Iowa notes: Duzey's season, playoff format, bah humbug?

IOWA CITY — It turns out Iowa tight end Jake Duzey's timeline from knee surgery to on-field return was a bit ambitious after all.

Duzey, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound senior, suffered a torn patella tendon in his left knee during spring practice. He had surgery and targeted a return by late September. Duzey met that goal and played sparingly in nine games this year. But his impact wasn't what he wanted for his final season at Iowa.

'I don't know if I was ready when I first came back, and it might have been a little bit too early,' Duzey said. 'But I just tried to get back out on the field. We'll see what happens now.

'(The recovery) took a little longer than we thought.'

As a junior, Duzey caught 36 passes — the second-most among Big Ten tight ends — and three touchdowns. In his first three seasons, Duzey had 58 catches for 678 yards and five scores. At Ohio State in 2013, Duzey hauled in an 85-yard touchdown pass where he outran the Buckeyes' secondary for the final 50 yards. His 138 receiving yards that day were the most by an Iowa tight end under Coach Kirk Ferentz. Duzey also started 13 games.

This year, Duzey didn't catch a pass. He primarily played in three-tight end sets. It was frustrating for a player who was named to the Mackey Award preseason watch list.

'It was definitely tough,' Duzey said. 'There were some tough moments, but I've got some great teammates and all of these guys have been supporting me the whole time.

'I'm trying to help the guys out and do everything I can to make sure we're prepared and we're ready to go on game day.'

Duzey red-shirted his first year on campus in 2011 and graduated last weekend with a pre-physician assistant major. He was an academic all-Big Ten performer the last two seasons. His goal remains to play in the NFL, and he plans to stay in Iowa City and train with strength coach Chris Doyle over the winter.

'I've got a chance to hopefully make a camp and obviously it will be free agency, and then I'll have a good pro day and stuff,' Duzey said. 'I think once my knees get back to what they were, I think I'll have a chance.'

Had Duzey stayed on his career trajectory following his junior year, an NFL team likely would have drafted him. His road will have more challenges now, but he should gain an opportunity, Ferentz said.

'Good news is the last week he has looked better, looked a little bit more like the old Jake Duzey,' Ferentz said. 'We hope that will continue the next 10 days. Would be great if he was able to get involved in a positive way. We're all hoping for. It's his last game as a Hawkeye.

'Moving forward, I think he'll have a great opportunity. He's the guy that was on everyone's radar going into the season. Certainly last spring the NFL teams were aware of him. He's a big guy that can run, block and do a lot of good things. And that's a really good premium position in the NFL. It's hard to find good tight ends.'

FERENTZ PREFERS CURRENT SYSTEM

The College Football Playoff selection committee ranked Iowa fifth in its final poll. Considering four teams gain playoff access, the Hawkeyes were considered the top team excluded. But that doesn't mean Ferentz is in favor of expanding the playoff field to eight teams.

'I don't know why we need more ... we're the fifth team according to rankings,' Ferentz said. 'We had our opportunity. We came up three points short. And hopefully next year we can push over that wall. We're not looking back. We're where we're at, and we're excited about where we're at and make the most of this next opportunity.'

With 13 games spread over 14 weeks, Ferentz believes expanding the playoffs would heap more physical and mental stress upon his athletes. They also have classes that run concurrent to the season.

'At some point you have to think about the players, too, and what's good for them,' Ferentz said.

BAH HUMBUG?

Much of the world will celebrate Christmas on Friday. But for the Iowa football team, it's just another day.

'It's actually like a Wednesday of practice for us, ho, ho, ho,' Ferentz said.

No, Ferentz hasn't taken on the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. Part of Ferentz's opening statement was directed toward the team enjoying the Rose Bowl experience. The Hawkeyes will celebrate the holiday as a team that night. But Iowa is at the Rose Bowl for the game, and football teams are there to win, not just compete.

'As a coach it's bad luck to not be coaching on Christmas or the holidays,' he said. 'We tried that a couple of years ago, it's not much fun.

'And the other part of it is we kind of get a routine down that works, and sometimes Christmas interferes with that. So we'll do the Christmas deal, too, but we're going to keep pushing towards the game and keep our timeline alive. And if the guys are fortunate enough to play in the NFL, they'll go through the same way. I'm not equating us that way. But we have a plan.'

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