Four seniors, four views of goodbye

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., - There is a malaise, and there's no getting around that. Iowa football has hovered around pretty good to stale to mediocre the last five seasons.

The Hawkeyes (7-6) were outgunned from the opening kick in Friday's TaxSlayer Bowl. Tennessee (7-6) scored touchdowns on its first four possessions, took a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter and coasted to a 45-28 victory.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz spit back questions about the an environment around the program that is becoming increasingly disgruntled. Athletics director Gary Barta acknowledged that it's getting ugly out there.

So, there's all that stuff. You could throw in the misguided kick return by Jonathan Parker in the first half, the one where he fielded a ball at around Iowa's 2 near the sideline, lost balance and tried to pitch the ball forward to a teammate. That went up for official review to see if it was a fumble. There were other reviews of that play, none positive.

There's a lot of bad stuff right now, including several moments in this game where Iowa looked uncharacteristically ragged. Still, it was goodbye for some seniors who've been program girders.

Offensive tackle Brandon Scherff goes out in the wake of an Outland Trophy, consensus All-American status and having been called by Ferentz one of the best Iowa players has ever had. Immediately, it'll be the training for the NFL combine and draft, starting Thursday in Iowa City.

Scherff was rated a first-round pick last year, but decided to return to Iowa for his fifth season. Every step of the way, he's said no regrets.

'They have to work hard in the off-season,” Scherff said of what's ahead for the Hawkeyes. '[Strength coach Chris] Coach Doyle is a good coach. They have to come in with a chip on their shoulder and push forward.”

Senior defensive tackle Carl Davis is likely headed toward some combine training of his own. In the moments afterward, however, he was still playing the game in his head.

'It hurts that we didn't get the job done, we didn't get a trophy this year,” Davis said. 'It really eats me up right now, it really hurts. You can't sit here and throw a temper tantrum. Life goes on.”

Senior wide receiver Kevonte Martin-Manley had a bittersweet day. He finished the day with three catches for 23 yards. He didn't impact the game the way he wanted, but those three catches pushed his career receptions total to 174, an Iowa career record topping Derrell Johnson-Koulianos' 173 (2007-10).

Martin-Manley admitted that, yes, the record did get in his head. He was nervous about it. When he caught the pass in the fourth quarter, the ball was thrown to the Iowa sideline.

It was a bit of a salve for a day that started with Ferentz getting knocked to the ground and sustaining a cut above his right eye. UT running back Jalen Hurd sprinted 25 yards up Iowa's sideline on the Vols' second play from scrimmage. Cornerback Desmond King knocked Hurd out of bounds and blindsided Ferentz.

Martin-Manley's record was salve, if only in the figurative sense.

'It was heavy on my mind, especially when we got down by so much,” said Martin-Manley, who finished with 1,799 career receiving yards, 13th in Iowa history. 'I thought about it as something that could be a positive. I'm fortunate that it happened. It was a longtime coming, a process, but I was very happy I was able to accomplish that.”

There's no measure for what Iowa football means to running back Mark Weisman.

Weisman rushed for two touchdowns and finished his career with 32 rushing TDs, behind only Sedrick Shaw (33) and Tavian Banks (33). Weisman rose from walk-on fullback and transfer from Air Force to record 599 carries and 2,602 yards in three seasons, ranking fourth in attempts and sixth in yards in Iowa history.

'I'm proud to be on this team, proud to be a Hawkeye. It's the best part of my life,” Weisman said. 'It wasn't the way we wanted to end it. We had a very good bowl prep. A lot of guys got better and that looks good for the future.”

You look at the results, you gauge which way the wind is blowing right now and you might wonder how Ferentz and his message resonates.

'It's unfortunate we let him down this year as a senior class,” Weisman said. 'It hurts, it definitely hurts. There's a bright future here. There are a lot of good young players who are going to step up. I hate when people say that about coach Ferentz. He's been a great role model for me and everyone on this team.”

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