Hawkeye fullbacks leave their marks on super senior season

IOWA CITY - Macon Plewa and Adam Cox weren't always Batman and Robin. When they walked on in 2011, they were wide-eyed, skinny, nervous freshmen who wondered if they even belonged.

'Yeah, we're happy how it turned out,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'I'd like to say we had a master plan. They were both walk-on linebackers at that time. It's kind of interesting. I'll never forget the first time I saw Adam. I was like, ‘Really?'”

Now, five years later, Iowa has a Batman and Robin tandem at fullback. They've done their jobs to the highest degree all season, with running back Jordan Canzeri's back-to-back touchdown bursts in the third quarter last week against Nebraska highlighting their work.

On a 29-yard TD run, Plewa picked off a charging linebacker. On the 68-yarder, Cox picked off a linebacker, a lane opened and Canzeri hit the gas.

The secret to the fullbacks and running backs being in sync? Pregame euchre tournament.

'Adam Cox and I have been partners frequently,” Canzeri said. 'Last week, it was Drake (Kulick, a backup fullback) and me. It's fun, it's always a good time. It's competitive. We always put something on the line at the end, just to have some fun. It usually comes down to the wire.”

So yes, the question of who's Batman and who's Robin still is hanging out there for Iowa's senior fullbacks. Let's attack this from another angle. Plewa and Cox have been attached at the hip since their freshmen seasons, when the Iowa staff paired the walk-on and would-be linebackers as roommates.

This bond has survived and become more and more intertwined during their time as Hawkeyes.

Cox is from a farm in Chana, Ill. Plewa is from Franklin, Wis., just outside of Milwaukee. Both are country music fans and outdoors enthusiasts. Plewa has visited the Cox family farm. They did some trap shooting and hung out in the barn. In Milwaukee, the attraction was Summerfest and Luke Bryan concerts and Lake Michigan.

'We lived together every single year except this one,” Plewa said. 'We still hang out. I think we have every single class together, too. We have the same schedule.”

Someone is going to be in someone's wedding, maybe sooner rather than later.

'He's definitely getting married first,” Cox said with a laugh. 'He's basically already married. You can ask him about that.”

Ferentz said Iowa tries to pair roommates with bonding in mind. When senior guard Jordan Walsh was a freshman, he roomed with senior Adam Gettis. They're still close. Walsh was named first-team all-Big Ten on Tuesday. Gettis, in his fourth year in the NFL, was signed to the Giants active roster this week. This year, first-year starting offensive tackles Ike Boettger and Boone Myers roomed together during camp.

Plewa and Cox shared their dreams and fears. They faced those together.

'We always talked about how big and strong some of the seniors were and if we were ever going to be like that,” Cox said.

They plugged into the weightroom and put on the requisite 30 or 40 pounds, according to Cox. Confidence followed that along with playing time. This Batman and Robin thing would've gotten off the ground last year, but Cox suffered a season-ending ACL injury in camp and Plewa missed five games with a shoulder injury.

This season, it's all come together. The former would-be linebackers have been tone-setting fullbacks from practice 1 to win No. 12. Plewa remembered that feeling of being on the inside and looking around and, maybe somewhat, feeling intimidated. Perhaps that thought was one of the walls that the Hawkeyes (12-0) broke down going into a season that has them No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings and standing across the field from No. 5 Michigan State (11-1) in Saturday night's Big Ten championship game.

'I remember we were two skinny, young, little freshmen who were just trying to fit in,” Plewa said. 'It was summer workouts, we were in class. I can't remember our first conversation, but I know we were both shy and trying to fit in. We were young guys.

'It takes time and hard work and you feel like you belong. You develop in the weightroom and, over time, you get on the field and make plays and get to know the guys. That's definitely been a big part of the success of this team. Everyone is involved. No one should feel shy. We made that a point going into this year, and I think that is paying dividends.”

There's no decipherable rhyme or reason on which fullback plays and when. It's running backs coach Chris White's plan. The seniors follow and make the most out of every opportunity (last week against Nebraska, for example).

Iowa has two senior fullbacks who are doing work. Ferentz has mentioned throughout the season how much the offense missed Plewa and Cox in 2014. The fullbacks pass credit to the running backs like it's a football made out of lava and, of course, Iowa's offensive line certainly factors here in a big way, but the Hawkeyes' rush numbers are up 40.5 yards from 2014 to this season (163.1 to 203.7, which is tracking to the most for Iowa since 2002).

There really is no Batman or Robin. You can have two Batmen, maybe?

'I don't know, you can ask him that, I don't know,” Cox said with a laugh on the Batman and Robin question.

Let's just leave that one open ended.

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