Going under the hood with Iowa’s coordinators

IOWA CITY — Akrum Wadley and Derrick Mitchell went into the bye week looking at a ton of snaps in developmental scrimmages. And then senior running back Jordan Canzeri injured his ankle at Northwestern.

And then Wadley earned Big Ten offensive player of the week with career-highs across the board of 204 yards, 26 carries and four TDs. Mitchell also went career-high crazy with 79 yards and a TD on 10 carries.

So, the sophomore running backs earned the week off. Not everyone did.

During the bye week, the coordinators for the No. 11 Hawkeyes (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) had a list of improvements they wanted to tackle before playing host to Maryland (2-5, 0-3) this weekend (2:30 at Kinnick Stadium).

Quarterback wasn't on the top of offensive coordinator Greg Davis' list, but how the quarterback has been used was. (No, no, this has nothing to do with the performance of junior C.J. Beathard, just how Iowa has used him.)

'I think in the pass game, our movement balls have not been up to standard in terms of getting the quarterback on the edge, whether or not that's off play-action or sprint out or whatever,' Davis said. 'I think that's an area that we have to improve in the passing game.'

Beathard's movement has been limited to varying degrees since straining a hip muscle against Pitt on Sept. 19. He was basically shut down in the second half against Illinois on Oct. 10, when Canzeri put up his school record 43 carries. Then in Iowa's last outing, a 40-10 win at Northwestern on Oct. 17, Iowa tried one naked bootleg off play-action — an Iowa staple — and it ended with a pressure and a near sack/fumble.

Beathard's health (hip, groin, hamstring strains) is kind of a big deal as Iowa begins its push for uncharted territory in the final month of the season.

'It was after the Iowa State game, I was asked about him, and it's his poise and his toughness,' Ferentz said. 'That's what has impressed us. Those are two things you don't know. You can try to simulate them, you try to put guys in hard situations, but we don't smack our guys. We don't let them get hit. You saw some of it last year, but what we've seen this year in seven games, that's why the team believes in him so much. They know how tough he is. He's an impressive guy.'

Davis also wanted to take a look at third-and-short situations. Is it a time to be aggressive or is it a time to take care of business and get the first down.

'We're constantly looking for better ways in that third and 2-3 (yards), whether or not that's a throw, whether or not that's a run,' Davis said. 'I think that's an area that we can improve in as we continue down the stretch.'

Iowa is 4 of 10 on third-down passing between 1 and 3 yards, with three first downs converted and one play of 15-plus yards. In running on third-and-1 to 3, Iowa has rushed 28 times for 79 yards (2.69 yards per carry), gaining 19 first downs, scoring one TD and putting up one run of 10-plus yards. (The 19 first-downs gained is tied for ninth in the country.)

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker beamed in on one area — long plays from scrimmage. Parker, without notes or even thinking about it, knew the numbers.

'I think right now we have a total of five big runs over 15 yards, which is not good enough for us,' he said, 'and then we have 22 passes over 20 yards.

'Anytime that we've been a really good football team around here, we're usually about 35 to 38 big plays a year, so we're at seven games, we're averaging right around 3.9 big plays a game. We want to be two big plays a game or less. So, we're a little bit high on that number right now.'

Iowa is in the top four of the Big Ten in opponents long scrimmage plays from 10, 20, 30 and 40 yards. Iowa has allowed three 50-plus plays, which ranks seventh in the league. Iowa also is one of four B1G teams that hasn't allowed a play of 60-plus yards (Iowa, Wisconsin, Penn State, Northwestern).

Really, these numbers are manageable, but when you're a team that plays close to margin (throw out Northwestern and check out Wisconsin, Pitt and, to a certain extent, Illinois), this is the stuff that gets the defensive coordinator's attention.

When Parker looks at the big play numbers, he also sees that on third down Iowa has allowed opponents to pass for 24 first downs, which is eighth in the league. On third downs from 7 to 9 yards, Iowa has allowed five first downs through the air, tied for seventh in the league.

Still, Iowa is fourth in the league with just 15.3 points allowed a game. Through seven games, Iowa has allowed 11 TDs (second in the league. Last season, Iowa allowed 17 TDs through seven games, including a combined nine to Maryland and Indiana (the opponents for the next two weeks).

'Any time you give up big plays, you sit there and watch, it usually turns into points,' Parker said. 'So if we can eliminate the big plays in the passing game and the run game, we should be OK. Back in 2009 or something, I think we gave up nine runs over 15 yards. That's our goal, to be at least under 10 with the run. We definitely need to improve that.'

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