Collective Hawkeyes make collective effort

AMES — In the second half, Iowa's defense looked like a spring practice crew after the coaches sat a few of the stars and threw in a some underclassmen they just wanted to scout.

Only this wasn't April and that wasn't just some random dude redshirt freshman Joshua Jackson ran down the field with one-on-one in the second half. This was Iowa State and newly configured Jack Trice Stadium filled to the brim with red and that was junior wide receiver Riley McCarron catching his fourth career pass to give Iowa (2-0) its winning points in a 31-17 victory over Iowa State (1-1) on Saturday.

Wait, McCarron is a junior, he's been there and done that. His TD grab Saturday was his first reception in 20 games. McCarron was plagued by injuries and mononucleosis last season and didn't catch a pass. The pass that quarterback C.J. Beathard put on his facemask and McCarron wrangled in the corner of the end zone after throwing a double move on corner Jomal Wiltz was his first reception since the Michigan State game in 2013, a little less than two years ago.

'It's football, man,' McCarron said.

Spring is a good entry point for Jackson. He switched from corner and ended last spring as a promising wide receiver. With a few departures, Jackson found himself back at corner during fall camp.

He went one-on-one a few times in the second half with Iowa State star receiver Allen Lazard. Lazard got him once for a 17-yard gain along the sideline in the third quarter, but Jackson acted as if he belonged and didn't blow any coverages.

'That guy has grown up tremendously over the last year,' middle linebacker Josey Jewell said. 'He's an all-around great player now. He can keep working. He's far from his potential and he's really good.'

Junior cornerback Desmond King had a lot to do with springing himself for a 34-yard punt return that set up the game-winning drive with six minutes left in the fourth quarter. He did, after all, make three Cyclones miss seconds after catching the ball.

That unit, however, did from there execute a middle return, with King finding a seam to move the ball to the 50-yard line.

That punt return team had some special teams veterans (senior linebackers Cole Fisher and Travis Perry, sophomore linebacker Ben Niemann, safeties Anthony Gair and Miles Taylor and wide receiver Jacob Hillyer), but it also had McCarron, Jackson, redshirt freshman safety Brandon Snyder and redshirt freshman linebacker Aaron Mends.

Redshirt freshman Jameer Outsey moved to tight end when camp started last month. He started Saturday and went the whole way as the No. 2 in-line tight end. True freshman guard James Daniels jumped into the game in the fourth quarter after sophomore Sean Welsh had to leave with a shoe problem. Redshirt freshman defensive end Matt Nelson played on the third-down pass unit in the second half.

Defensive end is something on your mind as the Hawkeyes prep this week for a Kinnick Stadium night game against Pitt (2-0 after a 24-7 road victory over Akron).

Senior defensive end Drew Ott left Saturday's game in the first half with a left arm injury. It looks to be either forearm or wrist, but head coach Kirk Ferentz only said maybe the team will know more Monday. (Ferentz said the same for running back LeShun Daniels, who suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and didn't return.)

Saturday night, there was a picture of Iowa's D-line with the Cy-Hawk Trophy in the lockerroom at Iowa State. Ott is shown pointing at the trophy with his left arm unwrapped. He had it in a sling during the second half and you can see in the photo where the sling left an indentation.

Also in that photo, in the back, was redshirt freshman defensive end Parker Hesse. He replaced Ott and finished with three tackles. He became comfortable enough to run some stunts with defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson, one of which resulted in a sack.

If Ott's injury is long-term, you need to know Hesse, who played quarterback, running back, wide receiver and defensive end during a 21-5 run his last two seasons at Waukon High School.

'Drew has huge shoes to fill with what he brings to our defense,' Hesse said. 'It's not all on the person coming in to take that place. It's on the defense collectively. We all have to make up for what he brings and that's what we did, especially in that second half.'

'Collective' is an excellent way to describe the Iowa team that won at Jack Trice. Who were some of those guys?

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