Special Teams Outlook

Something that has become a staple at Iowa underneath Kirk Ferentz is good special teams. While they don’t make the flashy plays that get them on Sportscenter, they play solid and really become a weapon field position wise.


Punter-

Gone is one of Iowa’s all-time best, Ryan Donahue, who had been the starting punter for the last four years. While his average wasn’t the best, his ability to pin the opposing team inside their own twenty helped the Iowa defense become what they are. Attempting to replace Donahue will be Eric Guthrie, a senior who has been in Ryans shadow waiting for his turn to kick for the Hawkeyes. Guthrie is a guy who is solid, but won’t get mistaken for Donahue. Behind Donahue was thought to be Johnny Mullings, who came to Iowa as a You Tube star; however it was recently revealed that Mullings won’t join the team until school has started. One could assume that that means Mullings won’t see the field, but this could also serve as motivation to hone his craft. If Mullings isn’t the backup look for backup quarterback John Weinke to serve as the backup punter. Don’t get too concerned however, as Weinke averaged more than 40 yards per punt in high school.

Kicker-

Some college teams don’t have a kicker with any collegiate experience; Iowa on the other hand has two. Trent Mossbrucker was the incumbant last year, but his inconsistancy lead to Mike Meyer getting a shot, once Meyer won the job, he didn’t let it go. This season Meyer is the incumbant, but don’t rule out Mossbrucker yet, if he can get right between the ears, he still has the talent to be a Big Ten kicker. Add to the mix, a walk-on freshman, Marshall Koehn, who has a big leg and could be the kickoff specialist.

Long Snapper-

A name that most Hawkeye fans won’t remember is Andrew Schultz, the fact that you may not know who he is means that he did his job as the long snapper. It’s a position that only gets mentioned when they do something wrong. Schultz was good enough to get invited to an NFL training camp and replacing him will be Casey Kreiter. If Casey can keep his name out of the announcer’s mouth, it will be a success.