Iowa Football: Midseason Awards For Iowa Hawkeyes
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Reliving the best and worst moments from Iowa’s first six games
Iowa football had high hopes entering the 2016 season. Most people felt the only team on their schedule who could take them down was the Michigan Wolverines. Well, we’re halfway through the season and the Iowa Hawkeyes already have two losses to their name and three ranked teams left on their schedule.
A 4-2 record for Iowa doesn’t have many people jumping for joy. Everyone expected a lot more from this team, and their chances of making a repeat appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game is very bleak.
Although, the main storyline from the first six games is the loss of senior wide receiver Matt VandeBerg. After he started the season with four great games, he broke his foot in practice and Iowa expects him to miss the rest of the season. Iowa is hoping that he will receive a medical redshirt season and be eligible as a fifth-year senior in 2017.
That being said, there were still many bright moments for the Hawkeyes during the first half of the season. Despite two losses, the Hawkeyes demolished rival Iowa State and are just one game out of the Big Ten West lead.
Here’s a look at some of the highs and lows from Iowa’s first half of the season.
OPOY: WR Matt VandeBerg
2016 Stats: 19 Receptions, 284 Yards, 3 Touchdowns
Matt VandeBerg has missed the last two games for the Hawkeyes, yet he’s easily been the best offensive player through six games for Iowa. It says a lot about how well he performed and how poorly the Hawkeyes have outside of their star receiver.
Despite missing the last two games, VandeBerg still leads the team in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and is one reception behind Riley McCarron for the team lead in receptions. C.J. Beathard went to VandeBerg early and often and made him one of the best receivers in the Big Ten this season.
In fact, VandeBerg caught at least four passes in every game he played in this season, and reeled in a remarkable 129 yards and a touchdown on seven catches against rival Iowa State. He also added two touchdowns against North Dakota State, being one of the only players on offense to provide any sort of production or intensity to the game.
With a senior quarterback and receiver, who led the team in receiving in 2015, the Hawkeyes made passing a bigger part of their game plan. It became evident very quickly, although they continued that style of play over the past two weeks and the drop-off in production is very clear.
Riley McCarron has caught 14 balls for 140 yards and a touchdown over the two weeks he’s taken over as the team’s receiver. Although, it’s been filled with too many drops and a lost fumble. The Hawkeyes are still trying to find a way to make up some of his production. They’ll have to figure that out quickly, or else the second half will be rough.
VandeBerg wasn’t a home run threat, but he had great hands and provided Beathard with a reliable target every week. Besides, he got engaged to his girlfriend after a career-night against Iowa State, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
DPOY: LB Josey Jewell
2016 Stats: 54 Tackles, 3.5 Tackles for Loss, 3 Pass Deflections
There was some hype surrounding Josey Jewell coming into the season, but most people were talking about Desmond King. It made sense considering the historic season King was coming off of. Although, Jewell became the first Iowa junior in the Kirk Ferentz era to be a representative at Big Ten Media Day.
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Jewell has backed up Ferentz’s decision by leading the team in tackles for a second straight year. Following a 126-tackle season in 2015, Jewell is on pace to rack up 108 in 2016. That being said, he missed most of the season opener after being suspended early in the first quarter due to targeting, therefore his 54 tackles is somewhat deflated.
However, once Jewell returned to midseason form, he became the Hawkeyes best defensive player through the first six games. His five tackles against Minnesota ended a three-game stretch in which Jewell recorded double-digit tackles in each game, including a 16-tackle performance against Northwestern. Josey Jewell has simply been unstoppable when on the field and an integral part to the Hawkeyes run defense.
His most impressive set of plays came late in the second quarter after Janarion Grant gained 76 yards on a reception and brought Rutgers down to the five-yard line. The Scarlet Knights opted towards four straight runs, each being stopped by Jewell at the goal-line. It was an amazing display of not only his skill level but also how much ground he can cover.
The Hawkeyes could have had a very different first half of the season if Jewell didn’t come up clutch and stuff Rutgers on four straight plays.
There are a lot of great linebackers in the Big Ten, but Josey Jewell has to be in contention for the top spot. He’s great in coverage, against the run and is the heart and soul of the Hawkeyes defense. There’s no reason to think that he’ll slow down in the second half of the season.
Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Best Offensive Game: vs Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa looked good but not great against Miami (OH)’s defense. Although, they went to another gear against rival Iowa State and were firing from the get-go. After barely squeaking out a win a season ago over the Cyclones, the Hawkeyes made sure that would not be the case this season.
Iowa scored 14 points in each of the first three quarters and did whatever they wanted on offense. It resulted in six touchdowns on the night and only three punts through the first three quarters when all the starters were in. Iowa punted twice more in the fourth quarter after they put their backups in.
Through the air, C.J. Beathard tied a career-high with three touchdown passes and completed 19-of-28 passes for 235 yards and 8.4 yards per pass. In fact, Beathard has only averaged more yards per pass than he did against Iowa State in one game this season — versus Miami (OH).
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Beathard got everyone involved, as eight players caught a pass on the night, including three players who caught at least three passes. Matt VandeBerg led the way with seven catches, 129 yards and a touchdown. Also, Riley McCarron had his best game backing up VandeBerg with 31 yards on four receptions.
Along with Beathard’s career-night through the air, the Hawkeyes ground game stayed tough for a second straight week. LeShun Daniels Jr and Akrum Wadley each averaged more than five yards per carry and combined for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Plus, Beathard also added a fourth touchdown on the night, this time using his feet.
The Hawkeyes scored 42 points but it could have been a lot more if they continued to attack in the fourth quarter. Nathan Stanley ended up coming into the game early in the fourth quarter, and Iowa decided to run out the clock by handing the ball to Toks Akinribade. It makes their 42 points look even more impressive.
Iowa’s highest scoring game came in week one against Miami (OH) when they put up 45 points, although, the Hawkeyes dominated this game from start to finish and stepped on the brakes in the fourth quarter and still topped 40 points.
Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Best Defensive Game: at Minnesota Golden Gophers
Despite holding Iowa State to a mere three points, their ability to shut down a much better Minnesota offense and hold them to seven points is easily the most impressive showing for the Hawkeyes defense up to this point.
Prior to their meeting with Iowa, Minnesota had scored 30-plus points in each of their first three games and at least 20 points in all four games. However, Iowa went into Minneapolis and held them to seven points, while also forcing three turnovers.
It was only the second time in 2016 that Iowa forced three turnovers in a single game. The Hawkeyes also allowed a season-low 14 first downs, 268 total yards, 102 rushing yards and 39.4 completion percentage.
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Even though the Hawkeyes have taken on two of the worst offenses in college football this season — Iowa State and Miami (OH) — they had their best performance against Minnesota, a decent Big Ten team. Plus, Iowa did this after being banged around the week prior against Northwestern.
It’s the only game they put constant pressure on the quarterback and effectively stopped the run. In fact, prior to holding Minnesota to 102 rushing yards and 3.5 yards per carry, the Hawkeyes last three opponents each rushed for at least 190 yards. Their run defense has had issues this season, but they took on a dynamic running back duo in Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks, and contained them.
Defense has won games for Iowa this season, however, the Hawkeyes had to play a near perfect game on the defensive side of the ball against Minnesota, and they did just that.
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Biggest Surprise: Amount of Pass Plays
Coming into the year with a quarterback who only threw five interceptions in 14 games the year before, it made sense why the Hawkeyes wanted to pass the ball more in 2016. Beathard completed 61.6 percent of his passes in 2015 and owned better than a 3:1 touchdown:interception ratio.
Despite the Hawkeyes actually attempting 0.4 fewer passes per game this season, the percentage of pass plays called is higher in 2016. Iowa ran an average of 67 plays per game in 2015, compared to only 61 plays this season. That means approximately 39.4 percent of their called plays were passing plays, although, this year, that number has gone up to 42.6 percent.
If Beathard was as efficient as last year, or winning games with his arm, this uncharacteristic willingness to air it out would be more welcome. However, Beathard’s completion percentage has dropped to 60.3 percent and he already has four interceptions on the season, including three in the past two weeks.
The losses of wide receiver Tevaun Smith and tight end Henry Krieger-Coble from a year ago have taken a toll on the Hawkeyes pass game. Other than Matt VandeBerg, who is likely out for the year, no one else has successfully separated themselves from the group and become a reliable target for C.J. Beathard, yet Iowa continues to abandon the run at the first sign of trouble.
Sure, Iowa’s run game has struggled at times, however, Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels Jr are still averaging a very good 5.7 yards per carry, combined, and have found the end zone a combined 11 times in 2016.
Pair that with the loss of VandeBerg and it’s very surprising that Beathard attempted 31 passes against Minnesota. The Hawkeyes didn’t have their best game on the ground but still averaged 4.5 yards per carry as a team. Also, the offensive line struggled in passing situations and receivers dropped a lot of easy passes.
It’s easy to get frustrated with the Hawkeyes ground game, but that’s how the Hawkeyes were so successful in 2015. Kirk Ferentz needs to return to his roots and establish a ground game that can set-up play action and buy Beathard time in the pocket.
Iowa has the backs to do it. Besides, relying on Riley McCarron won’t win many games.