Tennessee Tech is coached by Watson Brown who’s brother is Texas head coach Mack Brown
Jordan Bernstein was singled out by Coach Ferentz as the most impressive performer in fall camp. Look for him to play in the nickel package as well as return kicks.
Carl Davis is out of Saturday’s game, could leave the door open for Darian Cooper to find the field.
Micah Hyde will return punts, could be electrifying.
A.J. Derby is alone as the backup quarterback
Tennessee Tech returns 21 starters, by far the most of any team that Iowa will play this season
Last season Tennessee Tech lost to Arkansas and TCU by a combined 106-10
In only 7 games last season, Marcus Coker tallied the 4th highest freshman total at Iowa
86% of senior starters at iowa have either been drafted or signed FA deals over the last 12 years
Iowa has only allowed a single individual 100 yard rusher each season for the last three years
Iowa has not lost a game by more than 7 points in 39 games
Iowa is 12th in the nation in Graduation Success Rate among Division 1 schools
Tale of the Tape
Iowa TN Tech
Record 8-5, 4-4 5-6, 4-4
Scoring 28.9 24
Scoring Defense 17 28.8
Rushing 148.4 157.4
Passing 234.5 157.5
Total Offense 382.9 314.8
Rushing Defense 101.5 193.9
Passing Defense 230.5 184.9
Total Defense 332.1 378.8
Punt Returns 8.2 15.5
Kick Returns 25.3 15.5
Turnovers +1 +.5
Showing posts with label Micah Hyde. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Micah Hyde. Show all posts
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Defensive Back Preview
Much like the defensive line, the Hawkeye defensive backfield graduated a wealth of experience. Gone are both safties, Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood. Sash left Iowa as its all time interception return yardage leader and Greenwood left after being a four year starter.
Safety
As noted above, both safties have graduated, which is never good and I am sure that if defensive coordinator Norm Parker he would rather lose cornerbacks than safties. In the two deep cover that Iowa runs, the safties are very important in lining up the defense and being disciplined as the last line of defense. What the Iowa coaches do as good as any coaches in the country is to get their best players on the field. That is what you are seeing this year with Micah Hyde (6-1, 185) moving from cornerback to free safety. Micah showed a nose for the ball grabbing 4 interceptions last year and returning two of them for touchdowns. Opposite Hyde at strong safety will be a position that won’t be decided till game week. Senior Jordan Bernstein (5-11, 205), junior Colin Sleeper (6-2, 200), and sophomore Tanner Miller (6-2, 200) will all be competing for playing time. Bernstein arrived on campus five years ago as a highly taughted recruit, but has been plauged by injuries. Miller played last year as a true freshman and was able to hold his own. Sleeper is the wild card here, he’s a guy that is very athletic, last year he played Denard Robinson for the scout team. Whichever one of these guys wins the job will be pushed all season for playing time by the two that aren’t starting.
Cornerback
Shaun Prater (5-11, 180) decided to return to campus after toying with the idea of leaving early to the NFL. The senior is returning after a first team all-Big Ten selection last season and is an All-American candidate. There isn’t much else to say about Prater, he is one of the better cover corners that Iowa has had under Kirk Ferentz and will see his numbers fall this season as opposing teams won’t target receivers on his side as much. Opposite Prater will be Greg Castillo (5-11, 182); the junior had 11 tackles last season in spot duty and looks to become the full time starter this season. Behind the starting corners will be B.J. Lowery (5-11, 185) who has made some impressive plays in open practices the last two seasons. Behind these three will be some young guys, Jordan Lomax (5-10, 185), Gavin Smith (5-10, 175), and Torrey Campbell (5-11, 183) will all be looking to find their way onto the field through backup roles and special teams.
Nickel package –
When Iowa goes to the Nickel package this season look for them to bring in an extra safety and move Micah Hyde down to play over the slot receiver, having three quality cover guys in this package should be a huge benefit for the Iowa defense.
Safety
As noted above, both safties have graduated, which is never good and I am sure that if defensive coordinator Norm Parker he would rather lose cornerbacks than safties. In the two deep cover that Iowa runs, the safties are very important in lining up the defense and being disciplined as the last line of defense. What the Iowa coaches do as good as any coaches in the country is to get their best players on the field. That is what you are seeing this year with Micah Hyde (6-1, 185) moving from cornerback to free safety. Micah showed a nose for the ball grabbing 4 interceptions last year and returning two of them for touchdowns. Opposite Hyde at strong safety will be a position that won’t be decided till game week. Senior Jordan Bernstein (5-11, 205), junior Colin Sleeper (6-2, 200), and sophomore Tanner Miller (6-2, 200) will all be competing for playing time. Bernstein arrived on campus five years ago as a highly taughted recruit, but has been plauged by injuries. Miller played last year as a true freshman and was able to hold his own. Sleeper is the wild card here, he’s a guy that is very athletic, last year he played Denard Robinson for the scout team. Whichever one of these guys wins the job will be pushed all season for playing time by the two that aren’t starting.
Cornerback
Shaun Prater (5-11, 180) decided to return to campus after toying with the idea of leaving early to the NFL. The senior is returning after a first team all-Big Ten selection last season and is an All-American candidate. There isn’t much else to say about Prater, he is one of the better cover corners that Iowa has had under Kirk Ferentz and will see his numbers fall this season as opposing teams won’t target receivers on his side as much. Opposite Prater will be Greg Castillo (5-11, 182); the junior had 11 tackles last season in spot duty and looks to become the full time starter this season. Behind the starting corners will be B.J. Lowery (5-11, 185) who has made some impressive plays in open practices the last two seasons. Behind these three will be some young guys, Jordan Lomax (5-10, 185), Gavin Smith (5-10, 175), and Torrey Campbell (5-11, 183) will all be looking to find their way onto the field through backup roles and special teams.
Nickel package –
When Iowa goes to the Nickel package this season look for them to bring in an extra safety and move Micah Hyde down to play over the slot receiver, having three quality cover guys in this package should be a huge benefit for the Iowa defense.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Pre-Spring Practice
Over the next two weeks I will be assessing the depth chart in detail and by position. Starting today with the most pivotal position on the field, QB.
This is one of the positions that one would hope won't be up for grabs this Spring. Sophomore Ricky Stanzi played sparingly in the Hawks first four games and took the starting job for good in game 5 of last season. For the most part of the season he was told to hand the ball off to Doak Walker award winner Shonn Greene and get out of the way. At times last season he showed flashes of being a solid quarterback, throwing for over 150 yards 7 times on the season. He ended up being extremely efficient as he only threw 25+ passes 4 times in 2008. He showed lots of guts and reminded me of Drew Tate, the way that he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and avoid the sack and make plays with his feet. On the season he completed just short of 60% of his passes, which by itself doesn't sound that good, but after the 2007 season that Iowa fans suffered through, 60% is a welcome stat. For a good part of the season it seemed as if Rick was only seeing half the field, whether that was by design or just the inexperience of a sophomore quarterback in the Big Ten. What you have to remember is the Jake Christiansen had taken the lion's share of the snaps with the first team all spring and fall. A full off season of being the starter will do Rick's confidence the most good. He knows he is the starter going into the season and you have to hope that offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe will open up the playbook a little bit more and let Rick show us what he can do with a full compliment of plays. Let's just say that this Hawk fan is hoping that Rick has a better outcome than the last sophomore to start as QB. He is going to have to do better and stay healthy for that matter, behind Stanzi used to be Marvin McNutt, but late last season he made the switch to WR. Granted that if push came to shove Marvin would probably be able to move back if needed, but if he is moving positions, there is probably a reason for it. That leaves the backups as two untested and unproven redshirt freshman. While they are wet behind the ears, they came to Iowa with lots of expectations and talent. James Vandenberg came to Iowa after a record setting career at Keokuk high school, where he holds 12 different state records, including career passing yards and touchdown passes. The other redshirt freshman is John Wienke, a product of Tuscola, IL, who himself had a stellar high school career where he was named to the Elite 11 quarterback camp and only threw 9 INT's in 620 attempts. The only QB is Iowa's 2009 recruiting class in Micah Hyde out of Ohio, while it is not set in stone that Micah will play QB while at Iowa, he more than likely will spend the season running the scout team. That is a review of what Iowa returns at signal caller, check back to see other position breakdowns.
This is one of the positions that one would hope won't be up for grabs this Spring. Sophomore Ricky Stanzi played sparingly in the Hawks first four games and took the starting job for good in game 5 of last season. For the most part of the season he was told to hand the ball off to Doak Walker award winner Shonn Greene and get out of the way. At times last season he showed flashes of being a solid quarterback, throwing for over 150 yards 7 times on the season. He ended up being extremely efficient as he only threw 25+ passes 4 times in 2008. He showed lots of guts and reminded me of Drew Tate, the way that he seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and avoid the sack and make plays with his feet. On the season he completed just short of 60% of his passes, which by itself doesn't sound that good, but after the 2007 season that Iowa fans suffered through, 60% is a welcome stat. For a good part of the season it seemed as if Rick was only seeing half the field, whether that was by design or just the inexperience of a sophomore quarterback in the Big Ten. What you have to remember is the Jake Christiansen had taken the lion's share of the snaps with the first team all spring and fall. A full off season of being the starter will do Rick's confidence the most good. He knows he is the starter going into the season and you have to hope that offensive coordinator Ken O'Keefe will open up the playbook a little bit more and let Rick show us what he can do with a full compliment of plays. Let's just say that this Hawk fan is hoping that Rick has a better outcome than the last sophomore to start as QB. He is going to have to do better and stay healthy for that matter, behind Stanzi used to be Marvin McNutt, but late last season he made the switch to WR. Granted that if push came to shove Marvin would probably be able to move back if needed, but if he is moving positions, there is probably a reason for it. That leaves the backups as two untested and unproven redshirt freshman. While they are wet behind the ears, they came to Iowa with lots of expectations and talent. James Vandenberg came to Iowa after a record setting career at Keokuk high school, where he holds 12 different state records, including career passing yards and touchdown passes. The other redshirt freshman is John Wienke, a product of Tuscola, IL, who himself had a stellar high school career where he was named to the Elite 11 quarterback camp and only threw 9 INT's in 620 attempts. The only QB is Iowa's 2009 recruiting class in Micah Hyde out of Ohio, while it is not set in stone that Micah will play QB while at Iowa, he more than likely will spend the season running the scout team. That is a review of what Iowa returns at signal caller, check back to see other position breakdowns.
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