What we know and don't know about Iowa

Iowa had the bye week last week, which was good timing for Iowa as they had injuries in key positions and the extra week of practice gave the injuries and extra week to heal and the young reserves key practice reps.  Now that the bye week is over, the Hawkeyes will begin their quest for a Big Ten title, here are some things we learned in the first five games.

What we know:

The defense is as good as was expected.  Through the first six weeks of the college season the Iowa defense is first in scoring defense, second in rushing defense, and fourth in total defense.  They haven't played any offenses yet that are that great, but you don't get those stat rankings unless you have a solid defense.  The fact that Iowa has done this despite every unit having key players miss substantial time.  The defensive line has been dominant, to a casual observer the stats haven't been great, but ask any offensive coordinator that has played Iowa and they will speak highly about the defensive line's disruption.  The coaches have done a great job of rotating the lineman as well, which will help keep the lineman fresh as the season progresses.  The linebacker core has probably been the most effected by injury.  Starting middle linebacker Jeff Tarpinian has been hampered by stingers the last several games and his backup Bruce Davis has been lost for the season with a knee injury.  Against Penn State, true freshman James Morris manned the middle and did a great job, easing the coaching staff's concern about a backup to Tarpinian.  Jerimiah Hunter has not missed a beat on the weak side and Tyler Nielsen has looked like a clone of his mentor, A.J. Edds.  The defensive backfield has like usual been reliable, they won't play bump and run coverage or man coverage for that matter, but when an opposing quarterback makes a mistake, the defensive backs are ready and waiting.

"It" has finally clicked for Ricky Stanzi.  Last year he showed flashes of greatness followed by throws that make you wonder what he was thinking.  This year he has played like a fifth year senior and has been rewarded by having the number 3 passing efficiency in the nation.  Ricky has made great decisions with the ball this season and takes what the defense has been giving him.  Unlike his predecessors at quarterback, he doesn't seem to have a favorite target or force the ball into a certain receiver.  What has stood out to me the most this season is that Stanzi has put his team in position to win with great audibles.

The receivers are a talented group.  Every single receiver has a role with this team.  You have Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, who will graduate from Iowa as the all time leader in receptions and yards.  DJK as he is known, is a sure handed receiver that seems to run a lot of Iowa's intermediate to deep routes.  Iowa's second leading receiver this season is Marvin McNutt, Marvin is Iowa's deep threat, he has mastered the crossing route in his one plus year as a receiver.  McNutt's greatest strength might be in the red zone, where his size and leaping ability make him a prime target.  Tight end Allan Reisner is the latest in the long line of great tight ends.  His progression from primarily a blocker to a sure handed pass catcher over the last four years has been remarkable.  Although the previous three are the main targets of Stanzi, Colin Sandeman is a solid possession receiver, Keenan Davis is a great reserve that can fill in for both McNutt and DJK.  One element of the passing attach that hasn't been seen for several years is the running back.  Adam Robinson has hauled in seven catches on the season and averaged over 20 yards per catch.

What we don't know:

The offensive line.  Going into the season, this is the one position that people could point to as a possible problem position for the Hawks.  Through the first five games, this unit has done nothing to make you feel any different.  In the Eastern Illinois, Iowa State, and Ball State games, the offensive line has looked very good, but they were playing inferior talent.  In the Penn State game, they looked great in the first half and then very average in the second half.  Most of that had to do with Iowa abandoning the pass and Penn State stacking the box with eight or nine defenders.  The one game that gave this unit the most fits was the Arizona game.  Arizona's strategy was to live and die by the blitz and that strategy was helped by the early lead that Arizona built up.  Iowa was forced to abandon the run and allowed the Arizona defenders get into their track stance and rush the quarterback.  If Iowa can keep a balanced attack, the offensive line will be fine, but when the defense knows what the offense has to do, this offensive line isn't good enough to dominate.

A backup running back.  Coming into the season, Iowa had too many backs and not enough carries.  After five games they have plenty of carries and need more backs to carry them.  Adam Robinson is a top 30 nationally running back through five games and can carry the ball, but he has no proven backup.  Both Marcus Coker and Brad Rodgers got carries in the blow out victory against Ball State, but Kirk Ferentz showed his hand a little bit in the Penn State game when the game was in hand and he didn't bring in the backups.  One thing that all running backs have to do at Iowa to see the field is block and that could be a problem that both Coker and Rodgers have, relying on one of these two against the blitz to protect Ricky Stanzi is not something Ferentz wants to do.  If Iowa is going to turn this season into a Big Ten Championship year, they will have to find a backup running back that can give Robinson a break a couple series a game.

Who is the kicker.  As Iowa fans, we were spoiled for a six or seven year span when we had Kaeding and Schlicher, both very good kickers.  This year Daniel Murray has been hurt and not seen the field, Trent Mossbrucker is not right between the ears, and Iowa is relying on true freshman walk-on Michael Meyer.  When the pressure is on how will Meyer respond?  We have seen that he has the distance to make any kick, but is only 1 of 2 on the year.  When Murray is healthy, does he get the job back?  At some point this season, Iowa will trot their kicker out to attempt a meaningful kick and that thought worries me with the current state of the kickers.