Pressure to produce

IOWA CITY - Iowa running backs/special teams coach Chris White didn't pull any punches.

Yes, Iowa had a fullback playing running back last season and it worked but had limitations, White said during a Wednesday news conference. No, Iowa doesn't have a Melvin Gordon, 50-carry-a-game running back on the roster this season. Iowa averaged 37.8 yards a punt and finished 10th in the Big Ten. Guess what? Not good enough.

'Clearly probably the No. 1 thing that we need to address in this program right now is getting the punter and the whole punt deal straightened out,” White said. 'We're working hard at it, trust me on that. We'll get it right.”

First, running back. White, who's beginning his third season at Iowa, said senior Jordan Canzeri and junior LeShun Daniels will be the one-two at the position.

Canzeri was one of the lone bright spots in Iowa's 45-28 TaxSlayer Bowl defeat to Tennessee, rushing 12 times for 120 yards. White saw indecisiveness when he broke into the open field. Iowa coaches visited UCLA in the off-season and White took away a simple saying.

'One coaching little buzzword [UCLA coaches] always used was ‘get your eyes to the end zone,'” White said. 'I was like, simple as that sounds, right, guys get in space, and they're looking around and who is going to tackle me, right? You're in open space, get your eyes to the end zone and then figure out who is going to attack you, but these guys are weaving around. It drives me crazy. We've got to get that fixed, and that's one thing that Jordan is working on.”

It sounds as if Daniels is really in the plans. He trimmed down from the 235-range to 225 and the results have shown up in quickness and a lower pad level. Asked what Iowa's prototypical running back would look like, White said:

'They come in all shapes and sizes, but I know this: A guy like LeShun is a workhorse type of guy that has a little bit more speed and [who] can jump cut, [has] agility. We all know Mark (former Iowa RB Mark Weisman), what he was. He was a fullback playing tailback, and he was pretty good at it. But he had his limitations, and he'll be the first one to let you know that. But I think LeShun is a little bit different. He can hit a little bit longer run, and he can make a guy miss in space a little bit more than Mark can, I think.”

A Weisman who can jump cut and has better speed? You want that (oh yeah, White also said Daniels broke the Iowa RB record for the shuttle quickness drill this winter).

What Iowa needs is to get the punting miasma figured out. Senior kicker Marshall Koehn and redshirt freshman Miguel Recinos have joined seniors Connor Kornbrath and Dillon Kidd in competition. Kidd won the job last year and never fully secured it. Kornbrath, who started the two previous seasons, punted 18 times at the end of the season.

Now, White is talking about getting Koehn, who made 12 of 16 field goals and finished second in the Big Ten with 43 touchbacks on kickoffs, into the mix.

'He technically doesn't know what he's doing, but he hit a 60-yarder Saturday (in a scrimmage situation),” White said. 'Didn't know what he was doing. The ball just pops off his foot. His leg strength is rare.”

On one hand, yes, how did it get to this? But on the other, White is looking to solve a problem with whatever means on hand.

'Yeah, there are no two ways to put it,” White said. 'That's an unacceptable performance, and they (Connor and Dillon) know it. They didn't execute. Talking about preparation, execution, and I've got to find a way to have someone execute better in games. The competition again is the only way to do it. We have what we have. We have four specialists in our program. One of them needs to step up and perform better on Saturdays.”

That's been a recurring theme in Iowa's six practices. Coaches are challenging players to perform. This is coming from head coach Kirk Ferentz.

'I think the constant theme this year or this spring with coach Ferentz is ‘Let's see what these guys can do,'” wide receiver coach Bobby Kennedy said Wednesday. 'Let's be supportive and apply pressure on them and see what guys can do, get them headed in the right direction.”

Quick Slants

- In his first interview last week as Iowa's starting QB, junior C.J. Beathard mentioned more than a few times how much he would like to run the football. Iowa has toyed with the QB read option the last two seasons, but that tends to get a QB hit. This spring, Iowa happens to have just two scholarship QBs, Beathard and redshirt freshman Tyler Wiegers.

So, hold off on that read option thing.

'As a matter of fact, we're trying to work on his get-down skills, sliding skills a little bit, because he's such a competitor,” White said.

- Redshirt freshman wide receiver Jay Scheel, a Union High School prep all-stater, went through knee surgery last fall and still isn't 100 percent, Kennedy said.

'The thing that I've been impressed about with Jay Scheel is, once again, his willingness to fight through things, and he's getting better this spring,” Kennedy said. 'He's showing flashes of what we saw in high school, but by no means would I say is he - he's just not totally fluid yet.”

- Kennedy was asked about Beathard, his live arm and the fact that he hasn't been as quick to check down with the ball.

'You've got to run fast to get open to see things coming,” Kennedy said. '. . . Yeah, there's a tempo change. I mean, that thing comes and you better be ready. That's where we talk about the 3-T's, that's where the technique comes in. Getting it out, snapping your head, shooting your hands, being ready because you know that ball is coming. That's where you have to have some understanding as a wide receiver, because he does have great tempo on his ball.”

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