Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Breaking down the Purdue loss with Matt VandeBerg: What went wrong, what went right, and how the Iowa Hawkeyes move forward from here.

Episode Date: October 26, 2020

We have our first ever Monday Morning recap episode with Matt VandeBerg, former Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver, as he joins the show to break down the Iowa Hawkeye's loss to Purdue this past Saturday. We get his take on the penalty situation and why one or two bad calls don't actually decide a game plus we discuss the creative ways that Brian Ferentz is utilizing Tyler Goodson and the great job Iowa did of utilizing their trio of running backs. And of course, no postgame recap would be complete without highlighting the great special teams performance this weekend.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to another episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes Podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Lockdown Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and today's episode is brought to you by Built Bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code LOCKEDON and you'll get 20% off your next order. And as we talked about last week,

we are doing the first ever edition of Monday Morning Recap with Matt Vandenberg. Matt, excited to have you on the show. Obviously, wish we could have had you on the show under better circumstances. That would have been a lot more fun to get a win yesterday. But otherwise, how are you doing today i'm doing great you know thank you for having me uh and i'm excited to talk about football always always good to talk about football

either whether good or bad it's always good to talk about the hawk absolutely man and i think if you you probably on twitter last night you might have saw hawkeye nation seemed like the world was melting after losing to purdue um personally i hate hate playing Purdue. It just seems like one of those games that we're typically more talented than them, but it's always a close game. Wanted to get your thoughts initially on just playing Purdue and your time there. Was it always kind of a tough game and what makes it so difficult? I mean, every game is a tough game. I mean, that's the thing that I think sometimes gets lost. I mean, they're big 10 athletes. That's something that I think sometimes people forget. I mean, these kids are on scholarship. They're, they're getting the

opportunity of their lifetime, just like we are to be Hawks. And sometimes, like I said, that kind of gets lost in the weeds a little bit, but no, they're a very good football team. I mean, I think every, every year it comes down to whether one score one way or the other. I mean, it's never really a blowout. I know in 2015, when we went undefeated in the regular season, I'm pretty sure that was 28, 20. I mean, those kinds of games are, are always close. And like I said, I mean, they're big 10 athletes. Nobody's a pushover in the big time. Yeah. I mean, that's a, you look at the round, the big 10, obviously Maryland got destroyed by Northwestern, but Northwestern coming off of a really bad season. They look pretty strong. Wisconsin looked pretty strong. I mean, top to bottom, the big 10 West is going to

be a pretty strong division. So it's going to be tough for Iowa. And I think people are kind of concerned, you know, this was a game that we had to win because there are going to be some very tough games on the schedule. Wanted to get your thoughts on that. Just from that perspective, is the sky falling? Is it time for panic? I think obviously I know the answer and where you're going to go with this, but wanted to maybe calm down some of the, the Hawkeye fans out there that feel like Kirk Barron should be fired. Brian Ferentz is the worst offensive coordinator. And what are we going to do about quarterback? Well, I mean, that's the thing, you know, when we win, everybody should be in the hall of fame and when we lose, can everybody,

including the entire team. I mean, that's, I know that from my time being in Iowa too. I mean, you try to stay away from Twitter and Instagram and that kind of stuff, but you scroll through and you hear that you're the worst athlete that's ever come through Iowa. I mean, that happens more than a few times. Those are people that just get a little too excited online. And, I mean, don't get me wrong. We've got diehard fans. I mean, that's one of the great things about being a Hawkeye is the fans love you.

But at the same time, they like to see their team win, I guess, is a way that I'm going to spin that. But it's just one of those things that, I mean, it's a new quarterback. Now, Stanley spoke real high of Spencer. I've met him more than a few times. I know he can spin the ball. Well, we saw his deep ball look great yesterday. Just obviously just a little bit off. And I mean that to do in fact, no spring, you know, I mean, that's the time where you can really get those good reps in camp was kind of

discombobulated with we're going. And now we have to sit out two weeks because the Big Ten doesn't know what they're doing. And again, these aren't excuses, but these are actual things that happen with a new starter, especially coming in with, I mean, senior receivers. I know that when my senior year, Stanley was a first time first year starter and it was a new offense. And I mean, that kind of stuff just kind of takes time to really meld into into a high performance team. Yeah, I think people forget that. When you look at Spencer Petras and what he was able to do, honestly, he didn't have that bad of a game.

You could tell maybe a little bit excited to begin the game, wanted to show that arm off was chucking the ball a little harder than you probably need to on basic crossing routes, and obviously got a little overzealous on the deep routes. But overall, I thought he played pretty well. I wouldn't like to typically see Iowa sling the ball 39 times in a game, but I thought Spencer Petras for his first performance, he was not the reason why Iowa lost that game, right?

He was not the reason why they lost. I thought he played pretty well. Absolutely. And, you know, I'm actually going to bring this over to Aiden O'Connell on the other side. So I think that was his first year starting. He was going through kind of a thing, and you saw the pick that Barrington Wade had. It was a short crosser and he gets excited and he flows it. It's a little

bit behind the tight end off his hands. I mean, that's just something that happens with quarterbacks making their first start. You get excited, your arms feeling huge. I mean, you got a cannon over there and you want to show it. And unfortunately, sometimes that just doesn't create the best touch on the ball. Definitely, man. For you as a wide receiver, did you have any of those issues with Nate Stanley, another guy who has a very big arm was that kind of a a growing pain or kind of a learning curve with him as well i mean i think with anybody the biggest thing is when you're getting used to a new guy i mean like i mean amir brandon nico they had stanley for a few years and so they got to understand how he throws the football and i remember when wiegers showed up

uh his first year and we're warming up and usually you you know, it's, it's pre-practice quarterbacks, just getting their arms warm and he was slinging it. And I'd have to be like, Hey, it's warm up time. I'm not trying to break a finger, just standing here. Like let's get into the field of play before we do that. So, I mean, that's just young quarterbacks in general and making his first career start again, it's just getting more and more reps and the more they get, the better they're going to be down the field. Yeah. And you mentioned not having spring practice, not having, you know, kind of having a discombobulated practices going into the season in general. How big of a factor do you think that was in the penalties? Iowa uncharacteristically penalized in this game, 10 penalties, a hundred yards, not something we typically see from a

Kirk Ferentz team. Do you feel like that was just getting their feet wet or was there, was that a bigger concern that we should be aware of going forward? I don't know if it's necessarily a bigger concern. I thought that the two personal foul calls were big. I mean, it's the, the blindside block is kind of a newer rule. So that one's a little bit tougher, but again, I mean, we're about player safety. So I understand that rule and then pulling a player off the pile. I think that's a relatively newer rule. Again, I mean, we're about player safety. So I understand that rule. And then pulling a player off the pile. I think that's a relatively newer rule.

Again, I'm not giving excuses. These are things that we should all know. And I know are preached within the program to not hurt yourself. But the false starts, again, that might go back to a new cadence with a new quarterback. I mean, the rhythm stays the same, but sometimes inflections are a little bit different. I know that we had that when CJ took over for Jake and when Nate took over for CJ. It's just a different guy calling it. So the inflection is a little different, whether or not he's squeaking up there, whether or not he's got a base. I mean, all that kind of stuff really plays in. And I don't think that really kind of goes over to the normal fan.

Definitely. Yeah. And I think that's the insight that I would love to have. I don't have that experience. So it's always good to get that from you. One of the big concerns from the game, people were you know either you were blaming Iowa for losing and doing all these bad things there's a couple fumbles couple drop passes but there's also that contingent of fans who were blaming the refs and I think you can always go back and blame the refs for you know some things they did wrong specifically that last play though to Nico it looked pretty much like a defensive pass interference it also seemed like from the outside perspective Purdue was getting away with quite a few holds I think overall I watched Nebraska Ohio State game and it just felt like the refereeing was pretty

bad across the board in the Big Ten wanted to get your thoughts on that and also maybe reflect on how you actually handle it when a referee you know when it seems like referees are you know not playing you know not doing well in their job so I'm gonna go back to no spring ball so I mean you're missing the spring game and those are opportunities for referees to go out there and do their job too I mean they're just like everybody else the more you do something the better you get at it so when you take that long time a lot of times there's a little bit of rust and I'm not saying that the refs necessarily have rust but when you are consistently within an environment you do better I mean that's just the way it is as a receiver receiver, I'm going to tell you that DBs hold

every play. I don't care what the ref says, unless I've got, you know, a yard and a half separation that I ran my route correctly, but outside of that, so I'm a little biased there, but on the last one, I mean, yes, that's not, I mean, I've seen it called. I've seen it not called. I mean, the fact that he's fallen back when the ball's in the air probably gives a tip that I think that should have been called. But at the same time, I mean, if you're playing to the point where it shouldn't come down to one or two calls, I mean, that's – and they're going to talk about that too.

Well, today and for the rest of the week, they're going to talk about different things that they can do to not beat themselves. We need to quickly pause the Monday morning recap with Matt to bring to you a message from one of our sponsors of the show today. I don't know about you, but I'm always on the go. I'm constantly on. I work my regular job. Plus I do the podcasting. Plus I'm a husband. Plus I got to do other things around the house. And I like to train for a lot of different type of events, Ironman's marathons, triathlons, all those types of things. So for me, it's hard for me to take a break and just chill.

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That's right, you can have Coors Light delivered straight to your door at get.coorslight.com. And as always, make sure to celebrate responsibly with your Coors Light, part of the Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado. And when I am doing those races or when I'm training for something, I need something that's going to give me protein quick. And I want something that's also delicious as well. Thankfully, the great folks at Built Bar have developed a product that is literally perfect for an avid workout person or someone who just needs a healthy midday snack because Bilt Bar is the best tasting protein bar. It's the protein bar that tastes like a candy bar.

18 flavors, nut and non-nut flavors. All the bars are covered in 100% chocolate, and they're soft and easy to chew. And they might pack an absolute punch in the health department. They also pack a punch in the flavor department. When you look at that health, though, let's take a look at that real quick. One of my favorite flavor profiles is cookies and cream, 17 grams of protein, 130 calories, four grams of sugar and four grams of net carbs. It's the protein bar I go to when I need a quick pick me up. Or if I just need a midday snack, I grab myself a built bar right now. You can actually go to built bar.com and use promo code locked on,

and you'll get 20% off your next order. Use promo code locked on for 20% off at builtBar.com. Use promo code LOCKEDON and you'll get 20% off your next order. Use promo code LOCKEDON for 20% off at BiltBar.com. Yeah, that's actually one of the things I mentioned too when I was just tweeting out some of my thoughts in the game. At the end of the day, yes, it sucks that that probably should have been a defensive pass interference, but you don't want to put yourself in a position to be impacted by one or two calls. There's a lot of other things Iowa could have done. So you talked about it very briefly, but what is the message then going into today, right? I'm assuming they're going back, they're watching some tape. What is your typical day after game routine? And what do you think the message is from Kirk Ferentz? I mean, you're getting in, you're watching the tape, like you

just said. I mean, the biggest thing that, you know, we talked about was a 24 hour rule. So you're going to, you play the game on Saturday, you watch the tape on Sunday, and then that's it. You're done that you were never, you're not going to play at Purdue again right now, right now, you've got to focus on Northwestern. And the longer you worry about Purdue, the less you worry about Northwestern. And then you're unprepared as you go into the next game. Now what you do on Sunday is just learning. I mean,

you just learn what you did wrong, different things that, you know, maybe I should have taken an outside release. And when I got stuck here or different footwork, you know, that I could have done better there, or I didn't get in and out of that cut quick enough. And that's why it looked weird when I, when I tried to jump for the ball. I mean, just little things like that, as well as, I mean, false starts, like you can't have it. I mean, you're going to talk about it and you're going to try and figure it out. And all week is just correcting those mistakes. So that way, again, you don't want to shoot yourself in the foot. That's the biggest thing.

Definitely. And I want to get into the positive at a certain point, because there was a lot of positives. I felt like that we could take away from that game. One of the other issues was ball security. Not something we typically see from an Iowa football team. Three fumbles. Let's touch on the first one, though.

Have you ever seen a lineman unintentionally knock a ball out of a running back's hand? I mean, I saw that. I was like, oh my gosh, if I were that, if if I were Cole Bannward I would have felt so terrible I mean clearly he was trying to help um it's not his fault that he put his arm in and basically knocked out himself but have you ever seen that I don't know if I have I don't know if I have but I know that I I mean that's the that's kind of the grind of like Iowa you're gonna do everything you can to get the last two or three yards you know know, Goodson's going to the ground. And so Bannerman's like, I'm going to help you get a few other yards.

It's just unfortunate. I mean, that's just kind of the way things happen. When you play at a high level and you play tough and you play hard and you play fast, sometimes things happen. Yeah. And then going, you know, obviously the Brandon Smith, I feel like they kind of came up behind him. That was, you could kind of see it was going to happen.

He was trying to get some extra yards. There was a defender closing in. The Makai Sargent fumble was very unfortunate timing um last thing i think i want to get into the positive i think there were a lot of positives from the game absolutely you can take away but tyler goodson wasn't in the game a lot in that fourth quarter and um iowa doesn't typically have such you know outstanding athletes like a tyler goodson i don't know if you remember the the spin movie he had, running literally full speed and somehow managed to spin around.

It was a thing of beauty. So what is the idea there of maybe not getting him on the field as much in the fourth quarter? Do you feel like they just felt like Makai Sargent was a better fit there? Obviously, I think Makai Sargent ran the ball really well. You take away that fumble, it was a perfect day for him. I thought he really handled his duties well. But I wanted to get your thoughts on, you know,

maybe not getting Tyler Goodson in as much in the later part of the game. Well, you got, I mean, Ivory, I think ran the ball really well too. I mean, I think all three running backs found kind of their, their niche, you know, and I mean, I take it back to 15 when I played well, yeah, it was 15. So we had Kanziri, we had Act, we had LaShawn, we had D Mitch. I mean, we had a lot of guys that can filter in and play. I mean, Tyler Goodson's obviously special. One of the big things I think that he brings to the table that –

and I'm not saying Makai can't, but when we saw – in the old offense we called it scooter, but where the black comes out and he runs the – The wheel route. The wheel up the sideline. Yeah. And it was a beautiful touch pass by Spencer. But, I mean mean just that kind of

ability to catch and run you know and I mean I think that's something he can do which I saw him line up I mean they really move him around though they moved him at receiver I don't think I've seen a running back direct snap ever in my time looking at Iowa so they're really trying everything they can to make sure that he gets the ball as far as the fourth quarter is concerned I mean really anybody is kind of the hot hand and I think that's kind of what we did in 15. If if LeSean was if LeSean was humming, then we're going to get LeSean the ball. If Ack is humming like he did against Northwestern in 15, then you get him the ball. And then as well as Kansas City against Illinois.

I mean, it's you can have a different hot hand. I understand, though, that Goodson can play in a lot of different situations, especially when they have in the backfield. I'm pretty sure it was Goodson, Amir, and Makai were all in the backfield. I mean, there's a lot of different things that they're doing now to try and get their athletes on the field. Yeah, and let's get into some of those positives because I think Brian Ferencz took some heat yesterday for whatever reason.

I think he's an easy scapegoat, but I think the way people kind of take it out of him is a little bit ridiculous. I actually really enjoyed watching the offense yesterday. I thought the play calling was pretty good. I thought the push the offensive line got was great. Iowa always talks about getting to the running game and utilizing the running game. And Iowa did a fantastic job running the ball yesterday.

Again, as you talked about, with all three backs, I think Tyler Goodson actually averaged the least amount of yards per carry. Fans wouldn't realize that just because you typically get excited to see some of the dynamic pieces of him. But the Wildcat, I saw that and I was like, oh my gosh, I don't think I've ever seen the Wildcat ran in Iowa history. So that was super exciting to see. You saw some end arounds with Amir Smith-Marset.

You saw, like you said, Tyler Goodson lining up in the backfield with Amir Smith-Marset. It seems like Brian Farris is doing everything he can to get the best players, the biggest playmakers, the ball. And I think changing up the offense a little bit gives teams something else to worry about when you're looking at an Iowa offense, I guess from a wildcat perspective,

I would love to see a little bit less of just basically Tyler Goodson going power and running in, but maybe get a little bit, something different there. I want to get your thoughts on the new pieces, the new wrinkles that Brian parents incorporated this week. I think wrinkles are always good. I think, I think everything's good in moderation. I mean, you can call me more of a traditionalist, but I think, and as a receiver,

I want to throw the ball. I want to sling it. I want to sling it 50 times a game. I mean, that's, that's just who we are. But at the same time, I mean, I think Nico led receivers in catches as far as four. I mean, I think Sam Laporte, I think at six or seven, I think. But as far as receivers are concerned, think Sam Laporte I think had six or seven I think but as far as receivers are concerned Nico had four Brandon had three I don't think Amir caught a ball Tyrone I think had one or two so I mean it's it's one of those things where we've got the playmakers at receiver and you know potentially just rhythm throws getting Spencer into the into the gel of okay now we're live like this is this is what we do when he took off and he got

hit I was like that's probably the first time he's been hitting a while you know I mean just those little things of getting him into the game and I know CJ used to take one hit and they'd be like all right I'm here and I'm ready to rock and roll so I mean that's just something that you know a little rhythm throws things like that in order to get in and then you get into the wrinkles because now you're so good at the basics and that's something that Iowa is always going to be is trying to be brilliant at the basics I love it yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was good to see that. I think there was, again, a lot of positives take away from the offensive performance,

just need to actually finish drives. Another thing I thought looked really great was special teams. Obviously Keith Duncan, a fantastic kicker, did a great job kicking his two field goals, but Tori Taylor, a freshman from Australia, I thought he punted the ball really well. He did fantastic. Yeah. I i mean and for iowa that's something you need you need good special teams you need a good punter um anything

you saw that was concerning for that or you felt like tory taylor did a fantastic job i thought he did really well uh the um the gunners as well i thought did great i'm blanking on his name right now uh but they went down he went into the end zone came back out stopped at the two i thought it was the special teams is something that I was always going to click to. And that's how they get guys on the field. Uh, or that's how guys usually find their way onto offense or defense is through hard work on special teams. And I mean, that's something that I will always clicks to.

And I thought they were pretty, pretty solid yesterday. Yeah. And then Charlie Jones, a guy who, well, he'll fly kind of under the radar. Not a lot of people remember him. He kind of last year with the Oliver Martin hoopla, they kind of got lost in the shuffle that he actually transferred in from Buffalo. And he had a pretty solid redshirt freshman season at Buffalo. So people probably they've heard his name a little bit more as we gotten closer to the season shows up as the punt returner. Max Cooper was originally listed. We saw Charlie Jones and I really liked what we saw from him in the return game. I mean, he's not as dynamic as Amir Smith-Marset, but I think he was pretty darn good. No, absolutely. And as a former returner, I can tell you that the ball is the number one thing, being able to make sure you catch the ball. And I know that's something that, you know, it's tough sometimes to judge some of those. I mean,

you get stoned. I mean, you put your heels on the eight. Sometimes you get stoned. They get a great punt. It stops at the four. There's nothing you can do about it. it's better than taking a fair catch with the four when it has an opportunity to roll through so i thought his decision making was good i thought his ability to get and really i think you're trying to get i think we said between 9 and 11 yards uh on per return i think he was probably right around there when he decided to take it so i mean like i mean those are all very positives and the guy that he's got or the guys he's got in front of him as long as he trusts him i mean that's really what makes or breaks the part return he's got or the guys he's got in front of him as long as you trust them I mean that's really what makes or breaks the part we turn to if you trust the guys blocking you're going to do that much better yeah and it sets Iowa up for good field position which he did

several times so I thought that was really great what other positives did you take away from the game well I really harped on it but the the three running backs being able to come in and again you can kind of go with the hot hand there being able to move those guys around especially Tyler Goodson being able to move him apparently to quarterback, but then also running back and receiver. Knowing that they've got four consistent receivers on the outside between Nico, Tyrone, Amir, and Brandon. And then obviously the tight ends. I mean, that's something that, I mean, tight end you is tight end day, I'm pretty sure, yesterday or today. So the ability to go out there and always have somebody you know is going to find the ball.

I mean, first play, Sean Byer, tight end, you know, for two, three yards. It's just something that, you know, they're always going to be involved in. So I think they did a good job of mixing it up between how many is there. But the point is when you have good depth, somebody's tired, just bring in somebody else because you know he's going to do just as well as you need him to. Yeah, and I think the tight end position is an interesting one this year because there's so many young guys that we haven't really seen play, but a lot of hype kind of building up. But Sam Laporta, five receptions, 71 yards.

Sean Byer, great to see him in the game. Obviously, I think has probably dealt probably some of the most adversity from an injury standpoint. Was he around when you were, he was around like a year or two for you, right? Yeah, I think it was two years. Yeah, so great to see him get on the field

and, you know, continue to be a little bit more consistent and be that second target at the tight end position. Going into next week, we get Northwestern. So what are some of the things that you feel like need to be improved? I just want to call out one probably real easy one to see, but the run defense. And I think that will also improve as we get some of these guys that are out. Austin Schulte was out. Jack Campbell was out so fenton i mean iowa was really um deprived at that interior defensive line position and the middle linebacker spot um what other focus areas or areas of emphasis do you feel like iowa needs to work on going into next week then based off of this game i think uh just making sure that spencer is comfortable i mean i'm not saying he wasn't comfortable but the ability to

just do quick rhythm passes get him four or five, think and dump and being able to get him in the flow of the game. And then you start opening up play action. He's going 75 yards downfield to Brandon or things like that. But as far as keeping the running game going, I mean, as far as offensively is concerned, keep the run game going defensively, it'll help having those guys back. I mean, it's nice being able to have a leader like Nick Neiman who can move in and out. But I think we all know that Josie would be much better as Mike than he would a Leo. And Nick is usually the Leo instead of Mike. And so, I mean, it's not faulting his ability to play it. It's just, he's most comfortable or he gets the most reps at Leo, which means that that's just where he's going to be better at. So just understanding that and being able to get guys

back that, you know, now he knows how to play off of one another and getting the starters back is obviously huge. Yeah, I think people typically, people who haven't played football, they usually think about Madden, right? And if you're a linebacker, you can play any position in linebacker Madden. If you're a left tackle, you can play right tackle. But the fundamentals of those positions are just so different because you're lit. I mean, it's literally changing your footwork entirely for left tackle versus right tackle. If you're a middle linebacker, you know, first Leo, like that is going to be a different a bit a pretty big difference in the fact that he was able to take over that spot and i thought still pray pretty well um fantastic

there was some miscommunication late in the game david bell he had a fantastic he played really well he's just a really good wide receiver i mean uh hats off to him fantastic there's a reason why iowa wanted him he's a four-star recruit. He had a fantastic game last year. People were pretty upset as if Iowa meant to leave David Bell open. I, you know, I was upset that he was so open, but when he watched the replay, it looks like there was just a bit of a miscommunication between safety Dame Belton and maybe Barrington Wade, Nick Neiman, whoever, I think it was Barrington Wade, let him release. Wanted to get your thoughts on that from your perspective, being within the program and what kind of happened there. Well, I wasn't sure if they were trying to play a fence defense where

they're all basically on the goal line and then, you know, you don't allow anybody through you, but the way that bear played, it kind of looked like he had help on the inside. And so I don't know if they, if they were in a man and he thought they were zone. And then obviously that would create the void in the back. If Dane's going with somebody else, Dane was probably going with number three and then a bear had to, but the way that bear played, it made it seem like they were in a zone. So, I mean, those little things, I mean, they happen. It's, it's, I mean, it's football. I mean, as KF would say, it's football. So it's just one of the things that, I mean, you just getting buttoned up.

You watch it today, you figure it out. And then next week you're better than you were this week. Absolutely, man. And this last thing, obviously next week you're better than you were this week absolutely man um and this last thing obviously next week is northwestern i hate playing northwestern it feels like every year that they really embodied the iowa approach i think they've done a fantastic job there um they're not a team that's typically going to be an easy beat even last year it was still a pretty ugly game beating them 20 nothing in evanston but we get northwestern next week i want to get your quick thoughts on that game before we end the show i mean the fact they won 43-3 i mean that's that's pretty solid i think i read they had 325 yards on the ground if i if i'm not mistaken so so getting the interior backers

back is going to be nice and to piggyback off your point uh you were talking earlier that the fundamentals of footwork i mean your keys are different if you're a leo you're thinking more outside you're thinking am i pushing two to three or three to two am i reading you know your key what you're looking at is different than what you're looking at inside. So being able to get Nick back out at Leo where he's most comfortable, or at least where he takes the most reps, get the guys inside that do that every day. I mean, I think that's going to be a big help as far as being able to stop the run.

Definitely, man. It's going to be an interesting game. Matt, really appreciate you taking the time to talk through us, talk with us about this game. I mean, there's a lot of things that you can take away. I think it was tough to see that loss. People wanted to see a win. Everyone wants to win every game, but it happens.

We're over it. We're on to Northwestern now. And I think there's still a good chance. I mean, Iowa's schedule isn't that ridiculous. There's still a chance they could go 7-1. You go 7-1, you beat Wisconsin. You're in the Big Ten championship game. So there's still a lot of season to be played. Thank you for hopping on. Ham, anything else you

want to kind of add? I know you're doing some great work in the Iowa city area. Anything you want to kind of bring up? Yeah. So I've actually become a realtor as a part of the Bales team at Urban Anchors Real Estate. So if anybody needs to buy or sell a house, I'd love to help you. But outside of that, I mean, all I really got is go Hawks. I love man. We'll have a good day, Matt. We'll talk to you later, buddy. Appreciate it, Andrew. Thanks. All right. And that wraps up our first ever Monday morning recap with Matt Vandenberg, former Iowa Hawkeye wide receiver. Make sure if you are in the Iowa city area, you check out Matt. If you need to buy a home, he can get you set up and helped out with that. Also just really appreciate him hopping on the show. He'll be coming back every single Monday, so make sure to tune in every single Monday

for our Monday morning recap with Matt as we break down the previous week's games. And coming up the next couple days, as I talked about, there's going to be a cadence coming forward. So every Tuesday, we're going to be breaking down what went on in the NFL, and we're also going to talk about the depth chart that was released and what changes were possibly made. And then we'll cover some different topics. For example, I think on tomorrow, we're probably going to be talking about a little bit more about the Iowa versus Purdue game and why the season is not over.

Lots of stuff happening in the Big Ten. So I want to cover that on Tuesday. Wednesday, we're going to be breaking down the press conference that Kirk Ferens delivered and talking about the matchups that matter in that weekend's game. Thursday, we got our crossover episodes. And Friday, we're going to be giving you the game time news notes that you need to know, plus betting odds and the three keys for Iowa to win that game. So make sure to tune in every single day to the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast.

Subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast at. Give us that five-star review. And as always, Hawkeye Nation, it was a tough weekend, but I appreciate you all tuning in, listening to what Iowa can do to get better and move on from the Purdue game. Obviously, there were some positives. There were some negatives. But it's in the Purdue game. Obviously, there were some positives. There were some negatives. But it's in the books now. It's in the history books.

So let's move on. Let's go get Northwestern. Hawkeye Nation, thank you for tuning in. Have a fantastic day. And let's go Hawks.