The Quickest Slants

I've been going through a little bit of a posting nightmare. Apparently, my profile is glitched. I think you probably already knew that.

1. QB situation? What QB situation?

— I wasn't going to ask about QB. I'm not one of those news conference taker-over guys (I'm sure some would disagree, I do get antsy over dumb questions before I ask my own dumb questions).

But after about 20 minutes and, really 27 questions, I had to ask about the QB plan. I knew where it would go. Let's not go crazy with putting words in anyone's mouth.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz said QB will probably go the same way it went with Indiana and CJB, 'We'll probably play C.J. in there somewhere.'

So, Jake Rudock starts and controls his own destiny.

2. Injury stuff doesn't sound ominous, but I don't know

— We're all enthralled by freshman WR Derrick Willies. I know I fueled that fire. In its injury segment on Saturday, Iowa radio claimed he had muscle strain. Ferentz said this on Willies: 'I hope not. He's in that group I talked about. He's got a chance. We expect him out there today. How hard they can go and how long they can go is the next question to find out the guys that are hurt right now.'

Willies is a tall, talented wideout. He's also a redshirt freshman. I may have jumped the gun on this one. Let's see how he develops.

3. Better call Gaul

— That one's for you, Breaking Bad fans. Actually, that's a headline from our latest sports copy editor hire Ryan Suchomel. And that was spectacular. Anyway, the group of injury guys that Ferentz mentions above also included junior guard Jordan Walsh. He suffered an ankle injury on the second play of the game and didn't return. His status for this week is up in the air.

'I don't think it was a crippling injury, so I think he's got a chance,' Ferentz said. 'We'll see what he looks like today and see how it goes during the week.'

Senior Tommy Gaul moved in at center and junior center Austin Blythe slid over to guard. I should've given Blythe a wolf T-shirt. That move showed a high degree of unselfishness and knowledge of the game. He's very, very bright. He at least puts up with my jokes on Tuesdays.

What more can you say about Gaul? How many fifth-year senior walk-ons exist in the Power 5? Probably less than 15.

OL Boone Myers, who missed last week with an elbow injury, wouldn't have gone in. The staff settled on Gaul being No. 6 on Thursday.

4. Iowa behaves fantastically

— The Hawkeyes have been penalized just 22 times this season, that's tied for No. 2 nationally. Last year's team was the least-penalized in Ferentz's 15 seasons. This is a good trend. It factored hugely against Indiana, which was hit with two pass interference penalties that fueled scoring drives. The penalty differential was 9 for 110 for Indiana with Iowa checking with four for 30 yards.

Ferentz: 'It's not like we make it a huge emphasis point. I think I've said this before. Sometimes you're better off being in that two, three, four slot instead of the number one slot because it might mean you're too timid with the way you're playing. But you don't want to be in the bottom half. I know that.'

Interesting comment on being too timid.

5. There are some crazy punt returners in this world

— Maryland's William Likely is great at this. He'll probably get paid real money to do it someday. On eight returns this year, he averages 22.0 yards. I thought to myself, check that number, I'll bet it's the best in the nation. Nope. Florida's Andre Debose leads the country 30.29 yards on seven returns.

Hot damn, that SEC.

6. Wide receiver blocking

— I might write about this tomorrow. I wish WR Jacob Hillyer would've shown up. He was getting treatment and wasn't able to show (he's healthy as far as I know). Anyway, I thought it'd be something they'd joke a little bit about, but no. The WRs take blocking as seriously as they do catching.

7. Eureka or maybe not

— Iowa did shorten its defensive personnel vs. IU. My immediate thought was, this is the defensive core that will play the majority of snaps the rest of the season. But, no, that was a thing because of Indiana's pace of play.

My batting average is stinky today.

8. Eureka or maybe not, too

— The option that CJB ran with RB Jonathan Parker? I thought that was a first and I really do think it pretty much was, at least in that form, down and distance. But it wasn't the first option Iowa has run this season. You might remember Rudock scoring on an option run against Iowa State. You've erased that from your memory? OK, then.

9. The fourth-down thing

— Iowa is 9 of 12 this seaon on fourth down. I wrote about that last weekend. What I didn't know and will credit radio wunderkind Brent Balbinot with digging up is that Iowa has scored of all nine of those successful fourth downs.

I think Mark Weisman makes money in the NFL in short yardage.

10. Best of luck, Mr. Pat Angerer

— You guys have seen on Twitter that the former Iowa linebacker announced his retirement from the NFL today. Injuries shortened what was a pretty great career in the toughest game in the world (sorry, rugby and Australian Rules Football).

Ferentz: 'Pat had one foot out the door. 'I'm hurt,' all that stuff that makes it so hard. He obviously stayed on and became one of our best leaders ever.'

Whatever Pat does, it will be interesting and I believe he will live his life with zero regret and a ton of mirth.

I used to do meet with players at their homes with their families for stories. I went bowling with Pat and a few of his friends. I followed them to the Bettendorf bowling alley and noticed someone's socks were tossed out a back window. I can't remember exactly who it was, but someone was trying to make someone wear rented bowling shoes without socks.

Just unbelievably funny, fun stuff. That dude is one of a kind.

Let's try Stat Pak one more time. This got cut off from Sunday's post.

THE NUMBERS GAME

Touchdowns in the red zone

Iowa

— 3 of 4

Indiana

— 1 of 2

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI — 4 of 6 (off), 3 of 3 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU — 2 of 6 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU — 2 of 2 (off), 1 of 2 (def); Week 4 vs. Pitt — 3 of 3 (off), 2 of 4 (def); Week 5 at Purdue — 2 of 5 (off), 0-1 (def)

The takeaway:

Two of these came in the first half for Iowa. Things tailed off, but there were definite drives in the second half where the goal was to run some clock. Of course, the big pay off was the 1-yard Weisman TD to end the half with no time on the clock. Indiana was 1 of 1 in red-zone scoring chances in the first half. The loss of Nate Sudfeld punctured the Hoosiers. The big question is what does it do to them as far as a bowl goes? Hopefully, he makes it back. He's fun, talented and the B1G could use more like him. (And no, that's not a reference to anyone in particular. You liked watching the IU offense, admit it.)

3 and outs (forced by defense)

Iowa

— 8

Indiana

— 6

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI — 3 (off), 3 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU — 5 (def), 3 (off); Week 3 vs. ISU — 2 (def), 3 (off); Week 4 vs. Pitt — 0 (off) 2 (def); Week 5 at Purdue — 7 (def), 6 (off)

The takeaway

: I've mentioned Sudfeld a few times now. CB Desmond King did read the living daylights out of a terribly telegraphed throw for a pick 6. Indiana's first three drives went three-and-out, pick 6, three-and-out. Iowa built a 21-0 lead that Coleman ran down to 28-21 at one point. When Chris Covington replaced Sudfeld (separated shoulder), it was really ugly, with five consecutive three-and-outs that included LB Bo Bower's second career pick.

Second half adjustments

Iowa

— 126 yards, 3.6 yards per play (35 plays)

Indiana

— 185 yards, 5.78 yards per play (32 plays)

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI — 190 yards, 5.93 yards per play (32 offensive plays), 199 yards, 5.68 yards per play (35 plays on defense); Week 2 vs. BSU — 247 yards, 5.61 yards per play (44 plays on offense), 128 yards, 3.55 yards per play (30 plays on defense); Week 3 vs. ISU — 102 yards, 3.64 yards per play (28 plays on offense), 190 yards, 5.27 yards per play (36 plays on defense); Week 4 vs. Pitt — 183 yards, 5.90 yards per play (31 plays on offense), 173 yards, 5.40 yards per play (32 plays on defense); Week 5 at Purdue — 284 yards, 5.65 yards per play (50 plays on offense), 56 yards, 1.86 yards per play (30 plays on defense)

The takeaway

: Not really a telling stat this week. Iowa ran 41 plays for 300 yards in the first half. That's a 7.3 average that is otherworldly. It took the air of the of ball in the second half. Coleman kept doing his thing. Iowa needed to stretch a net from sideline to sideline. Then again, Coleman would've found a way through that.

20-plus plays

Iowa

— 4

Indiana

— 5

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI — 3 (off), 7 (allowed); Week 2 vs. BSU — 1 (off), 1 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU — 1 (off), 3 (def); Week 4 vs. Pitt — 2 (off), 7 (def); Week 5 at Purdue 4 (off), 1 (def)

The takeaway

: And, once again, a completely different deal from last week. Iowa had ginormous plays (72 pass, 60 rush, 31 pass, 20 rush), but it didn't string along another other biggies. And that was OK this week. Iowa also opened the scoring with a beauty of an 80-yard, 15-play drive. Those are pretty, too. Iowa also closed the half with an eight-play TD drive and did string together a nine-play drive between the third and fourth quarters. Of course, wayyyyyyy too many big plays allowed on defense (three of the five biggies were Coleman TD runs, 83, 45 and 69).

The Iowa/Greg Davis definition of explosive (it's 12-plus runs and 16-plus passes)

: 4 (Purdue 13, UNI 6, BSU 6, ISU 1, Pitt 4)

Magic points (scores inside of two minutes)

Iowa

— 7

Indiana

— 0

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI — 3 (off), 0 (allowed); Week 2 vs. BSU — 7 (off), 0 (allowed) Week 3 vs. ISU — 0 (off), 3 (allowed); Week 4 vs. Pitt — 0 (off), 3 (def); Week 5 at Purdue — 3 (off), 0 (def)

The takeaway

: I am in debate with an e-mailer who explained to me that analytics now show that you absolutely have to go for it on fourth down inside of your opponent's 50. I am open to this notion, but I'm going to need a link. That said, Ferentz's call to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 3 seconds left before halftime was a gutsy call. If the Hoosiers stop Iowa, it's momentum their way and they had the ball coming to them to begin the second half. The score put up Iowa 38-21 and gave it total control. I'll argue it was still a gamble. Low penalty because the half was over and field position, but high emotional quotient. It was a game management gamble with IU owning the second half initial possession.

Short yardage (converted second-5 and third-5)

Iowa

— 3 of 14

Indiana

— 3 of 9

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI — 9 of 15 (off), 5 of 10 (def); Week 2 vs. BSU — 9 of 13 (off), 5 of 7 (def); Week 3 vs. ISU: 14 of 19 (off), 10 of 14 (def); Week 4 vs. Pitt — 10 of 17 (off), 8 of 15 (def); Week 5 at Purdue — 8 of 18 (off), 7 of 18 (def)

The takeaway:

Kind of a dud here, but you remember the highs for Iowa — the fourth downs converted (2 of 2, both on short runs by Weisman). The explosive plays grabbed everyone's attention. The defense didn't stop Coleman (much), but it was effective in muscle yards. Still, not a huge factor in this one.

Disruption numbers (number of TFLs/sacks, QB hurries, passes defended and turnovers divided by total number of opponent plays)

Iowa

— 5.0 TFL/sacks (2.0), 3 PBU, 3 QBH, 3 interception = 14 divided into 60 = 23.3 percent

Indiana

— 6 TFL/sacks (2.0), 2 QBH, 3 PBU = 11 divided into 76 = 14.4 percent

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. UNI — 14.2 percent (off), 29 percent (def); Week 2 vs. BSU — 18 percent (def), 18 percent (vs. off); Week 3 vs. ISU — 17 percent (def), 22 percent (vs. off); Week 4 vs. Pitt — 16.7 percent (def), 11.3 percent (vs. off); Week 5 at Purdue — 19.1 percent (def), 15.9 percent (off)

The takeaway:

Iowa put up its most disruption since the 29 percent against UNI in the opener (23.3 percent). Iowa's secondary got the jump on Sudfeld with King's pick 6 and kept Covington from finding any comfort zone throwing the ball. I'm sure I'll explore this more Monday, but how much did OG Jordan Walsh's ankle injury affect the 6.0 TFLs Iowa allowed? I'm not sure. You know where I'm going here, did fifth-year senior Tommy Gaul do a good enough job at center to have a real look?

When Ferentz spoke about never losing faith or giving up on frosh RB Jonathan Parker, he said ended that statement with kind of an oddity. I think it was pointed, but I don't have any idea at whom and I don't know if it was in regard to the OL, I'm just bringing it up here because I thought it was, well, an oddity (he said how much he liked Parker's effort in practice and how that kept KF buying in with Parker and then . . . ):

'Conversely, some of the mistakes that were pointed out and some of the things that you see that are the result of somebody maybe not being as consistent with their effort and their commitment to getting better.

I've been going through a little bit of a posting nightmare. Apparently, my profile is glitched. I think you probably already knew that.

1. QB situation? What QB situation?

— I wasn't going to ask about QB. I'm not one of those news conference taker-ov