Iowa Football Depth Chart Monday

It looks as if Iowa's season-long scramble on the offensive line will continue against No. 3 Michigan this week.

Senior offensive tackle Cole Croston wasn't listed on the depth chart the school released Monday. This probably puts Croston, who's missed two games this season with an ankle injury, at around 50-50 at best going into the weekend.

Juniors Boone Myers and Ike Boettger likely will be the combo at tackle for the second consecutive week and third time this season. Sophomore Keegan Render will start at left guard, his fifth start this season.

Iowa will play its sixth line combination of the season against Michigan, which leads the Big Ten and is eighth in the nation with 30.0 sacks. The Hawkeyes surrendered 4.0 sacks in last week's 41-14 loss to Penn State. With Iowa trailing big in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes were forced to pass and Penn State pass rushers took advantage.

'I really thought the protection into the mid-third quarter wasn't too bad,' Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'Once you get in that situation, where they know you're throwing, it'll never be good stuff.'

The Hawkeyes now have allowed 24.0 sacks this season, tied for 12th in the Big Ten and 98th nationally. Pressure has been an element that has helped keep Iowa's passing game down this season. Along with the 4.0 sacks against Penn State, Beathard was hit three times and pressured 13.

'Every quarterback has to deal with that kind of stuff, that's why quarterback is one of the toughest positions on the field,' said Beathard, who's been sacked 34 times in the last 11 games. 'You've got to think about a lot of stuff. I made a bad mistake on the interception. Everyone on the team has room to improve right now.'

Here's a fun aside for everyone this week: Michigan has knocked eight QBs from games this season. Last weekend, it was Maryland's Perry Hills. Oh yeah, they're keeping a count.

'You never want somebody to get hurt — that's not what we go for, we're not targeting players,' Michigan defensive end Chase Winovich told the Detroit Free Press. 'But it is a notable thing. I think we're up to eight quarterbacks that haven't finished the game. That is an interesting point of a defense and reflects the style that we have. I put Perry out of the game today. It's funny because one of my first interceptions as a safety in high school was in a seven-on-seven game against Perry. So to see it come full circle ...

'It's a violent game. Nobody makes it out alive. Nobody's safe in this game, especially if you're playing quarterback against us. We're coming. I hope Perry had a speedy recovery.'

Think happy thoughts, Iowa.

On Kittle

Tight end George Kittle was listed as the starter on Monday, but will play the remainder of the season at less than 100 percent with a foot/ankle injury, Ferentz said in the Penn State postgame.

'It's frustrating for him, it's frustrating for all of us,' Ferentz said.

TV time

Iowa's final two games of the 2016 remain 'to be announced' as far as kickoff times go.

The Big Ten is using its six-day window to announce the start of Iowa's game at Illinois on Nov. 19. Usually, kickoffs for next week's game are announced Monday.

Also, kickoff for Iowa's Black Friday game against Nebraska on Nov. 25 is yet to be determined.

Nighttime at Kinnick

Iowa is playing under the lights at Kinnick Stadium for the 14th time with Saturday's kickoff vs. Michigan at 7:12 p.m.

The Hawkeyes have won their last three home night games and are 9-4 all-time under for Kinnick night games.

Let's check some Pro Football Focus grades

Go to Pro Football Focus and totally dig into that site. Learn about football. Get smarter. Win arguments. That's the whole point of what they do and what I try to do (sometimes not as great as others).

Iowa's run blockers ranked by PFF (starting O-line, fullbacks and TE)

1. C James Daniels

2. T Ike Boettger

3. TE George Kittle

4. FB Drake Kulick

5. G Sean Welsh

Only going top five this week. Daniels and Boettger were Iowa's only positive grades. Tackle Boone Myers, guard Keegan Render and fullback Brady Ross earned negative grades, with Myers at the bottom. Penn State had a really good front seven and Iowa couldn't block it. Michigan has an otherworldly front seven.

PFF's top pass blocker this week

No one posted a positive grade. Daniels was the best neutral grade. He's put together two very solid overall weeks. Iowa had three negative grades. Render was the lowest, followed by Boettger and Myers. Again, Michigan is tied for No. 8 in the nation with 30 sacks.

Best PFF overall grades for the offense this week

1. C James Daniels

2. WR Jerminic Smith

3. G Sean Welsh

4. WR Riley McCarron

5. RB LeShun Daniels

James Daniels was the only Hawkeye who had a positive grade. There were six negative grades, with Render at the bottom. Boettger, Myers, Ross, TE Noah Fant and RB Akrum Wadley were also negative grades. Iowa's running game was a negative grade.

Offensive factlets

— LeShun Daniels has an NFL running back's body. Does he make it in the league? I don't know. I'm not sure he gets drafted. Ourlad's NFL Preview has him listed as the No. 6 upperclassman at running back for the 2017 draft. Maybe he is. Remains to be seen.

It's game 10 of his senior year and I'm not sure what Daniels can or can't do. Iowa's offense this season has spent so little time in its comfort zone that Daniels has had little chance to show what he's capable of.

Daniels rushed for 150 yards on 23 carries against Purdue. That was his only 20-plus carry game this season. Last year, in a season marred by a high-ankle sprain, Daniels logged three 20-plus games. Last week, Penn State held him to 10 carries.

Daniels might end up in an NFL uniform and Iowa, for the majority of time this season, hasn't been able to get to his part of the game plan.

Iowa's offense has found no comfort zone this season and nothing has come easy. It's so hard to watch, lacking even a hint of entertainment value not to mention ... points, you know, points.

You won't pay $1,000 to guarantee access to one seat in the new north end zone and you won't give an annual contribution of $1,958 per seat plus the cost of football season ticket for the new north for this. If you do, bless you. Don't ask me for your money back.

— This is the chorus of the song: Just one pass of 20-plus yards attempted. Iowa historically is good at phone booth football. This year, it's not and without testing defenses more than one time a game down the field, the Hawkeyes are inviting more defenders into the phone booth. Again, hard to watch. Hard to make sense of it. Impossible to sell it.

— QB C.J. Beathard threw nine passes into the middle of the field and went 7 of 9 for 40 yards and an interception. Now, the rest of the field will have to be lava before Iowa again tests the middle.

Iowa's run defenders ranked by PFF (starting D-line and linebackers)

1. DE Parker Hesse

2. FS Brandon Snyder

3. CB Greg Mabin

4. MLB Josey Jewell

5. OLB Ben Niemann

Hesse and Snyder were Iowa's only positive grades. Snyder redeemed himself with some solid play after missing RB Saquon Barkley on the 57-yard TD. DT Faith Ekakitie was Iowa's low grade, with WLB Bo Bower, DT Jaleel Johnson, SS Miles Taylor and CB Desmond King also recording negative grades.

PFF's best against the pass

MLB Josey Jewell took top honors this week. Snyder and Mabin were negative grades. No Hawkeye posted a positive grade. Kind of what you expected.

Best PFF overall grades for the defense this week

1. DE Parker Hesse

2. MLB Josey Jewell

3. DE Matt Nelson

4. CB Desmond King

5. (tie) OLB Ben Niemann and CB Greg Mabin

I'm only going top five because this was Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian: or the Evening Redness in the West.'

These are the grades you expect when you allow 599 yards. Hesse was the lone positive grade. Seven Hawkeyes played 71 snaps and Jewell was the only one who at least scored a neutral.

Ekakitie and Bower were the bottom two. Matt Nelson, Jaleel Johnson, Mabin, Taylor, Snyder and Niemann earned negative grades.

It's what you expect after that.

Defensive factlets

— The Nittany Lions had seven players post positive grades, led by guard Ryan Bates and QB Trace McSorley, who posted an NFL QB rating of 141.2 against the Hawkeyes.

— The guard-center-guard gaps for Penn State all posted positive grades, with left guard leading the way.

— After three weeks of trending up, Iowa posted just eight QB hurries.

— Coming off an ankle injury, DT Nathan Bazata played just 15 snaps.

— Snyder was targeted four times and allowed three completions for 106 yards.

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