No. 34 — S Brandon Snyder

No. 34 . . . Let's get to know redshirt freshman Brandon Snyder (6-1, 210) a little bit. He was a do-it-all QB for West Lyon, Class A state champions in 2013. West Lyon happens to be the same high school Iowa tight ends coach LeVar Woods graduated from. Snyder's father coached Woods and that led to a path for Snyder to walk on with the Hawkeyes (which he picked over an offer from North Dakota State).

According to a Sioux City Journal post, Snyder suffered what he thought was a leg injury in the final game of his junior basketball season. As it turned out, he had compartment syndrome and needed immediate surgery to relieve pressure.

Compartment syndrome is a serious condition, involving increased pressure in a muscle compartment. It can lead to muscle and nerve damage and problems with blood flow in the arms and legs.

From the Journal: During surgery, when a three-inch incision was made in his leg, the doctor discovered Snyder's peroneus longus (one of the muscles which pass down the outside of the lower leg) was completely torn. The doctor said he had never seen that before.

'I was literally a weekend away from losing my leg,' Snyder said. 'I can't imagine where I would be right now. The power of prayer is incredible. I thank my mother (Sheri), if she wouldn't have said to go in (to a Sioux Falls clinic) that Friday night I wouldn't be playing right now, wouldn't have won a state championship and wouldn't be going to play football at Iowa.'

This spring . . . Snyder is in the hunt at strong safety. It's difficult to gauge exactly what 'in the hunt' means, but when Iowa scrimmaged at Kinnick Stadium in April, Snyder was second team behind sophomore Miles Taylor. They shared a little first-team time earlier during spring practice (when the Hawkeyes scrimmaged in Des Moines).

At the very least, Snyder gained some attention from defensive coordinator Phil Parker (who coaches the safeties) this spring. Here's Parker's thoughts on the strong safety and free safety positions:

'Well, we've been moving around a little bit, and we kind of tried to figure out what's the right combination,' Parker said. 'I think Snyder and Anthony Gair are trying to figure that out, too, seeing if they're in the right spot, to create some competition. But the last practice I saw some stuff I liked out of Brandon Snyder a little bit.

'So, we'll see. It's still a long ways to go.'

Outlook . . . Going off the spring performance, this is shaping up to be a good problem for Parker.

The competition is fierce and that should produce solid play. Taylor and Snyder split reps in the spring finale. Both delivered hard hits in run and pass situations. On a pass over the middle to wide receiver Matt VandeBerg, a dump in the flat to Canzeri and C.J. Hillard run, Snyder powered through each ball carrier. Taylor had similar tackles throughout the day. They combined for a takedown of tight end George Kittle over the middle where Taylor popped Kittle and Snyder finished him up.

Here's where head coach Kirk Ferentz left it this spring: 'The safety position right now still is kind of wide open. Miles has gotten the most work with the first group. We have let both Snyder and Gair flip flop. What we are going to try and do is figure out 1-4 and have our bases covered, so whoever the third guy is can back up both spots. Again, the second half of spring is when you kind of see some things from guys who haven't played. I think all three guys who haven't played have shown some signs of improvement. We will go through the month of August before we put something in ink there, but I am pleased.'

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