Iowa OL works its way toward ‘nasty bulldozer’

IOWA CITY — Iowa's struggles against Wisconsin last weekend don't lie at the feet of the offensive line. A lot went wrong and when a lot didn't go wrong, the Badgers made it go wrong.

Badgers outside linebacker Joe Schobert was an Iron Man suit. His team lost, 10-6, but that didn't stop the Big Ten from naming him co-defensive player of the week alongside Iowa cornerback Desmond King. Schobert had three sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and five QB hurries, one of which forced an interception.

There were missed assignments. UW and Schobert ran some games that Iowa's OL didn't pick up. Schobert took a big bite out of Iowa, but he also left the Hawkeyes O-line with this:

'I put them on par with Alabama, maybe even a little more,' Schobert told the Dubuque Telegraph Herald. 'They want to hit you more than Alabama wants to hit you. Alabama is a good, physical offensive line, but I think Iowa kind of takes it to that next step and wants to run at you and wants to physically punch you. We knew that coming in and they lived up to it today. It was just great competition between us and them.'

The Iowa OL can look at that as a nice little compliment from the guy in the Iron Man suit. But perhaps the biggest takeaway is the fact that the only consistent vein of offense Iowa found last week was inside running plays. Offensive coordinator Greg Davis dialed up nearly 30 inside runs. Running back Jordan Canzeri rushed 125 yards on 26 carries.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz mentioned a few weeks ago that he thought the inside O-linemen — center Austin Blythe and guards Jordan Walsh and Sean Welsh — were playing well. He said this week Iowa coaches thought they could find success in the middle of UW's defense.

'That wasn't so much our guys,' Ferentz said. 'It was more what we thought we'd have success with. I think we had a good plan that way. I think our plan overall was really good, quite frankly.'

Ah well, these aren't the types of players who need pats on the back, anyway. Informed about Schobert's quote, Blythe said, basically, OK.

'It's a good feeling, but at the same time, we know there is a lot we can improve on and that's the goal this week,' he said.

This week against Illinois (4-1, 1-0 Big Ten), the No. 23 Hawkeyes (5-0, 1-0) might be somewhat settled on the O-line. Against the Badgers, junior Cole Croston made his starting debut in place of sophomore Boone Myers, who's had a recurring shoulder/neck stinger.

Ferentz acknowledged Tuesday that the race between Myers, who Ferentz deemed 'day-to-day,' and Croston in camp was close, as close as quarterback was last season between C.J. Beathard and Jake Rudock. Ferentz said he was pleased with Croston's performance.

'I thought he did a really nice job the other day,' Ferentz said. 'He gave up one play at the end, I believe, and I heard about that when I got home, some TV scout. That's a dangerous thing for a TV scout to base things off a couple of plays. He played really well, and he's a good football player. We're growing in that area. We're not home yet, but we're growing.'

Another sort of interesting O-line development was true freshman James Daniels lining up at right tackle in warmups. Against North Texas, that spot was held by redshirt freshman Keegan Render. He moved inside and Daniels moved outside. Daniels also saw time at left guard in the second quarter against the Badgers. (Overall against UW, Daniels played 10 snaps around, 16 percent of Iowa's plays. He's played 20 to 25 percent of snaps most weeks, so you can't count this as a reckless burning of a redshirt. He's playing. BTW, this snap number was provided by @HawkeyeGamefilm).

If it seems as if Daniels' role grows a little every week, that's because it is. Ferentz did, however, emphasize that Daniels at right tackle was more of an emergency than exploratory situation.

A lot of what Ferentz says is meant for a nudge, especially for offensive linemen, the star position group in Iowa football followed closely by the defensive line. It's not so much what anyone said, it's the fact that Ferentz went for a fourth-and-inches at Iowa's 25 with just more than 11 minutes left in the game.

Beathard ran a sneak behind Blythe and gained 2 yards. Schobert did sack and strip the ball from Beathard on the next play, but still, Ferentz went for a fourth-and-inches deep in Iowa territory in the fourth quarter at Camp Randall Stadium. And that was kind of a big deal.

'It's our job to go out and be nasty,' Blythe said when asked about Ferentz's compliment to the inside O-line. 'It's our job to be bulldozers up there and set the tempo for the offense and offensive line. I think we've done a good job on that, but there's a lot of stuff we can improve on still.'

Of course, you can't pat a bulldozer on the back.

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