Who are the Hawkeyes?

On Thursday morning, Kirk Ferentz begins his 26th season as an Iowa football coach. One of his guiding principles always has been a strong concept of what Iowa is.

You heard it at halftime of the 2014 Outback Bowl, when Iowa hit a wall on offense against LSU. 'We are who we are.' He regularly refers to his program as 'developmental.' You hear him refer to 'projections' for recruits/players and never hear a reference to recruiting rankings/stars.

After five seasons of relative struggles — 'relative' being the key word for a stretch that has included two eight-win seasons and one 4-8 — the identity question is on the table

The question came up during Big Ten media days. Has Iowa lost its identity? Has Iowa struggled to recreate the identity that helped it claim two Big Ten co-titles under Ferentz?

Ferentz's answer followed the peaks and valleys that have generally shaped Iowa football, which has had two head coaches in the last 37 seasons.

'It's kind of like three separate conversations,' Ferentz said. 'In 2012, we just didn't have enough. We were 4-2 at one point. We beat a pretty good Michigan State team on the road. We just came up short. That's one discussion.'

The next is 2013, a year that can only be charactized as 'uplifting.' Iowa drooped to a 21-7 halftime deficit against Michigan at home and fought back for victory. It followed that up with a victory at Nebraska, its first win at Lincoln since 1943. The Hawkeyes finished 8-5 after a 21-14 loss to LSU in the Outback Bowl.

'We were a lot closer to what we hope to be,' Ferentz said. 'We played a style of football that was on the path of what we're trying to be and what we want to be.

'The games we lost, we all feel bad about losing them. It's a competitive league and we lost to four very good teams (Northern Illinois — which played in the Orange Bowl that season — Michigan State, Wisconsin and Ohio State) in the regular season. But I thought we competed at a really high level in all four of those losses and I would say the same thing about our bowl game. That's one feeling.'

Then, the 2014 season. Iowa started 5-1 and finished 2-5. The Hawkeyes were in the Big Ten West Division title race with games at home against Wisconsin and Nebraska. They lost both. Wisconsin was hard fought; Iowa beat itself and fell in overtime against Nebraska.

'We didn't give ourselves as much of a chance to be successful, at the end of the discussion after you go back and look at it all,' Ferentz said. 'Just focus on the last two years, that's 15 wins, but, to me, very different feelings about how the seasons were.

'The most interesting part of all of it is, last year you could argue we're two plays away from being co-champs in the West. It tells you how close things are.

'The key is to be focused on what's going to get us to where the identity we want to have for ourselves becomes apparent to others. My point about two years ago is it doesn't always show up in the win-loss column. If you watched our team that year, I think you'd walk away and say, 'That's a pretty good football team.' Whereas last year, you'd say, 'Those guys turned it over, they gave up a couple of big plays and couldn't cover a punt.''

The fact that Ferentz mentions not covering a punt pretty much unveils one of the two plays he referenced that kept Iowa out of the B1G West winner's circle. Nebraska's De'Mornay Pierson-El had two punt returns in the fourth quarter for 121 yards. One set up a TD and the other was an 80-yard TD that gave the Huskers their first lead of the day. The other probably was the 35-yard completion to Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon on a third-and-13 in Iowa territory. It set up a TD that gave the Badgers a nine-point lead.

So, everyone's homework assignment is who are the Hawkeyes and can they make those two extra plays in 2015?

Here's a quick camp study guide:

1. What can quarterback C.J. Beathard do that Jake Rudock couldn't? — We're going to find out, aren't we? Depending on where you hear the opinion, Beathard is Iowa's secret weapon, living embodiment of hope and game changer. He could be one, none or all three. He won't be anything if he doesn't get some help. We'll also see what arm talent can do for Iowa's offense.

2. Does Iowa have a 'trust back'? — Iowa played three seasons with a fullback running at tailback. Mark Weisman didn't shy away from this and is a fullback in the Cincinnati Bengals camp. Running backs coach Chris White said this a few times. Weisman earned a huge amount of trust. Also, injuries played a factor with his backups last season. Those backups are now the four RBs in this season's race. Let's see if trust comes into play.

3. Was last year rock bottom for the linebackers? — Iowa had two redshirt freshmen whose only scholarship offers were from Northern Iowa. Josey Jewell and Bo Bower need a chance to grow and improve, and as sophomores and second-year starters, they should do just that.

4. Iowa will miss an Outland Trophy winner and an NFL draft pick at offensive tackle. How big is that gap between them and the new guys? — Brandon Scherff and Andrew Donnal are out. Sophomores Ike Boettger and Boone Myers are in. This is their first run, and they know opponents won't be sympathetic.

5. Punting? — It has to be better. White, who also serves as Iowa's special teams coordinator, offered this statement of frustration during the spring: '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.' Connor Kornbrath is out. Dillon Kidd is on the clock. Marshall Koehn is on deck.

Iowa is on deck. Camp is open and the season is here.

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