Iowa's Josey Jewell sees ball, gets ball

IOWA CITY — Saquon Barkley won the game. He did, and Penn State did, too. There's no getting around that.

Josey Jewell wrestled this bear with everything he had, and so did all of the Hawkeyes. Time and time again last Saturday night, there was Barkley and then there was Jewell. Sometimes, vice versa. Sometimes, there they were at the same time.

For Iowa (3-1, 0-1 Big Ten) to have any chance against a sterling athlete like Barkley, or most of everyone else left on the Hawkeyes' schedule, starting this weekend with Michigan State (2-1, 0-0), the team defensive concepts need to be sewn into the players.

As you can see, Jewell, Iowa's middle linebacker and the central nervous system of the defense, takes this to heart.

'He's one of the top linebackers in the country,' Iowa linebacker Ben Niemann said. 'Just getting to compete with him every day and try to play to the standard that he has, that's definitely a good thing.'

Iowa didn't win. Jewell would not want this to be a celebration. He matched his career high with 16 tackles, including 11 solo stops and 3.0 tackles for loss. He also had his fifth career interception, with his 33-yard return leading to Iowa's first touchdown of the game. He recovered a fumble in the second half and finished the game with two pass breakups.

Iowa didn't win. Jewell would not want this to be happy, happy fun time. That's not the way he's made. Just going off the conference and national awards that have come his way this week, maybe even he might be able to appreciate what he did to keep the Hawkeyes alive against the No. 4 Nittany Lions.

'That's cool stuff,' he said. 'I'd rather just win the game. That stuff is kind of secondary.'

Told you.

Still, this doesn't happen a lot for Iowa football, so let's roll call: On Monday morning, Jewell was named the Big Ten's co-defensive player of the week. It was Jewell's second one of those this year and third of his career.

On Tuesday, a pair of national awards came his way. Jewell was named the Bednarik Award player of the week and the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski national defensive player of the week.

Jewell was one of six Iowa defenders who logged 100 plays from scrimmage against Penn State. The Hawkeyes' defense was on the field for 39:39 and still allowed just 19 points and two touchdowns in five PSU trips inside Iowa's 20-yard line.

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'The film study during the week,' Niemann said when asked what Jewell does behind the scenes to sharpen his skills. 'He's really just thinking of any possibility he can get out there on the field. The leadership he has, the work in the weight room, the whole offseason, all of that goes in and shows up on game day. He does a lot of extra things.'

Let's focus on the film thing. Jewell played prep football at Decorah High School, a program with a healthy attitude toward the value of studying video of your opponent.

Even Jewell admits there was a learning curve when it came to film study on this level.

'Our coaches in the past have taught us how to watch tape, what to take away and what exactly we're watching,' Jewell said. 'The offensive guards, how the backfield is set, a lot of alignment stuff.'

Jewell said he's leaned on the distillation of his experience at Iowa. When he was a freshman, the Hawkeyes had Anthony Hitchens, Christian Kirksey and James Morris, three high-performing linebackers who played in the NFL. He also credited former Iowa linebackers Travis Perry and Cole Fisher. He credited former Iowa linebackers coach Jim Reid, who's now defensive coordinator at Boston College. Of course, he credited current linebackers coach Seth Wallace.

All that helps him gain a step or three on the field.

'If you want to be able to move quick and not be thinking at all when you're out there or maybe just think for a split second and then just go, you're going to have to watch a lot of tape,' Jewell said. 'You have to understand what kind of plays they can run in different situations, different formations. You have to watch quite a bit of film to not think that much. If you don't watch a lot of film, you might be thinking a little bit more and you might be slower on your reads.'

"He doesn't lose at any cost."

- Iowa DL Parker Hesse

on teammate Josey Jewell

How players learn and how they view the game is yet another variable coaches need to measure and know about their players. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said all Iowa players have an iPad. The video staff can compile just about any compilation of opponent video from myriad situations.

Ferentz prefers players study video together.

'There still is something unique about sitting in the room with your teammates,' Ferentz said. 'It's better if the coach is in there, but when the team gets in there, they sit there and talk to each other, teach each other. That's a good thing. When you get that going, you're in business.'

Think Iowa's defense gets that out of Jewell? And maybe a little something else?

'It's his competitive spirit,' defensive end Parker Hesse said. 'It's just his will to win. He doesn't lose at any cost.'

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