Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - INSTANT REACTON: Iowa Football powers past Wisconsin in Madison 15-6

Starting point is 00:00:00 Was it pretty? No. Was it awesome? Yes. Hawkeyes roll past Wisconsin and become the favorites in the Big Ten West today. Locked on Hawkeyes. You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:00:20 your team every day. Come in. 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 podcasts. 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. As Iowa gets the win, 15-6.

Starting point is 00:00:59 A Ferentz special of epic proportions. As Iowa gets the win and runs their record now to 6-1 on the season and now in control of winning the division, the Big Ten West. This was a football game that was dominated certainly by the Iowa defense, holding Wisconsin to just two field goals in the game. It was an impressive performance out of this squad. Up and down the lineup, you continue to see guys that continue to improve. We talked during the first month of the season here on Lockdown Hawkeyes about this defense not certainly being what it was a year ago and maybe even after the last two years.

Starting point is 00:01:36 Not at that level. Saw some cracks in the defense. The rush defense wasn't exactly playing at an elite level that we were used to. It was still good, but it wasn't at the at an elite level that we were used to. It was still good, but it wasn't at the elite level. Well, they're getting there. They absolutely are. The physicality that they're bringing. Jay Higgins has been a star all season long. In the middle of that defense, he is a tackling machine all over the place. And now he's getting some help from his friends. We talked a week ago, ago obviously about the improvement we saw from the defensive line against Purdue 12 tackles for loss six sacks in that

Starting point is 00:02:10 football game and just how different they looked and though the pressure wasn't at the same level that we saw a week ago against Purdue from the front four why a black he stacked up back to back to back now excellent performances starting the Michigan State game. I thought he played his best game of his career in that one. Followed it up then with an even better game against Purdue at another very good performance this week against Wisconsin. Playing against a very big physical offensive line. And though Wisconsin has changed and evolving and moving past the old grinding style of offense that we saw in the past

Starting point is 00:02:43 and moving more up-tempo, more no-h huddle and working a lot more on a shotgun. They still have a 240 pound running back that's pretty talented. And why a black played really well. Aaron Graves continued to impress. He is taking steps forward. Joe Evans, Joey the Bull. He was out there just grinding one out in a game where there are questions this week. If he was going to be available to even play, he was out there just grinding one out in a game where there are questions this week if he was going to be available to even play.

Starting point is 00:03:10 He was out there gutting it out, and we just see this defensive line, what they've been able to do and the improvements that we've seen up front. We mentioned Higgins. Jackson was all over the place, but when we're talking about this defense and we're talking about the defensive backfield, today we're not going to start with Cooper Dijon. A little bit of an upset there, speaking of upsets. We got to start with Sebastian Castro. Physicality. He's always had that. This is a guy that we saw early in his career on special teams. And when he committed to Iowa, you know, this was not some kind of Uber recruit by any means. Out of the south suburbs of Chicago,

Starting point is 00:03:40 he came in just as a guy that you looked at, okay, maybe he can help out. He'll be a special teamer. Maybe he can help late in his career. He has turned into a bonafide star. Coming into this game, he had some of the best numbers running that slot corner position that Iowa has with the cash position, and he has exceeded expectations. There's no doubt about it. We saw him a year ago in that role taking over, and were some ups and downs I think from Sebastian Castro has not been the case this year had the big pick six obviously against Iowa State you'll look at some of the numbers from pro football focus and he is playing at an elite level and he did it once again forcing the fumble that led to the safety having the interception that sealed the football game he was all over the place and

Starting point is 00:04:24 playing at a really high level Cooper Dajin was Cooper Dajin we saw Cooper out there doing his thing a couple of really nice pass breakups out there also want to mention Jamari Harris Jamari Harris I thought played at a super high level another guy that has physicality to him as a cornerback made a nice play in the end zone it looked like on initial, maybe got tangled up with him. You saw the replay and saw the view from the other side. And you see that was just great coverage out of Jamari Harris. He continues to improve, working his way back from injury, out all last season.

Starting point is 00:04:55 And I thought he played really well. Good things to get excited about with this defense. Excuse me. And I don't care that Tanner Mordecai went out of the game now you can kind of say ball don't lie because on the play where he injured his hand there was a i think it was logan lee was just blatantly held and what ref was looking right at it didn't blow throw the flag instead he gets lit up by by higgins and he is out and was out for the rest of the game the youngster came in and you could see he was a

Starting point is 00:05:26 youngster. I got a long, long ways to go. Look, we talked this week. This is not a vintage Wisconsin team, but there's something special about being beating Wisconsin. And, you know, for people, my age range, people in their forties, growing up in the eighties, Wisconsin was terrible. The years they're trying to run the beer, they were just, it was a bad football program. And of course, we know what happened with Barry Alvarez and how he brought them up from the doldrums and what they've been now basically for the last three decades. And you get a win like that, you beat that team that, I don't want to say they took Iowa's spot, but they have some shiny objects. You know, they have Rose Bowl victories.

Starting point is 00:06:04 They have a few things that we would certainly like to see in Iowa City. And anytime you go into Madison, it leads to special things. This team was left for dead for a lot of people after the game against Penn State. We've talked about it here, about the opportunity that they still have in front of them, and it doesn't have to dictate what the season was. But with the limitations of the offense, with the questions that are out there with this team offensively you just weren't sure and they got enough we're going to talk about that offense and what we saw out of them there were highs there were lows but ultimately they did just enough to get the victory in this football game we will talk

Starting point is 00:06:42 about that on the offensive side of things plus the Hawkeyes now in control of the Big Ten West. What does that mean? And a possible date with Michigan or Ohio State or a rematch with Penn State in the Big Ten championship game. Iowa's still got work to do, but what does that look like? And do we want to see the Hawkeyes there? We'll do that as we continue here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by GameTime and the GameTime app. You shouldn't have to worry when you're buying

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Starting point is 00:09:00 killing the offense. It doesn't take a whole lot. And we saw Deacon Hill. Not great by any means i will win a football game i would just think of this i would just want a football game with 37 passing guards 6 of 14 for deacon hill eric all goes down with the injury early in that football game he was the offense early on two catches for 19 yards a A hit that, boy, I hate that hit. Going down on the knee. Don't like it. It is what it is. It's football. It's a physical game. Eric Gall, listening to Kirk Ferentz in the post game, he talked a little bit about it and said, didn't feel real good, basically,

Starting point is 00:09:40 to paraphrase what he said. We will obviously get some news, I would anticipate, Monday, if not by Monday, by Tuesday, when the press conferences happen, and we'll know the severity of the Eric Hall injury, but it looks significant, and looks like something that's going to be debilitating likely for him for the rest of the season. So you're down Luke Lachey, you're down Eric Hall,

Starting point is 00:10:01 you have your starting quarterback, Cade McNamara, that was never healthy, out for the rest of the year. You have Deacon Hill in Cade McNamara that was never healthy out for the rest of the year. You have Deacon Hill that you can see has struggles. He has limitations. He's just frankly not a very good quarterback. And yet this football team was able to run the football. I loved what we saw this from this team early on and what they were doing pounding the football. The first six plays, what are they doing? They're running it. They're going right at Wisconsin. You know, Wisconsin was going to be ready to go and they were going to be dialed up defensively and do the things that though Jim Leonard isn't there running the defense anymore,

Starting point is 00:10:32 they were still going to do similar things. And yet Iowa was able to deviate, run a little bit more counters, do a lot more ISO stuff, working inside and credit to Connor Colby and Rusty Feth and Logan Jones, the three guys in the middle thought those guys played really, really well. Rusty Feth, we were kind of waiting for the light bulb almost to go on for him. Yeah, he's an older, he's a veteran guy coming in from Miami, Ohio, but there's a big step up in competition. And I think Rusty Feth is another guy we talked about Some of those guys defensively, I think the same thing is happening now with Feth playing at this level. Middle of the offensive line was excellent. The 82-yard touchdown from LaShawn Williams.

Starting point is 00:11:13 Just beautiful patience on that play. Setting the play up. Waiting for the area to clear before he accelerated. Made a couple of guys miss and then was off to the races up the Wisconsin sideline for the touchdown. Just an absolute thing of beauty. And then at that point, well, you know the numbers. When Kirk Ferentz has an eight-point lead or more, he is now 69-2 over his last 71 games.

Starting point is 00:11:39 69-2 with an eight-plus-point lead. It's incredible. You just don't see that. I was up seven, nothing. Now after that, this is where some of the issues started to crop up. And I said, right before the touchdown drive, they had a couple of nice carries before that. It was a three play drive that culminated in the 82 yard run, but you had to get back to what we saw early in the football game, running the football. And there's times that I get really frustrated with Brian Ferentz when he gets too cute. You know, the fourth down call to Nico Raggini,

Starting point is 00:12:11 there were some people that were trying to clap back at me saying that, oh, if he just would have read his block, there were three guys waiting back behind the guy that made the tackle. You're also asking a true freshman playing significant minutes for the first time in what, Ortworth, I believe it was. You're asking him to be out there in space and make the tackle that eventually, or make the block, excuse me, that was going to lead to that. Yeah, it was out in space here. Zach Ortworth, true freshman out of St. Louis, who was out there trying to make that block. Even if he would have made the block perfectly and Raggedy would have read it perfectly, he still would have been tackled short of the line of game. And that's,

Starting point is 00:12:47 those are the frustrating elements. Look, no offensive coordinator is going to call perfect plays every single time. I mean, that's just, it's unlikely. It's impossible to do something like that. But that was a play dead on arrival. Just didn't like that one. We saw Seth Anderson with a nice play on a jet sweep. That was really good to see. But this is what this team is going to be as this offensive line has evolved the last couple of weeks. The run game has really got going. And another credit to Brian Ferencz in this.

Starting point is 00:13:14 The evolution of this running game, it was difficult. You're going past something that your dad, Kirk Ferencz, is known for. With the zone blocking scheme and what they've done for decades now at Iowa, what he did well before that, this is something that he believes in. This is like a core value of Kirk Ferentz football. And he knew he had to change. Did it take longer than it should have? You can argue that.

Starting point is 00:13:39 But they have changed. And now with Iowa moving away from the traditional inside-outside zone, and though they still run it, not at the level, obviously, that it once was, it has opened up so much more for this running game and what they've been able to do. Some grinded-out kind of yards. Caleb Johnson didn't have any of those big ones,

Starting point is 00:13:55 but he picked up at times four or five yards, and LaShawn Williams, just an absolute stud out there of what he was able to do and getting not only the big run, but a lot of other big runs in the football game. So the run game, it's not fixed. It's not completely great, but it's better. And I think the game plan of the blueprint now going forward, the rest of the way is going to be just this. It is not the pass where Kirk loves to talk about the 50-50 balance. That's what they want to be. 50% pass, 50% run, and he'd go from there.

Starting point is 00:14:27 We're looking 75-25, maybe 80-20 run-to-pass ratio. Heck, maybe even higher than that. If they can still continue to churn out these tough yards, and you continue to see that two-headed running back, and now the possibility of Jazzy on Patterson getting back next week, three talented running backs in that backfield, an offensive line that has improved, back. And now the possibility of Jazzy on Patterson getting back next week. Three talented running backs in that backfield. An offensive line that has improved. This is what it's going to be. Look, Iowa the rest of the way is going to be favored probably in every game. Right now the

Starting point is 00:14:56 power numbers have Iowa about a 10.5 point favorite against Minnesota. More than a touchdown of both Rutgers and Illinois at home. The road game at Nebraska. I think Nebraska and the power numbers I was looking at was a slight favorite by a point off the top of my head. They're going to be favorite in most of these games. They'll be more than a 10-point favorite at Wrigley against Northwestern. So I was favored the rest of the way. But the blueprint's going to remain the same and play these kind of games and play this kind of style. And that is what is going to ultimately lead to Iowa winning the Big Ten West. That's right.

Starting point is 00:15:29 The Big Ten West now. Iowa is in absolutely control. The question's out there. Do we want that to happen? Absolutely. I'll tell you why as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook.

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Starting point is 00:16:37 Right now, visit FanDuel.com slash lockdown and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, official partner of the NFL. Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast, an instant reaction podcast as we are with you here. Well, we are flipping into Sunday morning as we do the podcast today. Had an opportunity this evening to co-host with Ross Peterson, the iconic show after Iowa football broadcast finishes up, sound off on 1040-40-WHO.

Starting point is 00:17:12 That is, of course, here in Central Iowa, in Des Moines, but across the state of Iowa, you can pick up the signal. My parents up in New Hampton, they were listening to the broadcast for a while. Really, really fun show. Took a lot of calls. Really enjoyed that one. And Ross always so much fun. And thanks to him for asking me in

Starting point is 00:17:28 to fill in for Travis Justice this week. Had a really great time doing that. So a little bit later getting to this here this evening with the instant reaction, but definitely worth it to be talking to you, the fan out there on SoundOff. As we roll through here, one thing that came up a couple of times,

Starting point is 00:17:46 are we sure that Iowa, we want to see Iowa in the Big Ten championship game? After what we saw in the Penn State game, knowing that the behemoth that is Michigan and what they've turned into facing the Wolverines in the championship game two years ago, that I think still lingers in a lot of people's mind. A rematch against Penn State and Ohio State and all the talent that they have out wide. Yeah, you want this. You want this for a couple of different reasons. First, you want to win. Now, I brought it up last week on Thursday. On the Thursday show I brought up, you know, is it best for the future of Iowa football to go nine and three again, lose to Wisconsin, lose to Nebraska, have a solid year, but nothing really changes. And I argued maybe that wouldn't be the best thing.

Starting point is 00:18:33 Look, I'm never going to root against Iowa. I mean, it's just asinine to ascertain that, that this, that me, a Hawkeye fan since birth, somebody that has followed this program to the nth degree for my whole life. And that will never change that. I'm going to root against Iowa. I'm not that kind of person. I'm not that kind of guy. Do I get frustrated? Absolutely. Do I want what's best for this program and for this athletic department? No doubt about it. But for me to think that losing games and I'm going to root for that, come on. Give your head a shake. There's absolutely no way that's the case. And use a little critical thinking from time to no way that's the case. And use a

Starting point is 00:19:05 little critical thinking from time to time if that's what you really believe. Come on. You need to be better than that. That aside, here we are. They're in control. Wisconsin still has a matchup with Ohio State. Iowa's already had their big one, obviously, against Penn State. Didn't go very well. So basically, the rest of the way, if Iowa does what they should and run the table, or even if they do lose another game, that would mean Wisconsin would either have to run the table, or if they lose one more game, Iowa would have the tiebreaker if they also have a loss as both teams then would have two losses in conference play. Iowa has the head-to-head tiebreaker, and they'd be going to Indianapolis.

Starting point is 00:19:44 Do we want this, though? Yes, you want this. You want this because, well, this is the last year of the Big Ten West. The path becomes so much more difficult starting next year, and it becomes much more difficult because you don't get games yearly against Illinois and Northwestern and Purdue. Minnesota, you've dominated. Nebraska, who you've dominated. Those games on a yearly basis are going away. You don't get them anymore. Well, you'll still get Nebraska, Minnesota, and Wisconsin because of the protected rival, but you get what I'm saying. The Purdue's, the Northwestern's, those ones are coming off the schedule. And with that, it's an 18-team league.

Starting point is 00:20:26 Only the top two teams are going to qualify for Indianapolis or wherever in the future the Big Ten Championship game is. And because of that, take your opportunity. Is it going to go well in Indianapolis against whatever behemoth comes out of the East? More than likely not. It's okay. Take a shot. Look, do you think there's anybody in those football offices saying, well, we might get blown out? No. You take the shot, and you just never

Starting point is 00:20:53 know. Maybe you're playing Michigan. J.J. McCarthy goes down with an injury. Maybe something goofy happens. That game against Penn State, it was a 10-0 game at halftime, and Iowa did absolutely nothing right. They're marching in to take the lead early in that football game, and Eric Hall fumbles. They have a punt go off one of the gunners. They hung around. They were on the field too long. It didn't go well. And will it go well in Indianapolis?

Starting point is 00:21:21 Probably not. But take your shot. Because there's not going to be a ton of these going forward. There are not going to be plenty of opportunities. And on top of it, Iowa hasn't won a Big Ten title in 19 years. Take another shot. I just, I don't. It's not fun when your team gets blown out.

Starting point is 00:21:38 And when you're looking what's lurking behind that curtain, whoever comes out of the East, it's a tall, tall task. But don't go with that defeatist attitude. Don't go into that through comes out of the East, it's a tall, tall task. But don't go with that defeatist attitude. Don't go into that through the rest of the season when you got a month plus left of football here and don't have that just lingering. Well, we're just going to go there and go and get clobbered. Take the shot. Take the shot. Take the opportunity. They're just too rare. Take the shot. Take the opportunity. They're just too rare. Final question. Can Iowa keep winning like this? In general, you would think no. How often are you going to win football games

Starting point is 00:22:13 when you're not a service academy throwing for 37 yards? Not very often. It wasn't good. But because of what we've seen from the run game, coupled with the schedule, yeah, Iowa can keep winning like this. There are not many programs that can do it. In fact, I don't think there's any programs that can do it the way that Iowa is. But Kirk Ferentz, the way that he does things, the way that he can win these types of games, it's a sight to behold. Everybody left on the schedule,

Starting point is 00:22:50 as we talked about, they're likely going to be favored against. Basically a pick-em against Nebraska. It goes the other way too, though. When you're so limited offensively, there's going to be one game where you're going to have to score. Or 15 points isn't going to be enough. 20 points that you got against Purdue, maybe that isn't enough. Even with this defense playing at a high level. Look, goofy things happen. A pick six, a scoop and score, special teams, something goes awry, or team just hits a couple of big plays against you. That still can happen. That Western Michigan hit a big play against this Iowa defense.

Starting point is 00:23:23 These things still can happen. They can happen against Minnesota this week, against Northwestern. I don't think very likely in Wrigley, but it can happen. Rutgers, Illinois, how about the Illini? Getting off the mat and getting the win against Maryland. And, of course, Nebraska at the end of the season that has a very good defense in their own right. It's a path that you can win every game, but you can't afford to overlook anybody.

Starting point is 00:23:50 I was not in a position to do that. What they are in a position are of winning the Big Ten West, going to Indianapolis and taking their shot against a big boy. That'll do it for Lockdown Hawkeyes today. Instant Reaction Podcast. Thanks as always for joining us. We'll be back with you on Monday. That is our look back as we will

Starting point is 00:24:09 go through the DVR, look through things one more time, see exactly what we saw in the matchup and dig a little bit deeper into the game film. Also coming up this week, Buddy Jace, he'll stop by. Looking forward to our conversation there and as always later in the week, former Hawkeye running back LaShawn Daniels will join us.

Starting point is 00:24:29 We will break things down with him. Lockdown Hawkeyes, your team every day. That's what we do here on the Lockdown Network. Final thing also, it is the crossover at Kinnick happening on Sunday. Be heading over there with my daughter after our softball tournament finishes up. Excited to get over to Iowa City and see what should be a really special and cool event with the Hawkeyes

Starting point is 00:24:51 as they face off against DePaul. There is also a point spread out for this game, and it's an exhibition game, but a point spread is out for it at Circa right now, and you can wager on that one if you'd like. It will be a lot of fun outdoor venue gonna be a little chilly over there and hopefully the wind doesn't make things too difficult on the hardwood looking forward to that we will recap that as well coming up next week on lockdown

Starting point is 00:25:18 hawkeyes your team every day on the lockdown network that's what we do thanks as always for making lockdown hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again on Monday. Go Hawks.

Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - INSTANT REACTON: Iowa Football powers past Wisconsin in Madison 15-6

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