5.2 things to watch in the Hawkeyes scrimmage

IOWA CITY - Let's try not to focus on quarterback C.J. Beathard

today.

OK, that is kind of crazy. He is the quarterback and he did win the job in January (via coaches' decision) and force Jake Rudock

into de facto free agency. (Rudock, the two-year starter and senior incumbent, did just fine landing at Michigan.)

Beathard (6-2, 209 junior) will be front and center today when the Hawkeyes close out spring practice at Kinnick Stadium (gates open at noon, practice begins at 1). Let's not ignore the obvious. Your eyes will be on Beathard.

Let's not beat this to death. We've got 120-plus days before Iowa opens the 2015 season against Illinois State (oh, by the way, Beathard's uncle, Kurt, is the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for Illinois State, and, yes, there is a family resemblance).

We've covered every inch of the Beathard installation and what it might look like. The main points from offensive coordinator Greg Davis'

comments on this Wednesday were 1) Iowa has a chance to stretch the field, 2) Beathard's mental game as grown, 3) the physical talent always was there, 4) Iowa might have a reinvigorated short-passing game and 5) you may or may not see Beathard run the ball.

Here are some things you might want to track today at Kinnick (there are even some non-Beathard items):

1. The quick passing game

- Iowa is going to throw the flat route, which is the football name for that 3-yard short outlet pass. Iowa also will try to throw quick wide receiver screens and quick short passes. You've watched short passes become an element, for better or worse (it's been largely ineffective), in Iowa's offense. Don't think they're going to disappear with a QB change.

Conversely, don't believe that Beathard doesn't have the arm strength and release to make it work a little better.

'His release being that quick and the fact that he can put such power behind the ball, we'll be able to get more of a short game,” wide receiver Matt VandeBerg

said. 'I think our running game will open that up for us, too, with the quick play-action. I'm looking forward to it.”

1.2 - Ball placement:

We've seen enough and there are numbers that show Beathard has a strong arm. How accurate is it? Davis said ball placement has been an emphasis this spring.

'A lot of times a 12, 13-yard play may only be a 12-, 13-yard play if the receiver has to chatter his feet, turn his shoulders, whatever,” Davis said. 'Yet that same play may turn out to be a 15-, 16-yard play if the ball gets out a little bit quicker before the separation is closed. So, yes, I'm hopeful that we'll have the ability to have a few more run after catches.”

1.3 - CJB brain game

: Davis said Beathard closed the gap with Rudock on how he saw and called the game at the line of scrimmage and that was part of the reason for the change. VandeBerg put it this way: 'He's accepted the fact that he is our leader. Being the leader, you have to know the ins and outs of everything going on, in practice or the walk through. He makes sure he puts us in the right play. Whenever we follow his direction, good things seem to happen.”

2. Continued O-line juggling - Expect some musical chairs here, especially with sophomore guard Sean Welsh (unspecified leave) and redshirt freshman Ross Reynolds

(unspecified injury).

One possibility here is sophomore Ike Boettger, who currently occupies the starting right tackle spot, moving inside to left guard and installing junior Cole Croston

at right tackle. Boettger practiced at left guard during the last four or five weeks of 2014. If Croston, a 6-5, 295-pound walk-on, at right tackle feels better than guard minus Welsh, this could be a possibility.

2.1 - On the defensive side: D-line coach Reese Morgan said last week that junior tackle Kyle Terlouw (6-4, 288) will play this season. That potentially fortifies defensive tackle, which already should be one of the Hawkeyes' stronger positions. Junior Jaleel Johnson and sophomore Nathan Bazata are installed as starters. Junior Faith Ekakitie

will push. And now Terlouw, a walk-on from Lynville-Sully High School who had a few FCS scholarship opportunities coming out of Iowa Central Community College before deciding on a walk-on opportunity with Iowa.

'I had a lot of people tell me I couldn't do this,” Terlouw said. 'Coming from small-town Iowa, people kind of laughed at you. I was around the culture. I grew up watching Iowa football and thought that was something I could do, and I'm here now.”

Terlouw has already picked up one thing. Someone called him 'Turbo” at some point during camp last fall and that stuck.

3. The TEs seem to be changing

- Now there's a caveat with this. What is sometimes talked about with Iowa football in the spring doesn't always show up in the fall. But Davis did say Iowa's tight ends are being deployed differently this spring.

'We have tight ends that we feel like can be tough in mismatches, so we're doing things with tight ends and detached formations a little bit more than we have in the past,” Davis said.

He also added, 'But in terms of the weekly progression of what we do, not a huge change.”

3.1 - So, what do the tight ends have to say about this?:

Senior TE Henry Krieger Coble said more tight ends have been on the field this spring.

'[The new things have been] All the different ways we use guys and having multiple guys in there at once,” Krieger Coble said. 'In the same play, we can have two or three tight ends. We're trying to get the offense down, so we learn all the positions, wide receiver, tight end and ‘move' guy, more like a fullback. The more we can do, it's definitely great for our group and whatever is great for the offense is what we're going to do.”

3.2 - This sounds like interesting work for junior TE George Kittle:

Try to forget the fact that Krieger Coble and Kittle are cousins. Yes, he's contractually obligated to say nice things about his cousin. But Kittle, who missed a large chunk of last season with an ankle injury, kind of fits the 'move” definition and could be a wide receiver disguised as a 6-4, 235-pound TE.

'He's great in routes, he's improved a lot blocking,” Krieger Coble said. 'I think he's a great weapon for us. He's an awesome weapon.”

4. Follow the bouncing Smith - Senior Tevaun Smith

is Iowa's No. 1 receiver and, going off career stats, it's by a significant margin.

Smith, who led Iowa with 596 receiving yards last season, has 70 career receptions for 973 yards. Tight end Jake Duzey

is next with 58 career receptions for 678 yards. After those two, it's VandeBerg with 22 catches for 315 yards.

So, yes, Iowa is working on moving Smith around to find the best possible matchup.

'That was one of the things that we went into the off season in trying to find some ways to put him in spots that he hasn't played in as a slot receiver, for example,” Davis said. 'When he's an outside receiver it's easier to low coverage to him. It's harder to do that to a slot receiver. So, yes, we've done some things that we feel like will give him some opportunities to get more advantageous coverages.”

5. Cox is back - Iowa found a fullback in 2013 when Adam Cox

won the job. He was terrifically effective early in the season, particularly the ‘13 matchup at Iowa State, when the Hawkeyes rushed 60 times for 218 yards in a victory at Iowa State.

Cox missed 2014 after he suffered a torn ACL early in fall camp. Coincidentally, the injury happened a day after head coach Kirk Ferentz

awarded him a scholarship.

Cox began his career as a walk-on from Stillman Valley High School (Chana, Ill.). He clearly knows the value of work and he feels as if he owes Iowa for the scholarship.

'I was on an all-time high and then the next day I injured my knee and was at an all-time low,” Cox said. 'It was really disappointing. I always joke that I really haven't proven anything since I got that. That's something I owe to them.”

5.1 - Healthy fullbacks won't rocket the running game into the national top 5, but they can't hurt:

What will rocket Iowa's running game into the national top 5 - at least on the running backs' part - is what Davis talked about Wednesday.

'I think that we have more running backs since I've been here in terms of guys who can go in and play,” Davis said.

He then literally knocked on the table from which the news conference was being held.

5.2 - Some quick takes from Davis on the RBs: Junior LeShun Daniels

- 'LeShun Daniels has dropped about 10 pounds. He doesn't even look like the same guy. He's much more fluid in his cuts. He's running with confidence.”

On senior Jordan Canzeri

: 'Jordan Canzeri is back and healthy.”

On sophomore Akrum Wadley

: 'Akrum Wadley has continued to get stronger and has done a good job in spring training getting the ball. Obviously, that was a concern, but he has the unique ability to jump sideways and make a 5-yard play into a 15-yard play.”

On sophomore Derrick Mitchell

, who's transitioning into RB from wide receiver: 'Then, probably the surprise of the spring has been Derrick Mitchell. In terms of the running backs, moving from wide receiver, he has really done a good job picking things up. You never know how a wide receiver is going to react when he sees a blitz, Derrick did not shy away the first time. I think there's certainly a possibility that he could be the third down back. He could be the guy. Anytime you have a guy like that, it creates match up problems.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com