teams this year, from first game to now and especially on kickoff team," said wide receiver Keenan Davis, who's one of Iowa's kick returners. "They've been doing really well the last few games. This is something we need to learn from.

"Special teams are building, every year it's like this. Special teams are going to keep building and getting better."

But that onside kick, it took a lot of the sparkle off any improvement.

Junior running back Jason White was the focal point of the play. Iowa didn't call on its "hands" team to field a potential onside kick. Regular kick return was out there. The way the play shaped up, three Minnesota defenders crushed White and two were left to recover the ball. No other Hawkeye was within a 7-yard radius.

Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said after the game that he wouldn't have called the onside if Iowa had its hands team on the field.

White said running backs coach and co-special teams coach Lester Erb is in charge of kick return. Linebackers coach and special teams co-coach Darrell Wilson told the unit to be ready for a possible onside kick.

"At that point, we were not," White said when asked if they were prepared for an onside attempt. "In football anything can happen on any given play. In that particular instance, they executed very well and we just didn't, unfortunately."

White said they were alerted, calling it "special teams alert." He saw the ball go into the air, but while his eyes locked on that, he was cleared out by Minnesota defenders.

"Obviously, we weren't in an ideal lineup to return an onside kick or to recover one," he said. "That was perfectly executed on their part. . . . We were on special teams alert, we just weren't lined up and prepared for it."

White said he didn't know if he could call a timeout. The play changed from a regular kickoff to an onside so quickly that, realistically, there was no time.

"Everybody had a reaction, but nobody could get there quickly enough," White said.

Everybody had a reaction. Jordan Bernstine, who was at his usual spot as the main return specialist said, "I was 45 yards away, so I just kind of started pointing and running."

Everybody had a reaction. And there still is some pointing.