Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - DOMINATION: Iowa CRUSHES Minnesota 41-3 | Hawkeyes' PLAYOFF DREAMS Alive?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Hawkeyes pick up their second dominating victory against a rival. This won 41-3 over Minnesota. It's time to start talking about the Iowa Hawkeyes in the college football playoff. You are Locked-on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, welcome in. Condon and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you find podcasts. You can also watch us on YouTube. Make sure you hit

Starting point is 00:00:41 that subscribe button while you're watching. I've been covering the Hawkeyes for over 20 years on the radio here in the state of Iowa. You can hear me currently on the Iowa Sports Radio Network with stations fan across the state each weekday from noon to two. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is brought to you by Mazda. Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move count, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later for highlights in this week's moving the game forward. Mazda move and be moved. Well, we are going to take a big peak ahead to the future of this season and what it can mean in the month of November, by the way, where Iowa is 23 and 2 in their last 25 games. But they have four.

Starting point is 00:01:28 very difficult opponents coming in towards the end of the season. We'll talk about that. A look about possibility of Iowa being ranked going into that matchup against Oregon. The improvements that this team has made. But of course, we start today with a look at the dominating win against Minnesota. And boy, did that feel good. To do it in that fashion, to rub the nose in it of Phil Fleck, just the dominating performance that I was surprised to see.

Starting point is 00:01:56 Now, if you would have told me before the game, that Darius Taylor was only going to carry the ball once, that Iowa was going to score, well, by a field goal, of course, a rushing touchdown, you can imagine that, a passing touchdown for the first time since the UMass game and the first time in conference play that Iowa has a passing touchdown, and they do it with defense and they do it with special teams. Well, yes, of course, we're going to expect that,

Starting point is 00:02:23 but certainly didn't expect it going in there. I thought it was going to be a grinded out affair. And, you know, you go back to the beginning of the game. Iowa gets the ball as Kirk Farrantz has done for years. And I have no idea how that became all of a sudden a big narrative this week. A Kirk taking the football, it's something that's been happening for the better part of 27 years. The bottom of every game notes for the last decade plus at the end of the game, they always have that note in there, the record in those games,

Starting point is 00:02:48 and what I was done taking the football first. But they do it here. It actually worked. And there's going to be very little that's going to sway Kirk Farrants away from his way of thinking of taking the football first, even though defense is certainly the strength of this program and this team year after year, regardless.

Starting point is 00:03:05 They get the ball, nine plays, 75 yards, and they do it with running, they do it with passing. They cap it off as Iowa seemingly always does with a touchdown on the ground with Mark Gornawski had a beautifully designed play. You know, and hearing Gary Danielson

Starting point is 00:03:21 talk about that, talk about the design of that play, and just how good this Iowa team looked. through the first, no, 29 minutes of the football game, 30 minutes of the football game and racing out to the 31-0 lead, and it even felt like it could be worse. Minnesota had no shot against this defense. And the way that this defense continues to build upon itself is a sight to behold. From there, after the touchdown from Karnowski, get a three-and-out, get the ball back, the drive stalls,

Starting point is 00:03:51 yet get the field goal. Good to see Drew Stevens. Knock in a couple in today, including that one that made a 10-0. And then after that, late in the first quarter was the pick six. And we've seen Iowa close. And we talked about Aaron Graves, the big man running and getting cut down in Wisconsin at the one yard line. Xavier Wampa last week against Penn State getting to the one yard line.

Starting point is 00:04:13 And finally punching in and the ridiculous number of Iowa now, just year after year after year being able to get that pick six to be able to get that defensive score and the way that they're able to do that all the time. I mean, year after year, you know that I was going to be able to do one of those things is just absolutely incredible. 18 consecutive seasons now, the second longest streak nationally behind Utah's 22 season, the 56 pick six in program history, and the 39th inside of Kiddick Stadium for this one, as Iowa pulls off, mentioned all the ways of scoring offensive, defensive, and special teams touchdowns. First time they've done that since the 2019 Holiday Bowl.

Starting point is 00:04:55 against USC, and USC is something we're going to talk about a little bit later on. I'll mention the ground game with Grinowski. You know, I thought the passing game certainly looked better, but there were also those moments again where it just kind of gets stuck in mud. They went after former Hawkeye John Nestor a lot in this one. You could see that they knew, certainly, the way that he plays, knows probably his strengths and weaknesses, and that was going to be an area that they were going to target definitely early in the game.

Starting point is 00:05:24 We saw Sam Phillips. get a jump on him and overall a little bit of production. You know, another part, Cade Wegeon had the punt return and a punt return where did he have an invalid fair catch on that? I'm just look back and see it again. He's kind of poignant. And yeah, we go back to two years ago and the only time the Fleck was able to get a win against the Hawkeyes.

Starting point is 00:05:47 But Weegean doing different things with him and still building. You know, one of the things going back to the springtime. and, well, even wintertime, and the decision for Caden Weegean? You know, was he going to move on, try to stick on as a returner somewhere in the NFL? Was he going to go out and as a transfer, you know, try to find another home and go that direction was something that was definitely an opportunity for Caden Weegean. But instead of doing those things, he decided to come back for another year. And when that happened, one of the things that was talked about a lot with Weegean

Starting point is 00:06:20 is that they were going to try to use him more in the offensive part of the game. game. And he saw it early on. I felt kind of clunky. You know, one thing that we talked about a lot during the summertime and our great every dayers who are with us every single day, they know this is just not doing kind of the simplest equation, right? Not just going out there and giving him the ball on a jet suite, but using him in the passing game. And we saw that three receptions in the game, 49 yards. I had the one up the sideline where he was a shoestring away from getting into the end zone. on that one.

Starting point is 00:06:55 Speaking of that, same thing with Kamari Moulton. He had a couple of those opportunities. Also great to see late in the game, Jazzy on Patterson getting in there, getting an opportunity. We'll talk a little bit more about those reserves and what they were able to do. Vayner Z with the touchdown, great to see him, 29 yards. Now, there was a couple other opportunities in the end zone that just missed. This, I was still not there.

Starting point is 00:07:17 This is not, but the passing game is showing growth. It's still about what they do up front. It's still about the ground game. You know, another great thing about this game is they did it, basically the majority of game without one of their starters on the offensive line as both Stevens went out. And it sounded like afterwards, Kirk mentioned in the post game press conference that if it was a tighter game, Stevens probably would have been out there. But that gave the ability to Layton Jones to be able to go out there and get a whole lot of snaps. And he got him now getting more and more acclimated. He's going to be a starter at the guard spot next year for this team.

Starting point is 00:07:50 Obviously, because of the blowout fashion of this game, it got to see. see more of those reserve offense alignment out there. Want to talk about that more. And just the improvement of this team, including the defense. This defense wasn't very good in September. And now here they are as we finish up the month of October, playing at an incredibly high level. And though they have incredibly tough opponents the next two,

Starting point is 00:08:15 Oregon, USC, two teams you know can move the football, two teams you know can score. I feel pretty good about this Iowa defense. We'll talk about the growth of the Hawkeyes as we continue. This is Locked-on Hawkeyes. This episode is brought to you by Mazda's Moving the Game Forward. For those who believe it's not just about playing the game, it's about redefining it. There are moments that do more than put points on the board.

Starting point is 00:08:44 They move crowds, move culture, and keep moving the game forward. For this week, our Moving the Game Forward player from Mazda is Zach, Lutmer. That pick six, put the game on ice in the first quarter, making it at 17, nothing. And it just looked like one of those days where Minnesota was never going to have the opportunity. Coming up with that big pick, getting into the end zone, getting the streak down to 18 straight years, and they've been having a hard time and getting a little bit from the coaching staff. They were able to do it. Zach Lutmer gets into the end zone, and he is our Mazda moving the game forward.

Starting point is 00:09:20 When do you follow what moves you, the unexpected is only the beginning. And just like there's more to every highlight, there's more to a Mazda vehicle. Mazda, move and be moved. Trent, kind of back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for being with us and making Locked on Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we recap, the I will win against Minnesota, 41,3, and a great performance in all phases of the football game. Want to talk more about the defense. And you go through and you look at what they've done.

Starting point is 00:09:56 And I mentioned early in the year, this was not kind of a vintage Iowa defense. First game against Albany, an completely overmatched opponent. Just a couple of those moments. We thought Albany is going to be really bad. And there were just those moments during the course of the game. Something felt shaky. Of course, the lost Iowa State. But they kept building.

Starting point is 00:10:18 They kept the old adage, break the rock, right? They kept chipping away and getting better. And now you have Zach Lutmer that looks like he is going to be an absolute star who gets the pick six today. You have Zaver Wampa, a guy much malign, five-star coming out of high school, one of the most decorated players that Iowa football has ever got. And there was disappointment. Well, you see him now playing at his best level, certainly of his career. The growth at the linebacker's spot.

Starting point is 00:10:46 Shire's running around making plays and doing his thing. But now with the insertion after the injury of Jaden Montgomery, it looks like, linebacker has been very short up. Gotta give credit, T.J. Hull gets an interception in this game. We've talked about Deshaun Lee, what he's been able to do, their growth that we've seen at the cornerback spot after it was such a weakness for this Iowa team a season ago, and they've taken a big step forward.

Starting point is 00:11:07 And not doing it, going out in the portal and getting new guys, no, just keep getting better. And then, of course, up front. And what they were able to do, again, generating pressure, getting to the quarterback, making it incredibly difficult on Drake Lindsay in this game, as he throws three interceptions to the Hawkeye defense. Just overall, they were all over the place.

Starting point is 00:11:27 And then you get excited about the future because we got to look at those guys. A fourth down stop from Yose, Appanessa, as he was able to get in there and make it work. He's got still one more game to play with, if you will, before his redshirt will be burned for this season. Cam Buffington with the interception and the return that went along with it. So we got to see a bunch of new faces also out there in this game late, because of the blowout, and you certainly have to be excited about that. Now, Kenneth Merriweather, got hit again, and he's got to keep those emotions under check. Remember, he was the one that also, I believe, had that penalty late in the first half against Indiana

Starting point is 00:12:07 that set them up in an opportunity to get a field goal late in that one and what was a close game. And still, there's going to be a lot of woulda, shoulda, coulda, about that Indiana game as Iowa, since now at six and two and how different the nerve to be at seven and one. and they had that win in their pocket against the Hoosiers. We'd be talking about a top 20 team, probably a top 15 team, certainly after what Indiana did, then followed that up with a win against Oregon. I was going to get their own opportunity against the Ducks. We'll talk a little bit about that a little bit later on.

Starting point is 00:12:37 But this growth out of this defense of what they've done and turning it into a strength. This team, a lot of people left him for dead. After that loss to Indiana, it was nothing left to play for. Who cares? It's more Kirkball. It's more of the same. And yet year after year after year, you see this. It's not always the prettiest.

Starting point is 00:12:57 I get it. It's not always aesthetically pleasing. And for some people, I guess that's what they want. I want wins. And they continue year after year after year to stack up victories. And this team's getting better. And you couple it with the upside of this team, with a good quarterback, a great running quarterback and an okay passing quarterback.

Starting point is 00:13:17 You throw in the fact that this offensive line is playing at their high. level as a group since certainly 2015. I mean, when you talk all encompassing. And I know a couple years later, they had three NFL guys on a line. The problem, because he had Tyler Linderbaum,

Starting point is 00:13:34 had a Lerick Jackson, and Tristan Werson, all those guys are elite, were elite college players. The problem, the guard play was terrible. And not just bad, but they had injuries on top of it that season, and it kept what could have been a really good offensive line.

Starting point is 00:13:47 I think he can argue, this is probably the best offensive line as a group that they've had since 2008. And that was a team also that got off to a slow start, ended the season with a big win against Penn State, went to the Outback Bowl and absolutely dominated South Carolina. In today's era, a playoff, now they would have made it with four losses,

Starting point is 00:14:05 but still, that was a team that nobody wanted to face at that offensive line. Now, we're not ready to get into the rarefied era of 2002, but this offensive line, just mauling people up front and the level that they're playing with. this team has more upside some past teams and the improvements of what they do year after year and I mentioned the number earlier Iowa in November just how good that they have been now the schedule is going to be tough as tough as maybe that they have ever faced you got two

Starting point is 00:14:36 road trips you got the short week against Nebraska of course it will begin after the by week this week as they will take on the six ranked Oregon ducks Oregon with the win didn't look pretty Dante Moore had to leave the game after he got bloodied against Wisconsin. But the badgers hang around and you go back to their game against Indiana. I know a lot of you said unwinnable. There's no way that Iowa can win it. I think a lot of people have changed that perception. I was going to have to play well.

Starting point is 00:15:08 They're going to have to tackle well in space. And this is a team that was such a bad tackling team. I mean, go back to the Rutgers game and certainly the first half of the Rutgers game. How bad they were. just fundamentals. And now where this Hawkeye defense is today and this Hawkeyee team is today, they've won it a couple of different ways.

Starting point is 00:15:27 They've done. And after the Indiana game, you wanted to say, no shot, here they are. Now, they still have to run the table. I mean, they still have to go 4 and 0 in the month of November to be in the college football playoff. But here's the thing, it's attainable.

Starting point is 00:15:44 I'm not saying it's likely. I'm not saying it's going to happen. I'm not here for hot takes, but it is realistic. That's what this team has accomplished in the month of October. And as we get ready for November, and here comes Oregon, likely, an 11 o'clock game. In fact, we'll talk about that. What time is this one going to kick off? I know it's a question a lot of people have will give you our, it is an educated guess.

Starting point is 00:16:11 We will give you our hypothesis, one this game is going to kick off, and how special November can be for the Hawkeyes. Plus, are the Hawkeyes going to be ranked? We'll talk about that as we continue. This is Locked-on Hawkeyes. It's almost the weekend. Time to not look back and crown this week's MVP on who delivered powered by DoorDash.

Starting point is 00:16:34 Just like you win every Saturday with DoorDash streaks, saving more every time you order. These players delivered when it mattered most. Let's break it down. For the Hawkeyes this week, well we had a bunch of different people but talk about delivering in a big way let's go in this one with kaden weechin had the punt return that absolutely salted away in the first half got involved in the passing game they used him motion moving him around also had to carry in the game you talk about

Starting point is 00:17:02 delivering that's delivering in a whole bunch of different ways with no hesitation and no delay kaden weegean has been on a streak and this performance has not been a fluke just like kaden weechin delivered for the Hawkeyes. DoorDash delivers your Saturdays with DoorDash streaks. You save every Saturday you order. Stack it up all season and you can save $250 including $100 in DoorDash credits. Order Saturday. Keep the streak alive. Fuel your game day only with DoorDash. Terms apply promo period through November 18. Today's episode of Lockdown Hawkeyes is also brought to you by Fandual Sportsbook. Well, as we get ready for Sunday, the NFL season continues on and Fanduil has an offer you don't want to miss right now new customers

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Starting point is 00:18:33 something riding on the action whether you're a casual fan or live love diving into the stats bandule makes the game day experience so much better what are you waiting for visit fan duel.com and download the Fandual app today to get started. That's fandul.com. Trent, I'm back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We are your daily

Starting point is 00:19:03 Iowa Hawkeye podcast coming to you five, six, sometimes seven times a week depending on what's going on. And we got you covered every single day. All right, as we continue, hit some watching YouTube or a five-star review would really appreciate that. Well, I would be ranked. Interesting. Not getting a whole lot of buzz in the AP coaches pool. We still got to wait another week, I believe, before we will get the college football

Starting point is 00:19:29 playoff rankings. But I do think it's going to happen. Not only another dominated performance here, I was sitting at six and two, playing some good football, but also some of the other things that are happening in college football. Iowa, of course, has two weeks before it's going to happen, but you look at the bottom of the rankings, Illinois, ranked 23rd, loose, Arizona State, ranked 24, loss. LSU, ranked 20th, not just lost, but absolutely throttled at home at a night game at Tiger Stadium. There was a miss on that one.

Starting point is 00:20:00 South Florida ranked 18th, loss. We have another week of football before I was going to come around. I think that I was going to be ranked heading into the matchup against Oregon. now when you look at this duck's team they're probably solidly in six and i don't think they're going to move up much everybody ahead of them this week one alabama here on fire mention a and m course ohio state indiana don't see any losses for either of those teams here in the next two weeks and next week of games i guess if you will georgia they get florida coming up on saturday don't think the gator i know it's a rivalry game but

Starting point is 00:20:35 don't think that's going to happen at the cocktail party so ducks so likely be ranked six, and I think Iowa is going to sneak in there. They got a shot. You might not have thought during the summertime. This was the game that I had circled. In fact, I said, of the two biggies on the home schedule, this in Penn State, they were more likely to beat the ducks. Well, they already got the one against Penn State, and you put two in your pocket.

Starting point is 00:20:59 Hoo, hoo, hoo, who, yeah, we're having a different talk. I think the rest of the way, the most difficult game remaining on the schedule for Iowa. Two weeks against Oregon. at USC, home for Michigan State, that at Nebraska. I still think it's USC and I don't think it's particularly close. And that's not any kind of knock or Baltimore material for Oregon, anything like that. It's the road trip. It's a USC team that can score.

Starting point is 00:21:26 The difference, though, between Kinnick and going on the road is immense. Iowa going to the West Coast, a place that they have historically struggled, not just under Kirk Farrants, but let me go back to Hayden's time as well. It hasn't gone very well outside of the aforementioned 2019 Holiday Bowl. Now, also remember last year, they did go out, got out to a 10-0-0 lead against UCLA before Brendan Sullivan decided he was going to go Kamikaze diver, head first into a linebacker, and he got injured and had to leave that game, and Stratton had to come in. But still, I think that is the most difficult game. Followed up by Oregon at Nebraska, it's a road game again, short week. And then, of course, what's going to happen at the end, in between.

Starting point is 00:22:08 there, in between the USC and Nebraska road trips, a home game against Michigan State and Sparty. They look rough. Again, Hayden Childs exits the game. They got their own set of issues. Look, it's not realistic, as I said, but it's plausible. And if you would have looked at this team after the lost Iowa State, if you would have looked at this team,

Starting point is 00:22:33 we didn't know the health of Grunowski after that lost to Indiana, and what would have, should have, could have been. And here we are today. It's a fun time. It's always great to be a hawk guy. Today, a little bit greater. We talked about a lot this week, and I know there was plenty of gopher fans

Starting point is 00:22:50 that were chirping at me because I don't like Phil Fleck. I'm sorry, I don't. I don't like his schick. I don't like his personality. He's not my dude. Not my kind of guy. And the great thing is, he's not my coach, so I don't have to try to defend him.

Starting point is 00:23:04 I don't like him. and to watch him, to see him have to use a timeout, fourth down and manageable, and kick a field goal to make a 34-3. Yeah, a lot of smiles during the course of that one, and definitely another one added to the docket there. That was good. Now, get healthy, get ready, come up with a great game plan,

Starting point is 00:23:30 and let's go beat the ducks. Of course, we got a loudmouth here on the lockdown network. Spencer has been talking a lot. If you watch Lockdown College football, you watch our squad show with Lockdown Big Ten, you know, he likes to chirp a lot. And I've been telling them since the summertime, Kinnick in November's got something waiting.

Starting point is 00:23:51 So what's this game going to be? What is the likely scenario? What we do know is it will not be a night game. Iowa has already hit their home allotment for night games. And in fact, the rest of the season, both this and against Michigan State, they cannot play a night game. That is the rules that are in place. I was already played their full allotment because of that.

Starting point is 00:24:10 We know. So that means it's either going to be an 11 a.m. kickoff or a 230 kickoff. And to go through the Big Ten sleep. And we'll see if it's going to be a six-day window. We'll find that out likely tomorrow. But if it's not, it's the traditional 13-day window for TV start times. We will know on Monday when this kicks off. I think it's destined for Fox.

Starting point is 00:24:31 Both teams, as I said, I think are going to be ranked. going into the game. You look at the rest of the slate in the Big Ten. There's a Friday night game, Northwestern, USC. Obviously, that's not going to move. Nebraska at UCLA, A, they're not going to put the big noon kickoff game at 9 a.m. At UCLA. Washington at Wisconsin, no chance.

Starting point is 00:24:53 Maryland at Rutgers, no way. Ohio State at Purdue. It's the Buckeyes, but do they really want to put a 49 to 6 drubbing on? like they've done it before. The only other game that could be big noon that day is Indiana Penn State. And we know Penn State is not the Penn State they were before the season. Because of that, I think this is going to be a noon kickoff Eastern time. 11 o'clock for us here, Central and 9 a.m. for the Ducks, body clocks.

Starting point is 00:25:27 Don't got a big problem with that. Dan Lanning will have his group ready here. And so will Kirk Ferrence, we will have tons of time here over the next two weeks to preview this matchup. We will break it down. We'll take another look back at this one. Go through the tape and see what we find and the Iowa win and see what else jumped off the page in that one. We'll have the numbers from Pro Football Focus for you as well coming up here as we break things down. One final look back, a big week in front of us.

Starting point is 00:25:56 Basketball is going to be starting up the Iowa Women with an exhibition. We're going to talk a little bit more. I'll mention the scrimmage against Texas Tech. Some good support out of that. We'll have you covered on that front Iowa. We'll open up the season on the men's side against Robert Morris, and their opener coming up here a week from Tuesday. It is the fun time of year,

Starting point is 00:26:15 and Kirk Farrinson Company made it a little bit more fun as Iowa has something to play for. No, not a bull bid, a college football playoff bid. Got to be perfect to get there, but it's on the table. Hit subscribe if you're watching this on YouTube, five-star review on the podcast side and a big thank you to everyday listeners with us each and every day we are your daily iowa hawkeye podcast thanks for being with us it's always great to be a hawk i's even better when you throttle the gophers take that phil we'll talk to you again on

Starting point is 00:26:45 monday until then go hawks

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - DOMINATION: Iowa CRUSHES Minnesota 41-3 | Hawkeyes' PLAYOFF DREAMS Alive?

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