Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa basketball gets gritty win over Indiana plus several Iowa football players announce returns

Episode Date: January 14, 2022

The men's Iowa basketball team took down Indiana at Carver last night in a game that had quite a few things going against the Hawks. Regardless, they got the job done and Iowa Hawkeye sophomore Kris Murray was the star of the night. We break down that game before diving into all of the roster updates for the Iowa football team. Charlie Jones, Sam LaPorta, Alex Padilla, and Jack Campbell are all returning. What does this mean for Iowa and who is Iowa still actively targeting in the transfer portal? We got you covered right here. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.NetSuiteOver twenty-seven thousand businesses already use NetSuite and RIGHT NOW through the end of the year NetSuite is offering a one-of-a-kind financing program to those ready to upgrade at NetSuite.com/LOCKEDONNCAA. 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 Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back, Hawkeye Nation, to a Friday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes on the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade, and this is a beautiful Friday morning because we have so much good news to talk about on this show. We have several Iowa football players who have officially decided to return to the Iowa football team. The men's basketball team gets a big-time W at home against Indiana.

Lots of good news around the Iowa Hawkeye athletic community. So we're going to be covering all that on the show today and also talk a little bit about some of the potential transfer portal targets that Iowa is targeting right now. Before we get to that, though, I want to thank you all for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes. So let's get to the main news for today.

Iowa basketball takes down Indiana in a very interesting game, a game that did not look like it was going to go Iowa's way for a good chunk of that game. Iowa nursing a 7-8 point deficit at half, kind of going off memory here, I believe it was 7-point deficit at half. Yeah, 48-41, just wanted to check that to confirm. Iowa then gets a lead in the second half, beating Indiana 83-74. And honestly, there's a couple different things to take away from this game. The biggest thing I take away is the fact that we saw other guys step up in Keegan Murray's absence.

Keegan Murray not getting a lot of playing time in this game due to some foul issues. Only playing 22 minutes. Still being very productive in those 22 minutes with 12 points on four or six shooting, nine rebounds, two blocks, one steal. But really the main player of the game was Chris Murray and Connor McCaffrey. Now, if you were to be betting on this game, who would be the number one and number two guys on this team for Iowa? It probably wouldn't have been Chris or Connor, but Chris steps up in a big time way in this game. 29 points, 29 points, 10 at 13 shooting, two of five from three, 11 rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and three steals. Chris Murray was literally doing it

all, had a phenomenal game, showing Iowa Hawkeye fans out there just what he could do. And I think if nothing else you can take away from this game, it's Chris deserves more minutes. Connor McCaffrey also had a phenomenal game as well. In 20 minutes of play, had the highest offensive rating according to Kempom, 196, which is amazing. For reference, Chris Murray had 158 offensive rating. Connor McCaffrey, nice shooting day all around. One of two from three, hit two crucial free throws.

Also finished with one rebound, one assist, and three steals. And honestly, just was a good court general for the game. I thought Connor McCaffrey had a really nice game. A couple things that really stood out to me, rebounding. Iowa finally won a rebounding battle, and against a team that has been pretty good at rebounding the basketball. Trace Jackson Davis has been great down low. Race Thompson has been great down low. Michael Durr has provided some really good minutes in getting rebounds as well, but Iowa winning that rebound battle against Indiana

16-12 offensive rebounds and tied 19-19 in defensive rebounds. Turnovers were a huge factor in this game, though. Indiana coming into this game one of the worst teams in the nation in terms of turnovers. As we talked about, Jacob Root of Lockdown Hoosiers on yesterday's podcast, though, they had been getting better. They haven't had that many issues with turnovers for the last four or five games. In fact, being in the single digits of turnovers. In this game against Iowa, though, 23 turnovers compared to Iowa's 12. Iowa forced 15 steals, and the

points off turnovers were a huge difference in this ballgame. A couple other things I wanted to call out about this game. I thought the officiating was pretty piss poor all around. Not exactly the best officiating you're going to find. Clearly, Fran McCaffrey very frustrated by it. The team frustrated by it. But another big takeaway is the fact that Iowa did a great job of battling back through that adversity, coming into that second half,

knowing they had not maybe gotten the best draw in terms of officiating, maybe hadn't played their best basketball, defensively kind of struggling a little bit as well, allowing Indiana some open looks. They came back in the second half and really closed things up and took care of business. It's not an easy thing to allow a Big Ten team to only score 26 points in the second half.

So Iowa really getting things done in that second half. A couple other things that I noticed. Phillip Abracha played 20 minutes, had a decent game all around, but got into foul trouble again. Phillip Abracha is undersized at that center position, and we really need to begin leaning on our big men a bit more. Joshua Gundelay, Riley Mulvey. We're not going to last in big time play if we can't get more minutes from those two big guys. And I hate when Fran McCaffrey sits guys with two fouls. Yes, it worked out. Iowa was able to get the win, but why are you sitting a guy with two fouls, especially a National Player of the Year candidate in

Keegan Murray with two fouls? We've seen this happen last year with Luka Garza. It is not going to change, to be fair. This is not something that's ever going to change with Fran McCaffrey, but it's still incredibly frustrating to be watching on a consistent basis. If guys get in foul trouble, they automatically are out of the game for the entire first half. That is not a good thing to deal with from an Iowa Hawkeye perspective. But again, as we talked about coming into this game,

Iowa needed to go 5-1 in their six games in conference play leading up to Purdue. Right after the new year, they needed to go 5-1 at least, if not 6-0. Coming off a game against Wisconsin that I feel like Iowa was a more talented team than they showed in that game. They needed to come off and get a W at home against Indiana. Getting that win is huge for the Hawks. As we talked about a little bit with Ken Palm, Indiana is a good team. Indiana 23rd, according to Ken Palm, coming off a very big win against Ohio State. This is a big win for Iowa,

the men's basketball team. It is definitely one that we can be very excited about for this Hawkeye team. Iowa now 2-3 in conference play, 12-4 overall. They get Minnesota on Sunday away, which will be really interesting to see. Can Iowa take care of business on the road against a Minnesota squad that has had a lot of transition over the past year. Currently, Kempom projecting that as a 79-76 win. We're not going to give you a very big preview for that game.

In fact, we're not giving you a preview at all of that game, but we will be breaking down that game on Monday's episode of the show. Coming up, though, we're going to get into some football talk. We have got to talk about the guys who are coming back. Charlie Jones, Sam Laporta, Jack Campbell, all these guys coming back. What does that mean for this Iowa Hawkeye football squad? That's all coming up in a few short moments. Before we get to that, though, I'm here with Andrew Wade, and I think it's important to let you all know that there's an incredible app that everyone who listens to this podcast must download now. If you buy gas, you have to get GetUpside.

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BetOnline.ag, where the game starts. All right, y'all. And again, thank you for making the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast your first listen every single day. You can find the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast for free wherever you get podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked On Hawkeyes. So we talked a little bit about the basketball team.

Again, a big win for Iowa getting that W over Indiana, especially battling through adversity in that first half to get that W in the second half. A fantastic job rebounding, a great defensive effort, a fantastic, phenomenal game from Chris Murray despite not having Keegan Murray in the second half. A fantastic job rebounding, a great defensive effort, a fantastic, phenomenal game from Chris Murray. Despite not having Keegan Murray in the game, Chris Murray carried the team 29 points, getting that win for Iowa. Now we need to talk about some of the Iowa football news that has happened over the last couple of days. First, let's actually start with the quarterback position.

I went on record on my show after the Kentucky game saying I would be shocked if Alex Padilla returns. I just didn't see it happening yet. Here we are. Alex Padilla has officially confirmed that he is returning to the Iowa Hawkeyes. Spencer Petras is returning. So is Joey LaBasse. We are going to be going into that quarterback competition with three

quarterbacks with experience in this system. Joey, at least experience with running the system in this system. Joey, at least experience with running the system in scout team and on, or not really scout team, but on the second team unit as they are practicing for the Citrus Bowl, but Alex and Spencer with starters experience. And this team goes where the quarterback position takes them. And what I mean by that is without a quarterback play being a least average, this team cannot succeed and get to the expectations that we have for this team. They have a ton of talent across the board.

Defensively, we're going to get into this. They return literally 10 of their 11 guys up front. And I know you only have four starters up front or four starters in the defensive line and three starters at the linebacker position. But when you look at this for Iowa, they rotated eight guys on that defensive line, and you're only losing one guy, and that's Zach Van Valkenburg. They returned seven of the eight guys in the defensive line. They returned all three of their linebackers,

with Jack Campbell deciding to return. Defensively, this team is locked and loaded. At the secondary unit, when you're losing a Dane Belton, a Jack Kerner, or Matt Hankins, typically that is going to be a very tough loss. But Iowa has the guys to back it up. Yes, Matt Hankins, a multi-year starter. That is a big loss. But behind him you have Jamari Harris, who has had multiple starts.

Terry Roberts, who has starting experience. Yes, Dane Belton leaving is a big loss. But you have a four-star recruit in Cooper DeJean that was just trying to get inside that team and trying to get some playing time. And they were forced to give him some playing time because of how well he is performing in practice. You have Xavier, who's coming in a five-star recruit who's going to be battling for playing time. Quinn Schulte, Sebastian Castro, those guys have gotten a lot of playing time in mock-up time and also just at the end of a couple games.

Iowa has the depth as secondary. This defense, in my opinion, could be even better than this past year's defense, especially when you return to Riley Moss. So it comes down to the quarterback position. Can this quarterback drive an offense that can just get 25 points a game? We're not asking a lot for this Iowa Hawkeye football team. I want to talk a little bit about the quarterback position, though, and what I think can kind of play out, and also talk a little bit about Alex versus Spencer and Joey as well.

So Joey, he is going to be the talk of spring practice. And as we talked about Jake Fisher, a lot of the stuff that comes out of spring practice, don't buy into it yet. Things are not set in stone. Unless Joey just literally blows everyone out of the water and ends up number one on the depth chart, do not read into everything about Joey Labas going into this spring camp. More than likely what's going to happen is it's going to be Alex and it's going to be Spencer and they're going to be battling each other. Joey still needs to learn the offense. As much as everyone wants to get really excited about the quotes about how he's throwing off balance,

out of structure, able to make plays happen with his feet, unless Brian Farris completely changes offense and also simplifies the heck out of it. I don't see how Joey overtakes Spencer or Alex Spencer, a two year starter, Alex getting spot time this past year. Now when I look at Spencer and Alex, we kind of know what we get with Spencer. He has a big arm. He has shown that he can run the offense for the most part.

He is incredibly immobile though. Unable to run at all. Basically a tree back there. Now he said he wants to work on some of that. I'll believe it when I see it. Sometimes you can't fix immobility to a degree. Alex Padilla, we didn't get a lot of playing time.

If people are basically out on Alex Padilla, it seems like some of the groups I'm in, some of the things I'm reading on Twitter, I love the fan base seems to be completely off Alex Padilla and already switched gears to Joey. I want to be very clear. Alex has not had that much playing time. He made a couple of starts and got yanked very quickly. And when you compare his couple games to Spencer and all of 2020,

Alex is comparing favorably. Spencer's passer grade according to PFF in 2020, 57.9. Alex's in 2021, 62.2. The completion percentage, not very good. Spencer's 56.9. Alex was 48.7. But when you factor in the drops, and Alex had a very huge drop percentage of 19.1 compared to Spencer's 9.6. The adjusted completion percentages weigh in Alex's favor. 71.6 compared to Spencer's 68.4. Now, a lot of people are going to say, great, he was accurate in one game against Northwestern, but he looked terrible in the other games and had a few bad decisions.

We need to remember history. Ricky Stanzi also had quite a few bad decisions, but we all remember Ricky Stanzi carrying this Iowa team to an Orange Bowl victory. We remember those big-time plays from Ricky Stanzi when we needed it. Alex Badia has looked pretty good when you factor in some of his amazing throws, especially the Northwestern game. Nebraska, he wasn't feeling well. He was literally sick the whole week leading up to that. And then you have Minnesota where there were a lot of drops,

and those were not just him chucking the ball too hard drops. Those were just legitimate drops all around. Now the thing that really stands out to me, Spencer in his first year, six big-time throws, six turnover-worthy plays. Alex Padilla in three games, seven big-time throws, six turnover-worthy plays. Alex Padilla, in three games, seven big-time throws, five turnover-worthy plays. Alex Padilla is a little bit more boom and a little bit more bust than Spencer, but I'm going to take that boom because we need an offense that has an electric jolt. We need an offense that can drive down the field and score touchdowns when we absolutely need it.

And I think Alex Padilla, with a little bit more time, can show the progress and make an impact as a starter for this Iowa Hawkeye squad. The only thing I will say about Alex, yes, I understand the concerns and some of his decision-making was not ideal. But what are we getting with Spencer? We know what we get with Spencer. But what are we getting with Spencer? We know what we get with Spencer. So let's take the unproven guy who could potentially make a few more steps with Alex Padilla. I would like to see Alex Padilla take off and run a bit more, though.

I would love to see him actually use his legs. He's able to get out of the pocket, but he hasn't actually scrambled a ton and really made defenses pay with his legs. Now, he's not the fastest guy on the field, but he has the ability to do that, and I'd like to see him do that a bit more. Take off if the play breaks down. Take off if people aren't opening your first, second read. Just go for it.

Again, this is going to be a really interesting conversation throughout the season, or throughout the offseason, whether it's Spencer, Joey, Alex. Who knows at this point? There is a full-blown quarterback competition going on, and as much as it might seem like I am pro-Alex, I'm pro-winning. I don't care who goes back there as long as Iowa is winning games. I would just want to see Iowa give all three guys a truly fair shake in the deal. Give them all a fair shake, and ideally simplify the offense so that you can actually give these

guys a fair shake, and you can have a redshirt freshman come in and actually potentially play for the Hawkeyes. That gives Joey a better chance as well. It'll be interesting to see though, how does this offense change? What direction do the Iowa Hawkeyes go in with this quarterback position? But again, I want to talk a little bit about some of the other guys who are choosing to

come back. Charlie Jones coming back is going to be huge for special teams. He is a game changer. He is a guy who flips the field for the Hawks. Special teams, again, will be an asset for the Iowa football team. And if we can have just above average offensive production and above average quarterback play, that is going to go really nicely with Charlie Jones and his special teams big plays. Now, as far as not going to the NFL, I think it's kind of interesting. His draft stock probably isn't a fifth rounder or a sixth rounder, but he's a guy who could get in as a UDFA and make a name for himself for turning kicks,

especially if he tested well. But nevertheless, I'm very happy he is coming back. It'll be interesting to see how they involve him on the offense. Sam Laporta coming back is awesome. That gives this Iowa offense a lot more versatility to be able to run how they involve him on the offense. Sam Laporta coming back is awesome. That gives this Iowa offense a lot more versatility to be able to run two tight end sets. I would love to see Sam Laporta improve his blocking a little bit, but nevertheless, having Sam Laporta in this offense is going to be huge as he has shown to be a very good outlet for both Spencer and Alex at times. And then Jack Campbell, a guy who was high on radars of NFL scouts,

getting fourth round projections across the board. He decides to come back. That is huge for this defense. Jack Campbell, just a phenomenal linebacker, a guy who could win the Buckus Award next year and should probably win linebacker of the year for the Big Ten. Charlie Jones already winning that special teams kick returner of the year. Could probably come back again.

Sam Laporta could be up for the Mackey Award. I mean, there are so many talented players that this Iowa football team is bringing back. The expectations are sky high. We talked about the schedule earlier this week. If all these guys come back, Iowa's in a good position. They've returned the most talent. And all we're waiting on now is Tyler Linderbaum. Is Tyler Linderbaum going to return?

That is the big question now. It sounds like we might be finding that out tomorrow, or actually today as you're listening to this, as I am recording this Thursday night after the basketball game. Nevertheless, we have to find out in the next two days because he does have to declare for the NFL draft in the next two, three days. So more to come on that as we get that information. We'll make sure to break all that down right here

on the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. Coming up, we're going to talk about the transfer portal because there are a few guys Iowa is targeting. And I know Iowa fans are wondering, why would Iowa extend an offer to a running back? I'm going to tell you a little history lesson and let you know why that actually is important that we do that.

And also, did we just find our next Charlie Jones? We're going to cover all that here on segment three of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Before we get to that, though, with the new year, New Year's resolutions come. And if one of your New Year's resolutions is to get fit or eat healthier, you have to try Bilt Bar. Bilt Bar is the protein bar that tastes just like a candy bar, maybe even better than a candy bar. And it makes it easy to stick to your resolutions because it tastes so good you'll want to eat it unlike other protein bars which can be waxy chalky or even taste like a chemical spill you've known you know about those i've tried them they are absolutely terrible but built bars are where it is at and like i said they actually make you want to eat them because

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All right, y'all. We talked about the basketball game. We talked about the returners. I also apologize. I realize I'm probably talking very fast. I am pretty tired. It's been a very long day. But I wanted to make sure I realize I'm probably talking very fast. I am pretty tired. It's been a very long day, but I wanted to make sure I got this episode out to you all. So apologies there, but we're going to get into it with the transfer portal. First and foremost,

Iowa has extended an offer to Nathaniel Pete, the Stanford running back. I got some playing time last year, a guy who had an offer from Iowa coming out of high school. And people are wondering why would you extend an offer to him when you have three scholarship running backs, Gavin and LaShawn look pretty darn good, and you also have two big-time running backs coming in to Caleb Johnson and Jazzy Patterson? Well, let me tell you a little story. There was once a time where we had Ivory Kelly Martin and Torin Young in the backfield, and Iowa extended an offer to a little-known Iowa Western player in Makai Sargent. Before long, Makai Sargent overtook that backfield and is now playing in the NFL. Here's the thing.

When it comes to recruiting, you don't not recruit talented players. If you have open opportunities, you have to recruit those guys, and you expect them to compete against your current roster. Especially the running back position, we've seen years in the early 2000s where we lose four, five, six running backs due to injury. We've had a lot of good success in terms of injuries and being healthy, but there are always chances that that could happen. You want that depth. If you have a guy that you already have a very good connection with

who potentially wants to come to the University of Iowa and wants to compete, what is the harm in that? Iowa has shown they can do a pretty good job of rotating in two and three guys at times. They did it in the Ivory, Kelly Martin, Torin Young, Makai Sargent backfield. They did it with Makai Sargent and obviously Tyler Goodson. They are going to do that next year as well. They want to keep some of the wear and tear off these guys, utilize them in the right situations,

and allow the hot hand to kind of keep going for it. So in my opinion, I think it's great that we're attacking the transfer portal a little bit harder, kind of investigating a few guys, extending offers to a guy like Nathaniel Peet. Why not have that competition? If Gavin Williams and LaShawn Williams beat him out, no harm, no foul. If Nathaniel Pete beats them out, no harm, no foul. We just want the best running back we possibly can have.

And when you have some unproven guys, yes, they played well against Kentucky in the Citrus Bowl, but they're relatively unproven. Bring some guys in with experience. See what happens. And moving over to the wide receiver spot, people are sitting there wondering, we just had all this mass exodus of wide receivers. We have a very talented young group of wide receivers.

In Arlen Brews and Keegan Johnson, Brody Brecht, Deontay Vines. We have Nico Reganey returning, Charlie Jones returning. Why is Iowa targeting wide receivers? Again, things can change. If you all remember, Nick Easley, and this actually is going to all come full circle. Nick Easley came out of Iowa Western as a walk-on. Nick Easley ended up starting for two years and put together a phenomenal two years

and got a shot with the Buffalo Bills. Again, do not sleep on these guys, and don't sleep on Caden Whetton, who's out of Iowa Western. He's walking onto the Hawks out of Williamsburg, a guy who didn't have a ton of production offensively, but could be a phenomenal punt returner and replacement of Charlie Jones after next year.

Averaged 15.8 yards per punt return. Had four punt return TDs in the last two years for Iowa Western. Watch out for him. Iowa also looking at a tight end. And Steven Salenos out of Lafayette College has two years of eligibility. Again, Iowa wants to bring in depth and talent and competition. So there's no harm, no foul in bringing in some of these guys or checking out and seeing would they be interested

in coming to the University of Iowa. I don't understand the concern here. If there are guys that are out there who are talented and Iowa has open roster spots, let's bring them in. Why not? Just like Iowa brought in Xavier last year from UNI. He didn't play a lot, but you bring him in in case you need him. You bring him in for depth.

You bring him in thinking maybe he can compete for a starting spot, or maybe he can compete for the backup spot. Why not bring in those guys to have more competition as I will kind of develop these relationships further with some of the transfer portal targets. I'll make sure to cover all that right here on the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As you can expect on Monday, we will probably know the decision for Tyler Linderbaum. We'll be breaking all that down on the show on Monday.

We're also gonna be talking about the game against Minnesota. What happened there? Also quickly, I want to shout out the Iowa women's basketball team. They did beat Purdue last night as well. So shout out to the women for taking down Purdue in West Lafayette. Man, I need to go to bed, y'all. Anyways, I appreciate y'all tuning in to today's episode

of the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. I want you to check out the Lockdown Bets podcast as well, hosted by your boy Q and handicapping expert Lee Sterling of Paramount Sports. They do a great job of breaking down three to four games every single day, letting you know who you should be betting on at betonline.ag. But again, thank you all for tuning in this whole week. I apologize for getting yesterday's episode out a bit later. I just forgot to click post.

But again, thank you all for tuning in. Have a fantastic Friday and even better weekend. And as always, Hawkeye Nation, let's go Hawks.