As the Hawkeyes offense rebuilds personnel-wise . . .

EVANSTON, Ill., - Look down the middle of Iowa's defense. Look at the NFL prototype defensive tackle. Look at the middle linebacker whose smarts put him two steps ahead of a play. Look at the free safety who graduated last May with an economics degree and who is capable of delivering a tooth-chipping hit.

This is where it's all happening.

The No. 13 Hawkeyes (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) go into their bye week riding a wave of offensive successes. Iowa's offense produced two different 200-yard backs the last two weeks. Quarterback C.J. Beathard played through hip and groin and who knows what other leg injuries in the Hawkeyes' 40-10 victory at Northwestern (5-2, 1-2) last weekend, earning this from head coach Kirk Ferentz:

'That was just pure guts today on his part.”

Iowa's offense was able to withstand the loss of No. 1 running back Jordan Canzeri, who suffered an ankle sprain late in the first quarter and was unable to return, and turn loose sophomore Akrum Wadley for 204 yards and four TDs. Iowa's offense was able to survive a dramatically slowed down Beathard. Iowa's offense was able to earn a high-life living off at least its fourth different starting lineup on the offensive line.

Iowa's offense was able to do this because Iowa's defense has been magnificent this season and was sterling against the Wildcats.

And a lot of what Iowa's defense is starts right down the middle with defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson, middle linebacker Josey Jewell and free safety Jordan Lomax.

Johnson has provided a constant push up front. He's 6-4, 310 pounds and plays every bit of that. Iowa went into the season with new starters at both offensive tackle spots. Johnson and sophomore Nathan Bazata are new starters at the defensive tackle spots.

Their play has been on par with last year's duo of Carl Davis and Louis Trinca-Pasat, both of whom are in the NFL this year.

'We're just doing our jobs, doing what we need to do,” Johnson said after producing a sack and a fumble against the Wildcats. 'We stop the run and once we do that, guys like Jordan and Desmond King stop the pass.”

You need a ladder to chart the improvement of Iowa's inside linebacker play since last season. A lot of that simply is Jewell's improvement.

Iowa's inside linebackers had 7.0 tackles for loss last season (Quinton Alston had six of those). This year, Jewell and senior Cole Fisher have combined for 8.0. Last year, Iowa's inside LBs had 4.5 sacks. Jewell and Fisher have combined for five this season, with Jewell collecting 1.5 sacks and forcing a fumble against Northwestern.

'Everyone is doing what they need to do and not going out of their shoes and trying to do something they usually don't do,” Jewell said. 'We're trying to stay in what we're trying to do all of the time and not trying to do anything special. We're supposed to play as a whole.”

The big hits have been cool (the one on the TE at Wisconsin, the one on the sideline against Illinois two weeks ago, but don't discount the mental edge that Lomax brings to the game.

Northwestern put together one drive against the Hawkeyes. NU quarterback Clayton Thorson directed a 12-play, 76-yard drive, which saw the Wildcats convert third downs of 10 and 15 yards. Iowa blew some coverages during the drive, with Thorson hitting Mike McHugh for a 34-yard gain that eventually set up a wide-open 4-yard TD pass to Christian Jones.

Instead of freaking out, Iowa's secondary diagnosed and corrected mistakes. Northwestern had just 76 passing yards thereafter.

'In the first half, we had a lot of blown coverages out there,” said King, who picked off his sixth pass this season. 'We had some mental errors. Second half, we cleared it up, came back out and played team defense.”

As Iowa's offense has rebuilt itself personnel-wise in the face of a mountain of injuries (don't expect everyone or maybe anyone to magically reappear after the bye, it's only two weeks), the defense has been the scaffolding.

You've noticed the theme. The scaffolding doesn't talk about itself, it works because every screw is in place.

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