Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - BOWL BREAKTHROUGH? How Iowa Hawkeyes Can OUTPLAY Vanderbilt - Diego Pavia's Challenge & Iowa's Winning Edge

Starting point is 00:00:00 The country's picking Vanderbilt, we say Hawkeyes, tough in the trenches, smart football, and a defense that travels. Today we tell you why Iowa knocks the SEC in the ReliaQuest Bowl. You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team. Every day. I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes, your first listen every day here on the Lockdown Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Now number one for sports podcast. I've been covered the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio, including currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network, where you can hear me each weekday from noon to two on the Iowa Sports Radio Network with stations in Iowa City, Cedar Rapids, the Quad Cities, Sioux City and our flagship, 106.3 KX&O in Des Moines. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code Lockdown College for $20 off your first purchase. Today we're going to take a peek back at yesterday as Iowa finished off their non-conference

Starting point is 00:01:17 slate with a victory against UMass Lull and what to look for going forward from this men's basketball team as they get ready for conference play to re-engage starting on Saturday with the big matchup against UCLA. We're also going to hear from David Eichold. He is down in Florida, in Tampa. Further, Eliquest Bowl, we'll get his expertise of what's happening down there. Some updates and some speculation of what's going to happen in the transfer portal. But we begin today with the path for Iowa to pull off the victory against Vanderbilt.

Starting point is 00:01:48 What it's going to take for the Hawkeyes to knock off Mandy, beat Diego Pavia, maybe shut him up a little bit, and get the Hawkeyes a bowl victory. not only a bull victory for Kirk Farrants and what that would mean as he would lift his record back to 500 in bowl games, move his record to a winning record in Tampa in the seventh edition for Kirk Farrants in the old Outback Bowl. Now the Eliquist Bowl played in Tampa as he comes in with the three and three record. But maybe most importantly, stopping the narrative that Iowa can't beat ranked opponents. This is a ranked opponent. This is a team that was on the cusp of a college football playoff.

Starting point is 00:02:25 This is a team that won 10 games in the SEC this season. And though it's not a name brand, it's not in Alabama, a Georgia of Florida. This is still a very good football team. And a win here with I think a lot of eyeballs on it on the 31st would go a long way of slowing down some of the notions that Iowa can't figure things out against ranked opponents. We saw it this season and this year certainly was a whole lot different than what it's been in the past where Iowa was getting blown out in those games. And that was not the case this season. The four losses by a total of 15 points, the almost what ifs against USC against Oregon, just how close this team has been and being able to get pass at and get a bowl of victory in a bowl game against a ranked team,

Starting point is 00:03:07 I think would say a lot still about what this program is and what it can be going forward. But it is going to be not an easy task in order to do that, to pull this one off. So I got a list of different things I believe needs to happen if I was going to do just that. Now, some of the things are go without saying, right? winning the turnover battle, dominating in the run game, the things that we're used to with Iowa football. And those are all a part of this, obviously, in order to pull this off. But I think I got a handful of things that are going to be incredibly important, things that jumped out when you look at the stats. Now, at the top, Diego Pavia, the quarterback for Vanderbilt is going

Starting point is 00:03:44 to get a lot of the notoriety, finished runner up at the Heisman trophy. What happened afterwards as he was hollering about the Heisman boaters and about the Heisman in general, that went a long way. Still, that aside, this dude's talented. And though he's not big, I think us in this Iowa community, we know the dude was a wrestler in high school. And we know those wrestlers, they're wired a little bit differently. I think anybody that's wrestled knows that. Anybody that's hung around wrestlers definitely know that they're built different. They're wired different. And Pavia, he definitely has some of that wrestler mentality to him. He goes out there with the utmost confidence.

Starting point is 00:04:19 He has a bit of confidence that sometimes maybe goes too far. And that goes hand in hand. with this Vanderbilt team, you look at them this season, they, they're penalized a lot. And we know Iowa year after years, one of the least penalized teams in college football. But Vandy, they're going to woof at you. Certainly Pavia is going to be woofing and talking and hollered because that's what he does. But that aspect, those hidden yardage, which are always incredibly important for Iowa, this is another one. They want to do those things. They get the penalties.

Starting point is 00:04:53 That is advantage, Iowa. Keep the penalties down, let Vanderbilt do their thing. And that's an advantage, certainly, that Iowa can get this season as overall this year. When you look at the numbers, lots of penalties on Vanderbilt this season. Third downs. Vanderbilt's offensively one of the best in the country. In fact, third in the country in third down offense this year. On the other side, though, defensively, not very good.

Starting point is 00:05:19 104th in the country and third down defense and conversion rate against them this season. For Iowa, that means you got to complete. You got to be able to complete those third down conversions. You have to be able to go out there and finish the job. You got a third and two, got to get the first down. Have to be able to convert. And there's going to be those third and mediums, those third and six, third and eights. Those are the place Iowa also is going to have to meet.

Starting point is 00:05:42 Eat up some clock. Keep drives alive. Keep the chains moving. How do you do that? You do that by playing ahead of the chains. And that goes hand at hand with our next number that jumps out here when you're looking at this. first down offense for Iowa.

Starting point is 00:05:56 This year, Vanderbilt, middle of the pack, 52nd in the country, in first down defense. That means Iowa cannot be sitting in second and nine, cannot be second and eight. Get those chunk plays early on. Take advantage of what they do on first down and take what they're giving. If that's Kamari Moulton and he's going to get a big gain and he's going to get six, seven yards at a pop, you take that.

Starting point is 00:06:16 And you set up your second in shorts, your third of mediums, you set those up and then being able to convert. First down offense is going to be incredibly important. for Iowa, stay ahead of the chains against this Vanderbilt defense. Another thing that jumps out, this has been talked about a bunch, and since this game has been announced, this has been kind of at the forefront of things, is the passing defense for Vanderbilt. They're 119th in the country in passing D.

Starting point is 00:06:40 That means Iowa is going to have to throw the ball. And there's been opportunities this year for Iowa to do that, and unfortunately, they haven't been. A final step forward for Mark Bernowski. After dealing with the shoulder injury that he sustained, the surgery, the surgery that he had before spring practice. Now what we've seen throughout the course of the year, with the knee injury that he had in the game against Indiana,

Starting point is 00:07:01 having to depart that one, and Hank Brown having come into that. We need to see Mark Grinowski, maybe for the first time, being tremendous for four quarters, throwing the football, making plays down the field, getting Vandersi involved,

Starting point is 00:07:16 getting Reese Vandersi on the outside. We've seen Dayton Howard make a couple of plays on the outside. And then that consistency inside. There's going to be opportunities for Iowa to win in the passing game, they have to show it here. There's been a lot of time for Tim Lester to formulate a game plan to do just that. I don't think there's going to be a ton there in the running game. I think there's enough and definitely going to be enough to keep them off balance.

Starting point is 00:07:39 But if I was going to win this game, Mark Grinowski, not just with his legs, and we know he can do that, is going to have to do it with his arm to pull off the upset against Vanderbilt. Speaking of that, and in the run game and the run game for Vanderbilt, It's what they do with Pavia. He is so good getting outside the pocket of making plays. And that's been something that's been talked about a lot. Bill Parker mentioned that in his press conference earlier this week during media availability of keeping him contained.

Starting point is 00:08:06 It's not just pinning your ears back as a defensive end, as an outside guy and trying to get to the quarterback that way. It is keeping him inside the pocket and as a guy of short stature, not allowing him to get outside, finding those passing windows that open up and then making the plays that way. found this really interesting as well. This comes from Colin Wilson of the Action Network, talking about some of the things maybe we can see against the ground game of Bainterbilt. He said this, quote, defensive coordinator Phil Parker also produced an excellent unit

Starting point is 00:08:37 against pulling linemen. Iowa creates a negative play 11% of the time against offenses using that concept. That is something that Baderbilt uses a lot, moving, pulling guards, pulling even their center at times, something in Iowa has been very good. Another note from Colin Wilson here. Iowa's opponents have been stifled when it comes to man blocking concept with heavy personnel.

Starting point is 00:09:00 Pavia is the biggest benefactor of Vanderbilt's man blocking attempts, but Iowa holds a 56% success rate against that tendency while producing a negative EPA. That says what Vanderbilt likes to do in the run game, Iowa has been pretty good against. That is simply something that is very good. And one final number that definitely jumps off the page here for Iowa. Red zone defense for Vanderbilt this year, 55th in the country. Get touchdowns, not field goals. When they get into the red zone, you have to finish the drive.

Starting point is 00:09:31 With Mark Gernowski, Iowa this year has been incredibly good at just that. That needs to continue here. Iowa, when they get into the red zone, not settling for Drew Stevens 3, no, getting into the end zone, getting the touchdown. You do that, you got a chance. I think I was got to score. I think I was got to put points up. And if they're going to do that in this game, it's not going to be 17-13. It's not going to be 13.10.

Starting point is 00:09:54 I was going to have to score. Can they get to 30? That might be the magic number for Iowa to get it done. Iowa 30, Vanderbilt 27. Hawkeyes get the bowl win. Let's get David Eicholt's perspective. He's down at Tampa right now. We'll get his perspective from the game, some updates and some transfer portal chatter.

Starting point is 00:10:12 With David Eicholt, we'll do that as we continue, locked on Hawkeyes. there's nothing like college football season as things wind down still one more opportunity for tailgates pack stadiums in the middle of it all the energy the bands the moments you remember forever but actually getting tickets that used to be the most frustrating part with long cues logins and prices jumping for you when you get to check out that's why game time gives the advantage back to fans it's the easiest way to unlock amazing college football tickets and experiences in just a few taps i took a look at the game time app right before we started to day and taking a look at the ReliQuest Bowl in Tampa.

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Starting point is 00:11:49 It's Vandy. Hawks getting five, five and a half, I think is the number. At least that's what it has been. Here's David I called Hock Eye Insider.com part of 24-7 sports. David, away from football just for a second, but still kind of on the same train of thought. Just what if Hawk fans, are they into this? Are they traveling down to Tampa Bay to watch their team one last time? Yeah, they are.

Starting point is 00:12:15 I mean, going to Beach Day yesterday outside of game. thumb burnt a little bit. There were probably about 85% Iowa fans, which, you know, I did think Iowa fans would outnumber Vanderbilt, but maybe more Vanderbilt fans are making the trip day of. I have heard Vanderbilt's ticket sales have been fairly decent, but no, this is a very Hawkeye heavy crowd from everything I've seen. You're running into quite a few of them downtown, a lot of them at the beaches as well. So, you know, bowl games might be dying.

Starting point is 00:12:46 I think there's without, you know, I think that's, you know, I think that's, undoubtedly true, but I think Iowa fans, especially given the blizzards back home, I think they'll take every excuse every year to come down to a warm place like Florida and watch football. You look at the matchup, Diego Pavia is obviously getting a lot of headlines. No Eli Stowers, the tremendous tight end for the Vandy. But when you look at this matchup, what's it going to take? Does it feel like Iowa's going to have to score in this game? If they're going to pull it off, it's got to be more of that 27, 24 type of game as opposed to 17, 13. What's the game plan here?

Starting point is 00:13:19 And what's it going to take to beat Vanderbilt? Yeah, I'm right there with you. And it's something I think that's been X-factor all year, guys. I always got to throw the football. They have to throw the football effectively. Because if you dive deep into Vanderbilt's numbers, again, tremendous football team. But one number I don't think is being talked about enough. Vanderbilt's 119th in the country in passing defense.

Starting point is 00:13:39 They're giving up 10.5 yards of completion. Now, again, they're in the SEC. There's a lot of really good receiver cores. They're still a lot of really good quarterback. We all know this, right? But there's a big chance for Tim Lester to call one of his best games to the Hawkeye. Because it's not even so much about taking the one-on-one shots downfield. It's about being methodical.

Starting point is 00:14:01 It's about surgically diagnosing the defense, taking advantage of the routes between 8 to 12 yards, easy pitch and catch, give Mark Grinowski a chance. Iowa, I think, has to put up at least 25 points if they want a shot in this. because, look, Diego Pavia might not be the big. Well, he's definitely not the biggest. He's 5-9 on a good day. I was about 20 feet from him. I don't know how he's listed at six feet tall.

Starting point is 00:14:23 I'm with you. But maybe that's just the benefit of being a high man runner-up. You're able to hear height changed a little bit. It's not the fastest. It doesn't have the biggest arm. You know what he can do? He can play football. Yep.

Starting point is 00:14:36 Like he is backyard football to a tee. They are first in the country in yards per play. I believe they're about 7.6 to 7.7. But Iowa needs to be all to score. I think they need to throw the ball for potentially over 200 yards, have to be aggressive. But this is definitely one where you want to pass the ball well, but you also have the Joe Moore Award winning offense. So again, I think this is a big showcase game for Tim Lester to surgically kind of, I don't want to say dominate, but just be very surgical against a very, very good Vanderbilt team. And yes, I would have never envisioned saying that five years ago about Vanderbilt.

Starting point is 00:15:14 I don't know. Has the Ference Clark Lee Press Conference happened yet? And if so, was, I know Vanderbilt's aware of Caden Weegean, but how will they try and prevent him from seemingly doing what he does most Saturdays? And that's making somewhat of a play on special teams. Has Weigin come up when it comes to Vanderbilt? Yeah, so we just got done with him maybe about 15 to 20 minutes ago. So I'm still kind of hanging around where I need to be. But, I mean, mean, they're definitely aware of Legion. And I do think that that's something that does concern Clark. And he really didn't comment too much on it, but they're aware of the mismatch, right? I think they know that if they give him an inch of room, he has a chance to dominate. Quite frankly, I do think they're worried about their past, their punt coverage, because again, you look at Diego Pavia, you look at the offense that Vanderbilt has, guys, Vanderbilt's only averaging two punts a game. So their entire game plan is to just go score as many

Starting point is 00:16:13 points as possible and take one of Iowa's best players and who I think could be one of the best return men in the history of the Big Ten conference out in Caden Ouija. I mean, statistically, he matches up with, with about everybody. So I'm very curious from that standpoint. But another thing that maybe I'm overthinking this, because you guys know I love a good conspiracy theory. You know, I like that I try to think outside the box every once in a while. Remember, this is Lavar Woods' last game, too. How many times over the years have we seen, a creative wrinkle to Iowa's return game, a creative wrinkle in a special team's coverage. Maybe they want to go out with a bang.

Starting point is 00:16:53 Maybe they know that's what it's going to take to beat a very good Vanderbilt team. Again, they've only lost, I believe, Alabama and Texas. Yep. Both on the road. Maybe he's going to be a lot of fun, but you're exactly right. They're very aware of him. But I also think that Clark Lee has undoubted trust and, Diego Pavia to get it done.

Starting point is 00:17:15 And one of the big factors also really quick, guys, we've seen Heisman runner-ups, you know, take advantage by it with defense in games before. And especially if you're Diego Pavia and you have that kind of forget all voters, except that it wasn't forget, you know he's going to come out there with a chip on his shoulder looking to absolutely prove that he should have been the Heisman.

Starting point is 00:17:39 Was McCaffrey a runner-up? I think so, yeah. yeah that's perfect example that didn't go very well so on the heels of the game you'll get back or you'll be working certainly come friday that is when the transfer portal opens it is going to be an onslaught you know normally at this time the last couple of years we've known what the early signing period's going to be now just one signing period it'll be these two weeks that will be happening in january starting on friday what do you anticipate it's going to look like for iowa think we're going to see at least one surprise from Iowa that enters the portal. I couldn't

Starting point is 00:18:17 give you an exact name, but there have been, you know, rumblings about, you know, a potential impact player or two that could enter the portal. But another thing is, Iowa's not in a panic right now, right? They have a methodical plan of how they're going to attack. Number one, I think they need defensive tackle. Have to get an impact defensive tackle. I know they're going to target one of those. I think they also are going to target a defensive end for depth purposes, because I think you look at some of the guys like Yosea F and that's, yeah, we all know he's going going to take a step forward, right? They lose a number of impact guys on the edge, but I think they want one more for depth at least. I think they're going to look at cornerback, maybe a spacey, because

Starting point is 00:18:53 Zach Lutmer can play about anywhere. As Mark Grinowski calls him, the Walmart Cooper DeGine or the Dollar General Cooper DeGine, but I'll tell you, I take a nickel Cooper DeGine if I needed to, right, because of how dynamic he was as a Hawkeye. But outside of that, I think they're going to look at wide receiver for sure. And if another running. back enters the transfer portal. We know T.J. Washington intends center of the portal. He is not with Iowa right now in Tampa. You know, I'm not going to be surprised if Iowa looks to go get somebody in that running

Starting point is 00:19:25 back room as well. Maybe they get an offensive lineman just for depth and maybe have a guy for longer than one year. But I think the positions of emphasis are going to be defensive tackle, cornerback, and wide receiver. But I think even kicker, too. I've both to say that. He's open for a kicker as well.

Starting point is 00:19:42 Yep, because Drew Stevens is out of eligibility and had a really good year. Did they offer Conrardi through backtown? They better have kicked the tires. Do you know that, David? I don't, but I would not be surprised if they would have kicked the tires had he answered the portal because I think they trust his kicking ability. If anybody should. I heard mid-six figures.

Starting point is 00:20:12 that that's what they were willing to offer. Now, he's obviously staying at Iowa State. But so neither of you have heard that that's true or not anything like that along those lines. I couldn't give you direct confirmation, but I'll tell you, just based on people I talked to that would be in the know, it would make sense. Yeah, it would. Quite frankly, it would have made sense. But I do know that, you know, I think there was a certain North Dakota state kicker that just entered the portal last night. I would not be surprised if they kicked the tires around there, too.

Starting point is 00:20:40 Good stuff. Makes a whole lot of sense. Are they happy with what they've said they're happy? We've heard what Tim Lester said, what Kirk Farrants has said, that yes, they're good at quarterback, they feel good about Hank Brown and that Hicklinsky is there. Do you believe in when they say that or is there at minimum? You've got to be shopping. I mean, you've got to see what is out there, I think, at minimum.

Starting point is 00:21:00 Take us into the quarterback spot. They're not going to be actively shopping, but they're going to be actively monitoring. Okay. And that's the approach I think you need to take, right? I, at this point, I believe the betting, if I had to put odds on it, I think Jeremy Hecklinsky would be probably at about minus 155 to be the starting quarterback next season. I think he's ahead of Hank Brown. I think Hank Brown's going to stay and compete. If one of Iowa's quarterbacks gets in the portal, then I do think that they would actively shop.

Starting point is 00:21:31 But even if they actively shop, man, like I don't think they're going to actively shop a starting right away caliber quarterback. I think they would do it for debt purposes only because they want to reinvest some of that NIL money in different areas. And Tim Lester said best when we talked to them earlier this week, oh, I guess I should say last week. Now, at some point, you have to stop having one-year rentals and you have to develop somebody. And I think you look at Tim Lester and the way his career is kind of unfolded, what he wants to run offensively, what he'd like to do, that guy needs more than that a summer and fall can't work with a quarterback. Again, Garnowski didn't wasn't participate in spring.

Starting point is 00:22:12 Iowa might have been more way, a way better passing team had Mark Grinowski gotten a full spring. I don't want to say, you know, I'm not going to say they would have been a top 25 passing offense, but I do think they take another step forward. Maybe they have two 200 plus yard games instead of zero, right? I think they're not going to be actively shopping,

Starting point is 00:22:33 but they're not going to be. surprised by anything. I think they have a really good strategy as the portal as far as the ability to monitor it, the team they have around. And I think there's a lot less pressure on Tyler Barnes to make all the decisions. Now he gets to negotiate. Now he gets to actively, you know, talk to a bunch people. But he doesn't have to make the board, run the board, create contact. Like Iowa, I feel like is way more comfortable now in the portal than they were two years ago. David, 10 seconds left. I'm not asking for names but those guys those players that may enter the portal impact players one on both side of the ball can you go will you go that far i i won't go that far but the one

Starting point is 00:23:15 the one i'm thinking of is on offense and uh i i'm again i'm not want to throw too much out there it's only rumbling i'm not going to be surprised if it's a running back i was just going to say sophomore we'll leave it there thank you david appreciate you coming on joy the last couple of days in Tampa. You've got a busy time once you get back. David Eichold, 24-7 sports, Hockeye Insider.com. Thanks, David. Happy New Year. Thanks, guys. Happy New Year. Appreciate you. Yep, good to talk to you. David, Icould, so we check in in Tampa Bay. Good stuff, as always from David. A big appreciation of him for his time as we continue previewing the matchup against Vaynerbilt and look forward to the portal that'll open

Starting point is 00:23:53 on Friday. We'll have you covered right here on Locked on Hawkeyes. Speaking of Lockdine Hawkeyes and what we do here each and every day for you. I want to say thank you for making Lockdown Hawkeyes, the number one sports podcast network out there with Lockdown Hawkeyes and everything we're doing here on the Lockdown Network. If you haven't already, go check out our new Everydayer Club. It's an opportunity for you to get ad-free episodes of Lockdown Hawkeyes, each and every day in your audio feed.

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Starting point is 00:24:46 bottom of this podcast episode. We continue here. Iowa finishes off the non-conference with a big win against UMass Lowell. What did that say? as we get ready for the matchup against UCLA is this Iowa men's basketball team ready for the spotlight of the Big Ten. That's next, Locked on Hawkeyes. Fridays feel different during basketball season, and Fandual is making them even better. Every Friday night before the games tip off, Fandual gives fans a new way to kick off the weekend with MBA Happy Hour.

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Starting point is 00:26:33 As we put a cap on things, one final look back at the non-conference win against UMass, Lowell, Iowa gets the victory there. Now, again, there wasn't a whole lot to it. They're taking on another one of these tomato cans. 90 to 62, now that's over. And Iowa got a little bit sloppy towards the end of the first half. That was frustrating, certainly to see the way they played in that one. It wasn't a beautiful game by any means.

Starting point is 00:26:55 It wasn't Iowa playing at their highest level. What we, I think, anticipate we see from this squad throughout the course of the year. Bennett Sturts, I thought one of the better games, certainly in terms of distributing eight assists in the game was really moving the ball well. Cam Manwa early on. He was just a behemoth in there. Another thing to take away, though, from this one, full Garris, just how comfortable he is with this squad. And it feels like he is becoming more and more accustomed to these teammates playing with the different guys. But probably the two biggest storylines I thought came off the bench for Iowa in this one.

Starting point is 00:27:28 First of all, we've talked a ton about Brendan Hassan, right? Getting him out there, his shooting ability that is needed saw it a couple of times. I know he had a steal. And he was a ball that was kind of poke loose and he got to it first. They got the steal on that one. I know. I've been on the Hassan needs to play train a whole lot throughout the non-conference portion of the season. I see why the minutes are what they are.

Starting point is 00:27:50 There were three different instances during the course of the game, he just saw defensively, he's not up to snuff. And if you're not going to play at a high level defensively, you're just not going to play a ton under Ben McCullum. That is the reality of this situation. With Hassan, I think you saw it again. There are just a couple of instances he looked lost out there. And you can't do that.

Starting point is 00:28:11 You're not going to play a ton. There's still a role for him on this team. And there's still going to be moments where it's necessary. But my hope or even my belief that he should be playing 15, 20 minutes a game, I think I'm off that tree. Still need them. Still got to have to use them in spots, but probably not at the range. I certainly thought coming into this year and at different points during the non-conference. What other name we got to bring up is Trev in Iraq.

Starting point is 00:28:34 And we've talked about Trev a bunch here. I've mentioned, talked, and seen him a ton of times at the high school level, probably called 25, 30 of his games in high school. So I'm a ton. As in terms of as an athlete, there's still work to be done. Side to side movement, kind of getting those lead feet away and go back to Luca Garzen, whatever. him did in order to get that quickness up.

Starting point is 00:28:56 Trevine Iraq needs to go to that same school. But he is so skilled offensively. He's got a unique skill set. Mention in the past, he grew up. He was more of a guard, hit a growth spurt, obviously turned into the behemoth that he is now. And it feels like sometimes maybe his body is catching up, but he's an elite passer for a big man at his size.

Starting point is 00:29:15 He can shoot it from the outside. He can beat you inside. He can beat you out. They're going to need him this year. His footwork is tremendous. again, continue to improve as an athlete, that's going to be a part, but your rock is going to be important. And another one, Isaiah Howard, he comes in and does his thing, he defends, he grinds, he does all those things, but just continue to knock down those shots.

Starting point is 00:29:34 When there is an open three, knock it down, and Isaiah Howard, another important piece. Like this team, like the makeup of this team, I think it's going to be fun. Iowa, a projected six-point favorite against U.S. UCLA on Saturday, and that matchup at Carver Hawkeye Arena, 5 o'clock tip off, an incredibly important. important game for Iowa to get on track with Big Ten play re-emerging once again. Iowa sits at one-in-one with a win against Maryland and the loss against Michigan State. There's a chance here for Iowa to get off to a good start. It starts on Saturday against UCLA.

Starting point is 00:30:05 We will be back with you tomorrow, a post-game reaction show right after it goes final with Iowa and Banderbilt rapid reaction. We got you covered right here on Locked on Hawkeyes, as we will come to you after the conclusion of that one and a whole lot more coming up for you, the rest. this week. You can also find me on Twitter at Trent Condon or you can find us our show account at Lockedon, Iowa. If you never miss an episode, the Every Dare Club is built for you. Get locked on Hawkeyes, ad-free, plus members-only discord access and a whole lot more.

Starting point is 00:30:38 Head to Lockdownhawkeyes.com to join the club. And for those on video, we're also going to send you the first ever 24-7 National Lockdown Podcast Network YouTube channel. Thanks to all you out there. Make sure you hit subscribe if you're watching us on YouTube or a five-star review on the podcast side. We'll talk to you again tomorrow after the Hawks get it done against Vanderbilt. Until then, go Hawks.

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