Iowa Hawkeyes
Big Ten
The expectations were quite low for Iowa heading into the year. Coach Kirk Ferentz was a bit on the hot seat and the Hawkeyes were all but written off. A season opening loss to Northern Illinois did not help matters. Of course it turned out not to be that bad of a loss. And in the end Iowa finished second in the Legends Division and recorded eight wins.
2013 Record: 8-4, 5-3
Coach: Kirk Ferentz
Coach Bowl Record: 6-4
Big Wins: 11/23 Michigan (24-21), 11/29 at Nebraska (38-17)
Bad Losses: 8/31 Northern Illinois (27-30), 11/2 Wisconsin (9-28)
Strengths:
Iowa has relied heavily on their defense this year. Linebackers Anthony Hitchens, James Morris and Christian Kirksey combined to record 297 tackles. Hitchens led the way with 102 and added a couple forced fumbles. Morris also forced two fumbles and also picked off four passes and tallied a team high 5.0 sacks. With those three providing leadership in the middle of the defense, Iowa will not make many mistakes. The secondary is led by B.J. Lowery, one of the best cornerbacks in the Big Ten. He broke up an impressive 16 passes and added three interceptions. Tanner Miller, Desmond King and John Lowdermilk round out an impressive, and relatively experienced, secondary. This is not a team that will tally too many sacks, but players like Drew Ott and Dominic Alvis have done a decent job at least getting some pressure in the backfield.
Weaknesses:
Quarterback Jake Rudock deserves a lot of credit for Iowa’s success. The sophomore signal caller won the starting job in the off-season and never let go. He threw a dozen interceptions and made some poor decisions, yet Iowa was lacking a passing game in 2012 and Rudock put an end to that. Rudock ended up throwing for 2,281 yards and 18 touchdowns. Kevonte Martin-Manley has been a great target for Rudock. He led the team with 39 receptions for 384 yards. Youngsters Tevaun Smith and Damond Powell have emerged as quality deep threats and the Hawkeyes have a superb tight end in C.J. Fiedorowicz. Fiedorowicz leads the team with six touchdown receptions and is the obvious red zone target. The ground game is led by Mark Weisman, who totaled 937 yards and seven scores on the ground. Damon Bullock and Jordan Canzeri are both quality backups as well. While the offense is much, much better than last year and has a nice run and pass balance, they still lack explosiveness. For the most part Iowa is going to have to play the field position game and chew up clock on offense.
Statistical Leaders:
Rushing: Mark Weisman, RB, 937 yards
Passing: Jake Rudock, QB, 2,281 yards
Receiving: Kevonte Martin-Manley, WR, 384
Tackles: Anthony Hitchens, LB, 102
Sacks: James Morris, LB, 5.0
Interceptions: James Morris, LB, 4
2013 Team Stats:
Rushing Offense: 188.6 (42nd in nation, 6th in conference)
Passing Offense: 200.4 (90, 9)
Total Offense: 389.0 (80, 8)
Scoring Offense: 27.3 (74, 9)
Rushing Defense: 120.8 (18, 4)
Pass Defense: 182.4 (11, 2)
Total Defense: 303.2 (9, 3)
Scoring Defense: 18.8 (11, 3)
Turnover Margin: 0.1 (56, 7)
Sacks: 1.67 (85, 8)
Sacks Allowed: 1.00 (12, 1)
Recent Bowl Appearances:
2011 Insight Bowl Oklahoma (14-31)
2010 Insight Bowl Missouri (27-24)
2009 Orange Bowl Georgia Tech (24-14)
2008 Outback Bowl South Carolina (31-10)
2006 Alamo Bowl Texas (24-26)
*all team stats through 11/30
