Iowa facing a familiar blueprint in Illinois

IOWA CITY — The idea of an Iowa football team being the personification of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde usually is laughable. The Hawkeyes have long prided themselves on few peaks and valleys, and being the same thing each week — just hopefully better than the opponent.

But the last two weeks have been every bit Jekyll and Hyde.

Against Penn State: 30 rushing yards gained compared to 359 rushing yards allowed. Against Michigan: 164 yards gained compared to 98 yards allowed. Given the Wolverines averaged 251.7 rushing yards and allowed an average of 107.4, that's an eye-popping turnaround, even six days later.

So which Iowa does Illinois expect to come to Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday? Of course Illini Coach Lovie Smith and his players aren't going to say they expect the Hawkeyes to flop. But their answer comes because they believe the Penn State performance is an outlier to what Coach Kirk Ferentz usually puts on the field.

'There were two different teams that played (in Iowa). It's hard to tell the reason why,' Smith said. 'I just know the last one we saw, that team against Michigan this week, is a pretty good football team. It's a team that could win every game playing the way they did last week. We're preparing for that team we saw last week.'

Each time Smith was asked about Iowa this week, and what they're preparing for specifically, he went back to Akrum Wadley, and his ability to make people miss.

The Illini have faced a highly capable back nearly every week of the season, and Smith put Wadley in that discussion. Stopping him and LeShun Daniels will be priority No. 1 for the Illinois defense, and Smith was still working out how to look more like the Nittany Lions did against the Iowa rush than the Wolverines.

'We're looking for that,' Smith said. 'If I did know (how), I probably shouldn't tell you right now.'

Fair enough.

But even though Illinois has largely struggled this season to a 3-7 record overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play, the strength of their defense has come from the front seven — particularly linebackers Hardy Nickerson and Tre Watson, as well as defensive ends Dawuane Smoot and Carroll Phillips.

Smoot and Phillips have set the edges for Illinois and Nickerson and Watson have cleaned up when they can — when the Illini have been at their most successful. The Hawkeyes saw just how good Smoot was a season ago, when he grabbed three tackles for loss and a sack. The way Illinois plays up front defensively makes for a long day for offensive lines, and given Iowa's current status health-wise, Ferentz and Co. know they're in for no easy task again this time around.

Iowa offensive linemen James Daniels and Keegan Render both backed that up on Tuesday. Daniels lauded Illinois' defensive tackles, too, saying the whole front will be worrisome. Daniels is one to ardently refuse to talk about the past, but even he went back to that game last year — his first significant time on the field.

'I remember last year, that d-line, they gave us trouble,' Daniels said. 'I think they had pressure on every pass attempt last year, something like that. Those d-linemen are very capable of getting after us.

'They're not just good on the edges. They have two good d-tackles. They put the d-ends, on third down, at d-tackle, and can cause some trouble.'

Flip sides of the field, and Illinois has to take a turn being impressed.

The Illini have a dynamic back of their own in Kendrick Foster, who's run for 671 yards on 109 carries (6.2 per carry) and seven touchdowns. Foster is part of a trio of backs who carry the load for Illinois, joined by Reggie Corbin and Ke'Shawn Vaughn, but it's Foster who gets top billing.

When asked about Iowa's defensive line, Foster gave one of those knowing exhales. His initial response to what makes Iowa's line so good was just a number: 67. As in, Jaleel Johnson. But he didn't stop there.

'He's been causing a lot of havoc in the middle,' Foster said. 'They're all technically sound. Everybody gets to the ball — all 11 do. The d-line are great competitors and the linebackers come downhill. There's no weak point in their defense. We're just steadily trying to game plan against it. We expect them to come out hard.'

Strength in the front seven defensively, plus a skilled running back that has made other teams pay all season. Where has Iowa heard or seen that before?

Ferentz said Tuesday they didn't see the Penn State outcome coming as it did, especially in the running game. Conversely, almost no one saw the Michigan outcome coming as it did, especially in the running game.

2-Minute Drill: Breaking down Iowa-Illinois

The way this season has gone for Iowa, any outcome is possible on Saturday in Champaign. But stopping Foster and controlling the Illinois defensive line will be the first steps toward making it more like Nov. 12 than Nov. 5.

'The way we're built defensively, we need to stop the run. And we didn't do a good job two weeks ago. We did a much better job last week, and we'll get tested again this week and next week,' Ferentz said. 'The challenge is to get ready for it. Starts up front, we've got to do a good job there.

'So everybody is going to have to be at their best, every snap for us to get this thing done.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com