Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: How is Iowa's offense going to hold up against B1G defenses?

Episode Date: April 21, 2022

The major question going around Iowa football right not is whether or not their offense is going to be able to perform against all of these top 10 defenses in the B1G. With Iowa's extremely tough schedule this year including games against the likes of Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, they are definitely going to have their work cut out for them when it comes to moving the ball. The offensive line and the running backs units are going to have to step up their game if Iowa thinks they are going to have a shot at the B1G West, let alone the B1G Championship.Derek Weisskopf is officially a HAWKEYE!! We talked about his a few episodes back and I noted that he would be able to play a major role on Iowa's defense when his time came to step on the field. Now that it's official, Weisskopf can stop focusing on the pressures of playing college ball and re-center his focus on becoming an all-state line backer for his 3A Iowa highschool, Williamsburg.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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Athletic GreensAthletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/COLLEGE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back Hawkeye Nation to another episode of the Lockdown Hawkeye Nation, to another 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, Wright Hillpiper, and before we get started today, 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 your podcasts at and also on YouTube by searching Locked on Hawkeyes. I apologize once again for yesterday's poor audio quality. For those of you still tuning in, I really appreciate it.

I'm doing everything that I can to get that sorted out. I've got my new mic up and running. I've got the software downloaded for it. So hopefully, hopefully today's is going to go a little bit better. And then we can get YouTube started and get that thing back underway. I'm really excited to start doing video for you guys again. Excuse me, I'm really started to, I'm really excited to start doing video period for you guys. I understand that that is something that a lot of you prefer. So once again, I do apologize and I thank you all for being as patient as you have been.

So to get into things today, I first want to talk about BetOnline. BetOnline.net is your number one source for all of your betting stats and sports info. Find all of the latest sports developments, league reviews, and news, including this year's basketball playoffs and the start of the Major League Baseball season. BetOnline is your continued source for all of your sporting wagering information from live betting to playoffs to esports and more. Head over to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action. BetOnline, where the game starts.

device to learn more about the trends and action. BetOnline, where the game starts. So I'm sure you noticed the title for today's podcast. So that is the main thing that I want to talk about today. I was running backs, how they're going to perform, what, you know, what are they going to do this season to combat these very, very talented, very stellar big 10 off or excuse me, Big Ten defenses that are, you know, roaming around college football right now. First of all, the most important thing that Iowa is looking for out of their offense this upcoming season is definitely going to be that they can be consistently moving the ball when they have the opportunity to. Last season, Iowa's offense, they were definitely good, but there were still times

when they definitely failed to meet expectations, right? The 42-3 loss against Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game is definitely a very solid example of that, in that, you know, they were good, but there were times when they really just didn't show that they were going to be consistent throughout the year. Consistency, of course, is easier said than done, and Iowa's offensive coaching staff knows that better than anybody out there. There's several teams in the Big Ten right now that are and have been very talented on the defensive side of the ball over the last few seasons. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Penn State, and Michigan were all in the top 10 last season for the least amount of

points allowed during a game, all averaging under 17.5 points allowed per game. By the way, the team out of those four that averaged the most amount of points allowed per game was Michigan with 17.4 points allowed per game. But regardless, there are several teams in the Big Ten right now that are very, very good at stopping these run heavy and pass heavy, whatever it is run heavy or pass heavy offenses. They're very good at covering both, both, uh, both sides of that sort of defensive scheme. So with how tough Iowa schedule is this year, uh, they have games against Minnesota, Penn state, Michigan, and Wisconsin this year. They have a very, very tough schedule, one of the toughest in the Big Ten and one of the tougher ones in college football as a whole. Going into that, my question is, what's Iowa's answer to all these punishing defenses?

And how are they going to consistently move the ball against all of these top 10 defenses in college football right now? Well, you know, according to Iowa's offensive line coach, George Barnett, and the running backs coach, Liddell Betts, the answer is simply downhill running. Yesterday, Barnett and Betts met with media and talked about their respective position groups and how they plan to make sure that Iowa's offense is going to be able to hold up against these defenses and Iowa's running back excuse me Iowa's running back coach Liddell Betts said quote my focus is always trying to get the backs downhill and the beauty of the running backs that are in the room right now is that I think their natural inclination is to stick their foot in the ground and get north and south so it doesn't take much teaching in terms of getting those guys to do it

because that's who they are as runners, which is definitely true. Both Gavin and LaShawn Williams both show a lot of potential when it comes to that aspect of running the ball. A few episodes back, I spoke about how LaShawn Williams was interested in showing fans this upcoming season what he could do in terms of being a more mobile back, a little bit more shifty, if you want to put it that way, instead of always running downhill. And while it's great to see that he wants to expand the style in which he runs the ball,

that may not be exactly what Iowa needs in a back right now. Now, George Barnett, Iowa's O-line coach, as I mentioned, said in a statement, quote, we have to be a little more physical at the point of attack. When you think of the slant play, everyone thinks you get moving sideways, but you can't forget to get vertical through people once you get to your aiming points. So as of right now, it sounds like Iowa's main point of focus in the running game, at least, this season is going to be that everyone all around just needs to be more physical at the point of attack and make sure that they are finishing their blocking or running assignments every single play, every single game, week to week. And when you say that out loud, it seems like something that you would always want out of your offensive units. But once again, all of this is easier said than done.

You can't expect everyone to go out there and do their job every single play because that's unrealistic. It's not going to happen. You have to hope that everybody is going to go out there and play to the best of their abilities and never take a playoff, but as I said, all of this is easier said than done. Betts also spoke about former Iowa running back Tyler Goodson and made it a point that both Gavin and LeSean are both very different than Goodson was at the position. Betts said, quote, Goodson was very quick and dangerous in open space. That's not to say these guys aren't two, but they are different. Everyone has their own skill set and their own way of doing things. I think both of these guys, Gavin and LaShawn, have the ability to get north and south, and they're not afraid of contact. They will run through people, they will get yards after

contact, and at least for me, I like to see those chains continue to move. Now, when I talked about LaShawn Williams a few episodes back, I mentioned that one of his main focuses this season was that he was going to try to work on his patience when running the ball, waiting for blocks to develop and holes to open up so that he has the ability to get 5-10 yards every play and some yards after initial contact rather than trying to push through his own blockers on an inside run and just kind of hope and pray for a yard or two. And obviously Betts is preaching this to both Gavin and LeSean, that being patience, patience, patience, patience. And you might be a little worrisome.

Trust me, I am too. Because of Linderbaum, Iowa's generational talent at center, leaving Iowa for the draft. But I think the fact that Iowa has a lot of guys coming back that have played in this offense before, there's still a possibility that Iowa's offensive line is going to be very young, meaning freshmen and sophomores at the beginning of the season. Even still, I don't think that there is a reason for a big fuss

to be made about whether or not they're going to be able to do their jobs and get the backs the yards that they're going to need. Now, it's tough to talk about inexperienced guys when you talk about offensive line, because it's not necessarily that you need a bunch of experience to be able to play at the position. It has a lot more to do with knowing your assignments and being able to complete them rather than, you know, knowing exactly what the other guy is going to do all of the time. Because as long as you can, and I don't, the last thing that I want to do is discredit anyone who plays offensive line, because I understand that down in those trenches, it's very, very hard to perform well. Now it's, it's, it's easy to say that linemen can go out there

and just stand in front of a guy and nothing's going to happen. They have assignments too. They have blocking assignments. They have jobs that they have to be able to perform and perform well on every single play, whether it's a toss to the outside and somebody's got to pull, or if it's a run inside and everybody's got to slant down to be able to open up a hole for somebody. It's not

easy to play the position. And I think that Iowa probably will have some struggles in the beginning of the season with an experience of their offensive line. But I think that as the season goes on and as these younger freshmen and sophomore guys start to learn their positions a little bit better and learn the tendencies of these older guys in the Big Ten that are playing at the defensive line and linebacker positions, they're going to be able to really come into their own, if you want to put it that way, and sort of basically be able to perform to the best of their abilities all of the time. And once again, perfection is not reasonable. It's not a thing that you can just do. You know what I mean? And Barnett stated his opinion very, very well when he said, quote, if you are a fan of the microwave, then you are probably not going to be an offensive line coach. If you're more of a conventional oven type of guy, then you realize things take time. Patience is a very important part of every position in football, whether it's offense,

defense, special teams, it doesn't matter. All of these positions have to be patient in their own way. As a quarterback, you have to be patient enough to let receivers run their routes. As a running back, you have to be patient enough for linemen to get their blocks so you can move forward. As a safety, you have to be patient and see where the receivers are running their routes at over the middle. I'll give you another example. Even as a punter, if you're running a fake punt, you have to be cautious on whether or not it's going to work or not. You have to decide whether or not you're going to be able to actually get the fake

punt off and throw the ball down the field for a first down. Now, at the end of the day, it all comes down to whether or not everyone is going to have the knowledge and ability to do their jobs on every single play in every single game. Obviously, perfection is impossible and unreasonable, but that's not what Coach Barnett is after. Barnett also said, quote, This is an imperfect game played by imperfect people on imperfect days, and you have to be able to roll with the punches, and you've got to teach the kids the same thing.

There are going to be days when it's tough, especially for young kids. But if you do that, they set a foundation for themselves of being able to handle imperfection and tough days. And their futures will have a lot of good days too. Personally, now this is my own personal opinion, so you can take this with a grain of salt, however you want to take it. Personally, I think that especially at the college level, it's very important not to preach perfection on these guys. All of these guys out there on the field are between 18 and 22, 23 years old, and regardless of how big they are or how strong they are or how good of an athlete they are or they think they are i can tell you with certainty that there's not a single not a single guy in

college football i don't care if it's the big 10 the acc the fcc pac-12 whatever it is, I don't care. There's not a single one of these guys out there that can hold up and have the mental capacity to hold up to these expectations that is this unrealistic. And I want to make this a point. I don't say this to discredit any one of the guys on the Iowa team or any other guy out there playing college football right now. All I'm saying is that as an 18 year old myself, I know that if you consistently come in and tell these guys that they have to be perfect or they're not going to succeed, they're going to burn out and lose their love for the game. And as soon as you lose your love for the game, you will never be able to perform how you want to and how you're expected to. I toyed with using this as an example, but I'm going to.

Think about Barry Sanders. One of the best running backs, if not the best running back in the NFL for 10 straight years, and then while he was in his prime, he just quit. He said he was done. He didn't want to do it anymore. And he attributed that to having lost his love for the game. It didn't matter that he was one of the best athletes in the entire world at the time, let alone being one of the best athletes in the NFL at the time. He didn't like playing the game anymore. He didn't enjoy it. He got burned out and he wanted to leave.

So you have to be very, very careful, especially in college and even down into high school too. I mean, it's obviously not as apparent, but especially in college, you have to be very careful about the way that you coach these guys. Because if you coach them in the wrong way or you preach something that's unrealistic or unobtainable, they're not going to want to play anymore because they're going to be under the impression that you can't, that you can't be good unless you're perfect. And that's not true. It's, it's unrealistic. And Barnett, as I mentioned, said it best,

it's an imperfect game. It's played by imperfect people, and it's played on imperfect days. Nothing is ever going to go 100% the way you want it to. You could have your best game that you've ever played in your life. You could be rushing. I'll take a running back, for example. You could have 300 yards rushing in a game,

have four rushing touchdowns, and you could still be losing, you know, 52 to 42. It doesn't matter. I don't care how good you are. I don't care how good you think you are. I don't care how big you are, how strong you are. There is not a single college athlete out there, football, wrestling, basketball, baseball, softball. I don't care what the sport is, none of these kids have the mental capacity to hold up to the expectation of being perfect. And I think if you go and you look, especially at a lot of Iowa programs, I know Tom Brands especially for Iowa wrestling, he doesn't preach that you need to be perfect. He preaches that if there's something that you think that you are not good at

or you think that you can be better at, continue to work on it. And I can't remember, I believe that there is a kid from Newton, Iowa. I can't remember his name. He just committed to wrestle at Graceland. Very talented kid. I can't remember his name for the life of me, but he said that you should not practice something until you get it. You should practice something until you can't get it, which still has the sort of light that preaching expectation has. And at the same time, it's not saying that you have to be perfect. You shouldn't strive to, I don't want to say this the wrong way, you should always strive to be the best at your position. But striving for perfection is always going to let you down. you are at in your ability in your game. You have to strive to be the best that you can be, not the best that somebody else wants you to be.

So it's very tough, as I mentioned, it's very tough to coach these college kids and to get them to understand that just because you are not where you want to be doesn't mean that you can't continue to work to get where you want to be. It's not a judgment call on whether or not kids can play to the best of their ability. I hate to see it in college sports. I hate to see it in high school sports and in professional sports. If you continue to preach perfection, nobody is going to want to play anymore. And Barry Sanders is by far the best example of that. You cannot, and I'm sure his coaches probably weren't that way either. I don't know that. Obviously. I wasn't even born yet. But I can tell you that the fans in Detroit were like, you know, he's the perfect back. He's shifty. He's fast.

He can do all these things. He's perfect. Barry never thought that he was perfect. There's nobody out there that thinks that they're perfect at whatever it is that they do. I don't think that I'm perfect at, you know, doing a podcast. I don't think that George Kittle thinks he's the perfect tight end. I don't think that, I don't even think that Tom Brady thinks that he's the

perfect quarterback. Obviously there's going to be a lot of you out there that disagree with me, but he's not the perfect quarterback. You know what I mean? And I don't, I'm not here to talk about Tom Brady or George Kittle or myself or anybody else or Barry Sanders. I'm here to tell you that a lot of expectations that people have nowadays for these young athletes are not obtainable. They're not realistic. And that kind of thing needs to stop from a coaching standpoint. As a fan, you can sit there and think, oh, you know, he dropped that pass. Like, oh, he's a terrible receiver, whatever it is. And that doesn't matter as much. As a fan, you can want people to be perfect as much as you want to because you don't have control over how good they

do. But as a coach and as a player, you cannot strive for perfection because you will always let yourself down. And that is not the way to go about becoming a better athlete. Sorry, that's my little rant for the day. But it really needed to be said. The etiquette, or not the etiquette, but the standard of perfection in sports nowadays is mind-blowing to me. And I hate to see it. It's destroying people's careers. It's destroying people's aspirations of being a professional level

athlete in whatever sport it is that they're doing. I it's, I hate to see it. I'm sure all of you hate to see it as well. Uh, but as a fan, obviously I'm still going to, you know, I'm still going to want to see teams be perfect you know it's it's nice to see that but it's unrealistic and it doesn't happen so I apologize but that's that's my opinion you can take it how you want to before we get into the story of the day today I realize that's a little bit of a longer segment but I it needed to be said so before we get into the story of the day-to-day, I want to talk about Athletic Greens. Athletic Greens is so, so amazing. It is the one,

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A few episodes back, I talked about Iowa offering a scholarship to a very talented in-state linebacker from a 3A high school in Williamsburg, Iowa named Derek Weiskopf. Yesterday, Coach Ferentz and Iowa's football program as well as Twitter all got the news that Weiskopf has decided to commit to play for Iowa in his freshman year. Weiskopf is now the third young recruit to commit to Iowa's football team this offseason, and Weiskopf chose Iowa over Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Iowa State. Whatever we can do to take recruits away from those three teams specifically, completely fine with me. Weiskopf spoke about his commitment in an interview in which he stated, quote,

The culture, coaches, and people at Iowa are just a fit for me. They will push me to the next level. It just felt right for me. My relationship with coach Seth Wallace is great. We have been talking about once a week for the last month. The Hawkeyes are a great team and have an awesome atmosphere. On top of Wisecoff, on top of his commitment to the program, Iowa also has two other in-state commits in the class of 2024, those being a linebacker from Winfield Mount Union, that's Cam Buffington, and an offensive lineman from East Buchanan, Cody Fox. So Iowa has got some great new recruits, including Weiskopf, joining the team here in the next couple of years. I'm extremely excited to see what all three of these kids

are going to be able to do on Iowa's football team. Once again, I appreciate all of you tuning in today and for the patience that you've had with me in this difficult transition time. Make sure you go follow Locked on Hawkeyes on Twitter, on Instagram, at Locked on Iowa. And you can follow me on Twitter and Instagram as well, at ryehill, W-R-I-H-I-L.

Please go follow me on Twitter. I need more followers. Anyways, help me get verified. That's what I want. I want the Locked on Hawkeyes page to be verified on Twitter, and I want to be verified on Twitter. So go help me out with that.

And let me know what you want to see from the Lockdown Iowa's Twitter page. I posted about it yesterday. Do you guys want to see news? Do you want to see updates about episodes? Do you want to see me post risky memes like I did yesterday about ESPN saying that Nebraska was going to win the Big Ten West. Everything will be appropriate. No slander will happen.

It is all in good fun. I am just here to entertain people. So let me know what you want to see from the Twitter page and the Instagram page, and I will try to incorporate that into my daily life as well. So once again, thank you all for tuning into the episode today. Hopefully audio is back on track and we can start YouTube soon. Thank you all for tuning in and we will see you all tomorrow.