Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Instant Reaction: Iowa Football Clinches Big Ten West Title over Illinois 15-13

Episode Date: November 19, 2023

Trent Condon returns with an instant reaction podcast after the Hawkeyes clinch the Big Ten West division title with a 15-13 win over Illinois.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Listening.comWouldn’t it be amazing if you could listen to a textbook, like an audiobook? Now, you can! Listening.com is an app that turns any academic reading into audio. Go to Listening.dot/LOCKEDON and you'll be able to get your first three weeks free!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONCOLLEGE. Terms and conditions apply.eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedoncollege and use code lockedoncollege for a first deposit match up to $100! Daily Fantasy Sports Made Easy!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's your reaction after Iowa picks up the win and wins the division title over Illinois 15-13. We break it down and the Hawks are going to Indianapolis. You are Locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Men, I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get your podcasts, and you can also find us on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button.

Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Well, that one was a fun one, no doubt about it. Frustrating at times, and really what we've kind of grown to love about this football team, and at times get frustrated with this football team in the 15-13 win over Illinois Iowa solidifies their spot in the Big Ten championship game clinches that with the victory against the Illini in a game where there were moments where it felt like they had in the bag there were moments where felt like there was no chance that they were going to be able to come back there were times in the game where it felt like the refs were trying to screw the Hawkeyes

once again but ultimately a victory and the great feelings about it. Before we kind of dig into the game, just in the totality of what this team is, and they go into a matchup on Friday, Black Friday against Nebraska, that doesn't mean anything. It's not going to change where they're going the following week. They've clinched their spot in Indianapolis. They're not going to be a college football playoff team. And you do wonder, Kirk talked about this a little bit in the postgame, and maybe some guys are going to rest up, but we'll get to that. Because with a 9-2 record, in a season where you've had so much that has happened,

look, you write this Hollywood script and you're laughed out of the building on your pitch meeting because people say this is unthinkable. There is no way that all these things can happen to a football team and they continue to win football games. Before the season began, the gambling investigation and the impact that that certainly had to Iowa football. You lose a multi-year starter on your defensive line when your top defensive tackles is out for the season, looked like he was going to come back for a while,

then that didn't happen. You had that angle to it. And the tumult that was happening. And there was plenty of hand-wringing and concern. We know Jabari Harris had to sit out the beginning of the season because of that. And it was lingering over the program throughout the summer months. You get into practice.

You bring in a slew of transfers. For the first time, Kirk Ferentz attacked the transfer portal in a way we'd never seen before. And yet, you're starting quarterback. Bet you got out of the portal. Looking good. You're confident. you got out of the portal. Looking good. You're confident. You got a competent single caller.

Look, after the frustration of three years of Spencer Petras, you felt like you were in a really good spot. And the only time you get to see him before game one in the open practice at Kinnick in August, he goes down with the injury. We talked about it at the time. Certainly more significant than some people were letting on initially. We saw that. We talked about it at the time, certainly more significant than some people were letting on initially. We saw that. We saw how limited he was. And then ultimately, as he

maybe looked to be getting at least a little bit more healthy, he goes down again, tears his ACL in a game against Michigan State. Iowa finds a way in that game. They find a way with some of the worst quarterback play that we have ever seen. They win football games without wide receiver, catching passes, in a whole game. They win football games on gut and guile and a lot of defense and a lot of special teams and a little offense, and they just come finding a way.

They go into Madison and get it done. While this is happening, it's not just the quarterback that goes down. Two all Big Ten tight ends. Two guys that will play in the NFL at the tight end position. Luke Lachey and Eric Hall. Both those guys go down. An offense that is built around the tight end position, you're doing that. Your running backs throughout the course of the season, banged up.

Offensive line, banged up. And here they are. Then, on the final practice, before you get ready to play Illinois in a chance for the second year in a row to clinch in Kinnick Stadium a division title, your last remaining big-time playmaker, Cooper Shinko, is down with a broken leg. It's just unthinkable that this has happened, and yet here we are.

Credit to Kirk Ferentz. Credit to this coaching staff. Credit to Brian, to Phil Parker, and to everybody else. This was a behemoth of a job, to have all these things happening. Oh, and by the way, the offensive coordinator, also the son of the head coach, gets fired halfway through the season,

and this team is 9-2. And easily, with maybe even a different guy up in the booth, is sitting at 10-1 right now. It's unthinkable. Is it pretty? No. But if you're not enjoying this team, how miserable are you? If you can't enjoy this for what it is, is it a beautiful brand of football? No.

Is it a team that compete at the highest levels of college football? It's not. But this is our team. This is a team you root for. Enjoy it. Don't be part of the miserable brigade. Just don't. Enjoy it for what it is.

It's not going to be pretty. There's going to be frustrating aspects. And anybody that's ever listened to the show knows I get frustrated with you. But if you can't enjoy the victories, what are we doing here? Well, we got a whole offseason where we can complain about things and see who Kirk brings in as a new offensive coordinator or if maybe a little bit deeper, it's a new coach.

We're going to talk about that a little bit later. Very interesting postgame. And we'll talk about that a little bit more. But overall, in the totality of where this team is, winning this division, look, they weren't the favorite coming into the year. It was Wisconsin. And though I screamed to high heaven,

I thought it was wrong. I certainly, with a healthy Iowa football team, thought in year number one of Luke Fickle that Iowa was better positioned to win the division title this year. And it out and thankfully my FanDuel account that also was helping out a little bit. What a job. And with all these things happening, there's a reason that so many people still beloved

and love Kirk Ferentz. And it's these kind of things. It's the emotion. It's the of things. It's the emotion. It's the team aspect. It's the team building. You add up the raw parts, they're not going to add up to Michigan or Penn State or Ohio State.

And probably some other programs out there in the Big Ten. But what he does, culture, team building, leadership, the parts that are very difficult to quantify, that's where Kirk Ferentz is at his best. And this may go down as one of his best coaching jobs. 2015, yeah, they went 12-0. 2002, 2004, they won Big Ten titles.

But to do this with everything going on around one of the most miraculous seasons let's talk about the game a little bit we will get into that here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast break things down, get into our stars of the win against Illinois the ticket is punched for Indianapolis we'll do that as we continue Lockdown Hawkeyes today's episode of theed On Hawkeyes.

Today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. Well, the NFL season continues, and it's time for you to score with the NFL with FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 Moneyline bet. That's $150 if your team wins. Simple as that.

Don't have to worry about the point spread. Put in a Moneyline bet. If it wins, $150 into your account. Have to love that. If you've been thinking about joining FanDuel, there's no better time to get in on the action. They got point spreads. They got player props.

They got over-unders. You want to put a bunch together and try to hit a big? Hey, they got that cover for you as well. So many different options that you can get into. Great futures market over at FanDuel. What you want to do right now is visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn and kick off the NFL season right. That's FanDuel.com slash LockedOn.

FanDuel, official partner of the NFL. Trent Conner back with you once again on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. So let's talk about the game a little bit. We're kind of taking that big picture view early on, but starts off beautifully.

You get a punt pin deep. John Nestor, one of the true freshmen that was out there playing as a gunner because of the injury to Cooper DeGene, hit the ball a little bit early. Would have been inside the probably two-yard line. Alas, didn't happen. Still, Iowa gets a safety. And Joey the Bull, Joe Evans coming on a stunt.

And we've seen that stunt I don't know how many times in the Phil Parker era. He loves that stunt, and it works. And it worked on that one. Got the Phil Parker era he loves that stunt and it works and it worked on that one got the pressure nearly got the touchdown out of it but get a safety and jump out to a two nothing lead Illinois came right back though and I made it three to two but you know early in the football game you could see this Iowa offense it was humming for a while I mean things were looking very good and you can see the maturation now of deacon hill and where he is compared to where he was just a month ago remember this is a guy not only had not played or thrown a pass in college he played one game when he was at wisconsin against new mexico state late in a blowout but

this is a guy that not only didn't have collegiate reps this guy that didn't have many high school reps you look back to when he was in high school in his senior year in 2020, I believe they played three or four games is all that he was able to get in in California. So that's just a guy that doesn't have a whole lot of just reps in general in comparison to what you see. And certainly in today's day and age of football with passing camps and seven on sevens, the amount of work that most everybody's able to do just because of circumstance, not the case for Deacon Hill.

And he's getting more comfortable, and you're seeing more touch, and he's being able to read some plays, and are there still a few that he airmails? Absolutely. It's not perfect, but it's competent. It's a step forward from the brutality that we saw. You go back to the Northwestern game, he threw for 66 yards. Yet he was 10 of 15 in that game. And you saw a week ago a huge step forward outside of one ill-advised throw.

Late in the first half, he looked really good from the second quarter on in that football game. Though there were pockets, and certainly the third quarter, I think, thanks to frustration in the passing game. Overall, Deacon Hill is, he's okay. And that is not something you could say about him just a couple of weeks ago. Deacon finishes 19-29 for 167 yards. The touchdown in the back of the end zone, that's a play he just wouldn't have made just a few weeks back. He waited for a string to clear. There was somebody cutting underneath, got the ball out, got it out in time. And how about setting up that play on the third down run as he couldn't find anybody. He dropped it down and the big fella got moving, picked up the first down,

set up the first to goal situation, and they eventually score on the throw to a string. Speaking of that, a string. There's your next tight end, right? We'll see. Luke Lachey, does he have enough film to be a guy that's going to be drafted in fourth, fifth round, something like that, maybe even higher, depending on how well he tests

at the Combine, or does he decide to come back for another season? We'll still see on that front. One way or the other, though, Estrenga, they got a dude there. That's a young guy that you can definitely see why they've been excited about him since they got him on campus as a kid that was targeted Iowa City to play baseball. It's working pretty well on the football field for him at this point in time, and you got to be excited about his future. But outside of

Estrenga, Iowa has three other players to catch balls in the game. All three of them are wide receivers. Caleb Brown, seven catches, 71 yards. Niko Ragaiti, who made a couple of incredibly difficult grabs and super important ones. Five catches for 46 yards. And Seth Anderson, two for 26. And Seth Anderson's biggest play very well could have been falling on the fumble late in the first half

that easily could have led to points for the Illini. Deacon Hill was hit as he threw. They said it was not a forward pass. They said it was a fumble. And Seth Anderson, Johnny on the spot, little flipper, goes out there and gets the fumble recovery and at least maybe keep some points off the board for the Illini. But how about that?

Three wide receivers, 14 catches in the game. I know. Most college football, you're rolling your eyes at those numbers. For Iowa, and certainly Iowa this year, that's pretty dang good. We talked so much a week ago about Caleb Brown, and you see it again. He's a playmaker. He has speed that is uncommon, we'll say, for Iowa wide receivers throughout the years. He's a special talent,

and a guy that easily could have tucked his tail, easily could have checked out. It's not going to work here. They can't get wide receivers the ball. Even if I have to sit out another year, I'm going to transfer out of here. He he didn't and listening to the coaches and listening to the players he put in the work he didn't pout he didn't whine he didn't complain and even after making a mistake he came back put in the work and that work now is showing up on the football field same thing for Caleb Johnson has the would prove to be the game winner on the 30-yard touchdown run. And boy, you again saw on that play why he is special. A combination of size, power, speed. And it wasn't going very well. Kirk said it in the radio afterwards as he was

talking to Dolph and Eddie and said, well, there's a few before that where he didn't do it right. But it's just Caleb Johnson's so special. Sean Williams, fine back. Jazzy on Patterson, we'll see. Caleb Johnson's different. And another guy didn't get a snap against Northwestern. Coach's decision. But he's out there, and when the opportunity was there, when the opportunity was there to score that touchdown, he did. Great cutback. Rusty Feth made a great block on the play. Kicked it out. Him and Ellsbury opened up the hole, and he was off to the races.

And then late in the football game, you're trying to salt this thing away. A first down wins the football game. And what does he do on third, Nate? Picks up 11 yards, gets the first down, and would ultimately prove to be the game-winning run. Pretty amazing. And again, that goes back to what we talked about earlier with Kirk Ferentz. It's not an easy thing. It's not easy to keep 125 kids health happy and to go through all the different personality types that you're dealing with and figuring out a way to push the right buttons with every one of them that's not to say kirk's perfect because he isn't nobody is but two great examples here over the last couple of weeks perseverance keepingseverance, keeping your head up, and when an opportunity calls, you answer.

And that's the case for both Calebs, Caleb Johnson and Caleb Brown, over the last couple of weeks. Well, we talk about the offense and what we saw there. Not a great day for Drew Stevens. Missed a field goal early in the football game. Would have made it 5-0. Missed on that one and then had the extra point blocked. And it just never can be easy, right?

It just can't for Iowa football. You score the touchdown there, all right, you're going to go up 16-13. Even if they kick a field goal, you're looking over time. No, no. Extra points blocked. And, you know, watching the replay after I got home tonight from Iowa City, I still can't see, was it low trajectory? Was it somebody that just came through untouched?

I mean, you see the guy get up and block it, but it just never got a good vantage point exactly to see what it was. But obviously something that needs to be looked on, not a great game for the kicker, for the Hawkeyes in that one. Then we go over to the defense. And again, it is another monster performance from Jay Higgins.

We're just so used to that, right? At this point in time. So used to him going out there, piling up the tackles, and that's what he does, just time in and time out. He's special. And we had, you'd see a more special guy in Jack Campbell before it, but he was. Jack Campbell, he's one of one.

And yet, Iowa, what they're able to do, what they were able to show, and Jay Higgins in the middle of it, it's just been an absolute sight to behold. And a game where you know they're going to be targeted a whole lot. Illinois throws the football 47 times. You got a new cornerback back out there again. And Deshaun Lee, he showed out well. Jamari Harris was excellent.

You're going up against one of the better, and I'd probably say the best wide receiver group in the Big Ten West right now is this collection of Illinois receivers. They did a dang good job. They really did. 22 of 47 throwing for Paddock after throwing for 500 yards a week ago. They hold them to 215 on 47 pass attempts. That's some good D right there. No surprise. They get it done. Iowa gets it done, and now they play

in the championship game. It'll be the winner of Ohio State Michigan. Will it go well? We'll see. We'll break that down. We will break down, obviously, the Nebraska game coming up this week. Short week with the Black Friday game. We've got Thanksgiving on Thursday. There's going to be a ton going on. We've got you covered, though, as always here on the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Locked On Hawkeyes on the Iowa. But that's not all. We've got Locked On NFL, Locked On Fantasy Football, whatever your team is.

How about what Craig's doing over with the Locked On Big Ten channel? So many things. Doesn't matter. Your team, we've got you covered. Your team every day on the Locked On Network. Final thing. Talk about Kirk Ferentz. And postgame.

Postgame took a long time. And if you haven't seen the video yet of Phil Parker giving him the football as he passes Bo Schembechler on the all-time wins list in Big Ten football history. And now in rare Ten football history. And now in rarefied air, and has been. But even taking another step up that ladder. And you saw the emotion there. You saw the emotion after the game as he's hugging Brian.

A very long, long locker room celebration in this one. Leads to speculation. Kirk, a couple of times, has brought up retirement. Couple that with what happened this year with Brian. He said right after the Brian firing, initially, we didn't get a whole lot and it sounded like maybe he was going to be done.

And then he walked it back and went out on his radio show on that Wednesday and said, no, plan to be here for a number of years. But you're still left wondering if this is it, if this is a time that he's going to walk away and not having to worry about bringing a new offensive coordinator, having this special year, and it is special, and going through all that. If we are looking at the end of days, no insider information,

just a question, just something to ponder. Because I'll tell you, the guys on the beat found it odd. On the drive home, I was listening to Dolph and Eddie. You could tell they were, they're waiting,

waiting for a long time. My buddies over on 1040 WHO, Ross Peterson and Travis Justice, who host the show after the show, after the postgame show with Gary Dolphin and Ed Podolak, they take over then and do their call-in show. They were supposed to start at 730, didn't start until 815. Because Kirk took a while to get to his media obligations, starting with the radio, then going to answer the questions in the press conference.

Very well could have just been a long celebration, but it leaves you wondering, was there more there? We know it's Brian Ferentz. It will be his final time, at least as a coach in the current iteration of Iowa football, walking off the field, emotional. He obviously said something over the last two weeks, just wearing a plain black sweatshirt,

no Hawkeye emblem on it. He hate that maybe bitterness has seeped in. And we can talk about merits and everything else, but Brian Ferris was not a great offensive coordinator. He wasn't even a good one. However, this is a guy that put it on the line for Iowa football. This is a guy that loves Iowa football. It was tough. He should never have been put in that situation, I believe. I said that seven years ago when he was hired to be the offensive coordinator, and I maintained it over the seven years.

He didn't have the background. He didn't have the knowledge base to be a Big Ten offensive coordinator. It didn't work. And hopefully after some time goes by, the bitterness that appears to be there will dissipate. But credit to him. Did what they had to do. It hasn't been pretty.

But boy, the wins sure are fun. We'll be back with you on Monday morning with a Locked On podcast here. We will talk and take a re-look back at the game as we dive a little bit deeper into things. The numbers from Pro Football Focus. And with a quick turnaround, we'll get you turned around very quickly as well as we prepare for the Black Friday matchup against Nebraska. Thanks for making Locked On, Hawkeyes, your first listen every day. Also want to tell you something else we have going on here with Locked On.

Locked On has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube. Locked On Sports Today is here for you. 24 seven covering the top stories in the day with local experts across the lockdown network. Plus our national shows covering every league go to locked on sports today on YouTube. It's that locked on sports today and subscribe to the first ever national sports 24 seven streaming channel talk

to you again on monday hawks get it done we'll see you in indy go hawks