Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football Running Game Breakdown & no backup QB Snaps

Episode Date: September 20, 2022

Trent Condon returns to this edition of the Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast with LeShun Daniels. The guys break down the Iowa Football win over Nevada 27-0..The conversation starts with a look at the Iowa Offense and especially the running game. LeShun talks about what he saw from Kaleb Johnson and why he believes that he has a chance to be special. But outside of the two touchdown runs, the Iowa running game struggled once again. What can be done and what did LeShun see that is leading to these issues.Next, a look at the passing game with Spencer Petras. Some reasons for optimism along with some concerns liger with that part of things. Then, we get LeShun's perspective as a former player on the reason that we didn't get to see Alex Padilla in the blowout.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!NugenixNow get a complimentary bottle of Nugenix Total T when you text COLLEGEto 231-231. Text now and get a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever, with key ingredients to help you get back into shape fast.LinkedInLinkedIn jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at Linkedin.com/lockedoncollege Terms and conditions apply.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” 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!UpsideDownload the FREE Upside App and use promo code Locked to get $5 or more cash back on your first purchase of $10 or more.Underdog FantasySign up on underdogfantasy.com with the promo code LOCKED ON and get your first deposit doubled up to $100! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up on today's Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, Trent Condon joined by LaShawn Daniels, a former Hawkeye running back, and Iowa's got another running back that has burst onto the speed from Ohio. We'll talk about Caleb Johnson and what LaShawn saw in that. The running game, still some struggles in there. What's going wrong with the Hawkeye offensive line? That's coming your way. We'll talk about the defense, and again, why didn't we see the backup quarterback?

All coming up on today's Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Our Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Trent Cotton here. LaShawn Daniels there. This is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen each and every day. Iowa gets the win 27, nothing over Nevada.

And LaShawn here with us as we're going to break things down, get his perspective on things. LaShawn, people have heard me here on the podcast, instant reaction that I finally flipped on the microphone at about 2.15, I think it was, on Sunday morning after that game came to a conclusion. Had a recap after re-watching things Sunday night that posted on Monday. So now we'll give you a little bit of breathing room. I think people have got my takes on things.

Iowa gets a victory, 27-0. But, boy, what a weird, wild, wacky night it turned out to be. Sitting in the locker room for that time, it's just absolutely incredible. But Iowa, ultimately, they get the job done. How are you doing today? Yeah good doing good i mean regardless you know uh you know how i'm feeling i'm always feeling good whenever iowa gets a win on the weekend regardless of how it turns out so uh not doing too bad um this week the running game is the story at least to me we're going to talk about the passing game and some still concerns for me that i've talked about the last couple of episodes

lashawn but want to start with the running game obviously your forte as a former hawkeye running back you know this zone scheme and what they're trying to do and what you saw another ohio guy that ohio pipeline continues at the running back spot c Caleb Johnson, a young man that was committed to Cal for a number of months back during the summer before his senior year, ended up flipping his commitment to Iowa last October. They got a gem. And I talked to a few people out there. I have some family in Cleveland and they said they thought they got a good one. You know, he was never going to be a guy that was probably going to get an Ohio State or a Michigan offer. But they were surprised that there wasn't more interest in Caleb Johnson. That, you know, the Iowas and the Wisconsins and the Minnesotas and kind of that next tier, if you will, a Big Ten school.

Even a Penn State, we're not sniffing around. Really talented guy put together. He put a lot of big numbers up at the high school level. What did you see from Caleb Johnson? Yeah. First things first obviously he's a pretty well put together uh guy for a freshman right i mean it's it's not too too often right you get guys that uh not only have uh you know good height and good build to them but also got like

good weight and everything behind him as well right Right. I mean, I think he's listed probably like two 15 to 20. Right. And so that's a pretty, pretty big guy. Right. Pretty well put together. And another thing that I noticed just from watching him on Saturday was obviously his speed. Right. That was the thing that we saw really on full on display on saturday um he showcased that when he got got his opportunities and really made the most of him um by you know really really showcasing that that open field and finding a way to get into the end zone gets it done twice the first one a 40 yarder that one he showed the power that he has in the lower body went through an arm tackle on that one and he was cutting back as he did it it it felt like from a guy that never played running back at any kind of level that was difficult to do going

through making your way through the arm tackle while he was cutting really impressed on that one yeah yeah i thought he did a fantastic job running behind his pads right i mean he wasn't staying up too tall right he got those pads down right before he was about to hit get contact and was able to keep that uh good contact balance and stay on his feet and then basically just let letting what what his ability is to do the rest of the work right so that's a great great run by him obviously the second run uh still although it's good right we saw the speed i mean it was fantastic blocking right no one was there um but yeah that first that first touchdown run was very very impressive right we saw his quick feet we saw him read the hole and then burst through the hole and that was i think the the biggest uh

reason why he was able to score that touchdown right after you make that cut and you have that burst after it right when you see the space um there's no dilly-dally and there's no pitter patting with your feet it's just like you kind of hit it and go because then that puts the defense um in worse angles right which then forces them to try to make arm tackles which with caleb's build right he's going to be breaking a bunch of arm tackles if people continue to try to tackle him like that so i was very very impressed with um you know, Caleb's extended playing time on Saturday and looking forward to, you know, building off of that

and getting him to see more involved in the passing game as well. So, yeah, I think I'm very, very excited for his future as I was running back. He looked really good out there. Gavin Williams, of course, got the start. LaShawn Williams and thoughts and prayers with him and his family after the passing of his father.

He was not available and he was back. In fact, it was a Saturday that the funeral was. So he was not available, but great to see the freshmen step up there. Also got to see a little bit of Jazzy on Patterson late in that football game. He ends up getting six carries. Look, you're playing with a lot of reserves on the offensive line,

but he looked a little more put together than I anticipated. It was kind of that thunder and lightning package it felt like we were getting with these two guys coming in. But Patterson, a little bit bigger than I anticipated seeing him out there on the field. Yeah, he did look pretty big out there, and he ran pretty hard, right? I mean, anytime you get an opportunity to play in a football game on Saturdays, a freshman, right. As like or as a young guy in general. Right. It's it's it's always a good, good opportunity for you.

And to go out there and, you know, put some good things on tape and show off like like, yeah, I can I can do this pretty well too is a good thing. And, yeah, it seems like Iowa's doing pretty good in the running back recruiting department so far, and hopefully they can keep that up. I mean, it's always a good thing when you can get well-developed, put together running backs because running backs, it's really one of those positions that they can really help your team early on in their careers. It's not like some of those other positions where they do kind of have to develop a little bit further before they can really make a real impact.

And so the more reps that those young guys can continue to get is only going to be better for the Hawkeyes. So we saw the young guys out there for the Hawks and getting it done in the run game. Gavin Williams finished just shy of 40 yards per carry coming back off the injury. Didn't seem like he had a whole lot of bursts there, but also the offensive line really had some struggles. Mentioned those numbers from Pro Football Focus. They were not pretty, again, for this offensive line. What are you seeing up front?

Where are the deficiencies in this run game? Running back, I think we feel good. It's not like this is back going way back in the day to 2004 where god bless his heart but sam brownlee is out there as a walk-on you're trying to get things done i'm sure you probably heard those stories it feels like there's talent in the running back room what are you seeing where are the problems up front this is a bad nevada defense and they still were not able to run the football yeah yeah um thing is very very frustrating i think for the offensive line and their performance i feel like they they know that

they're not at the level that they really need to be in be at and i mean even though gavin right still didn't look like he had the quite quite a burst that we're kind of used to seeing from him i mean there's still a bunch of times where he's getting tackled or at least getting hit right two yards in the backfield right i mean in in our offense i mean taking any negative yardage plays on first first and second down it's almost like hey let's just get ready for the punt team because uh you know we're having struggles uh staying on on track and on pace for like on regular down and distances so for that to be happening and guys basically running free to you know in our backfield is it it's it's an issue right and i feel like a lot of it is going to is really

again it's young guys in in playing full speed reps. Right. It's a lot different than being in practice, even though they're going against one of the best defenses they'll go against. Right. In practice. Right. It still is just a little bit different when you get in the games. And I think it's right now, again, it's still a lot of young guys. Right. They're trying to mesh and come together. But there are times where they just make. Just kind of basic, basic mistakes, right, that I feel like are things that really get covered again and by the first week of installs during fall camp or in spring practices. Right. I mean, there's times where, hey, we're running the inside zone. Right. And, you know, the D lineman that they're going against, right, slashes behind them. Right. And, you know, the D lineman that they're going against, right, slashes behind them.

Right. And now that like the next guy over is supposed to be taking him over. It doesn't get taken over or linebackers are filling in the gaps and they're kind of just running free. He's getting untouched or where the lineman they're seeing them late and they're just barely getting a hand on them. Right. I feel like it's a lot of things that it's just basic fundamental stuff that i feel like that they're really that they're really missing out on right now right i mean regardless if we're getting creative and whatnot like i feel like when it comes to our basic run game right if we can't get that stuff done like being creative and and wanting to do all these different things really doesn't matter at the end of the day, right? Because like, what's the point of trying to add in different wrinkles and all these different

things in our offensive, you know, we can't even do the basic stuff up front, right? And I feel like that's a lot of issues right now where when it comes to fundamentals and knowing the guys who we should be picking up when the defense does move, right? And a lot of teams that we play against guys move around all the time, whether it's on the D line and linebackers are flying around and moving in different gaps. And I feel like this right now, like our eyes aren't right on the interior,

especially like really on the interior part of the line. Right. Really from, from the guard from left guard to right guard spots. Right. I feel like right now, like they're not gelling the way that they um probably anticipated they would have gelled and that's going to be very very important for these next few weeks because right now it's been it's been tough sledding

trying to run it um inside um pretty much all year yeah the offensive line has had those issues in there logan jones the of course first time starter at the center position line has had those issues in there. Logan Jones, the, of course, first-time starter at the center position. He has had his issues this year. Tyler Ellsbury, though, a guy that has been on the depth chart, I do wonder about him and him getting a little bit more run. He graded out as the top offensive lineman, both in the running blocking and in the pass blocking grade, and overall for the Hawkeyes in his 27 snaps.

Maybe that will help out at the guard position for the Hawks going forward. Mason Richmond coming back healthy now. He was banged up a lot of August camp. Looked like at left tackle, he's starting to find his footing a little bit more. Now I got to put it all together, right? Connor Colby, I thought he struggled a little bit. Got to get all five of those guys. And we've talked about it before, LaShawn.

This is working in unison. It's not about having an All-American. It's not about having one or two good guys. You need all five guys playing well yeah yeah offensive lines like if that's really like the one position group where all guys got to be firing on all cylinders probably there and uh you know defensive back right like your guys like you guys have to be like even if you have a superstar on your offensive line if everyone else isn't on the same page, like it really doesn't matter. Right.

Cause you can't create that type of impact that you want to create. Right. So these guys just got to, they're going to have to continue to work, work on these different things and really, really hone on these fundamentals because now the stuff is going to get even more important. Right. As we get into big template. Right. I mean, right. We're not going to be going against Nevada defense every week. Right. Like, that's not, yeah, like, that's not going to happen, right? We're going to be going against other, other Power Five, Big Ten defensive players, right, who are on scholarship,

who are going to be relatively highly recruited guys, right? So it's not going to get any easier. And if our fundamentals, right, and our eyes aren't right, you know, for against these teams, right, our physical ability, it's not going to be relevant whatsoever, right, because guys are going to be all over the place and we're going to be making the same mistakes kind of over and over again. So those are things that are going to have to be corrected and get fixed, which I'm sure that they're going to be harping on again all week.

Well, it's Big Ten play starting this week and the first road trip of the season for Iowa as they head out to Piscataway and take on Rutgers. We'll talk about that. What it's like starting Big Ten play. Is there a flip switch inside the walls of Fort Kinnick? Well, we talked about the positives in the running game and some of the negatives.

We also got to talk about the passing game. Showed improvement, just how much improvement and the defense elite once again as they pitch a shutout. That's all as we continue here. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. From cringing at the pump to getting an eye-popping check at your favorite restaurant, inflation is hitting us all where it hurts.

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Leshawn, we continue here on the lockdown Hawkeyes podcast and want to get into what you saw in the passing game steps forward. It wasn't great. I thought Spencer Petras again, left a lot of throws out there but having his full compliment receivers keegan back nico back see a little bit more of brody breck the touchdown pass he almost overthrew him in a wide open wheel route but ultimately arlen bruce made the play there it was a step forward but maybe not as big of a step forward as we hoped against that brutal Nevada defense. Yeah, there was definitely some encouraging things that, you know, I saw, right? For starters, just them taking shots, right, is encouraging to me, right? I mean, I hate watching teams, right, in all game.

They're just kind of just throwing it, checking it down basically throwing five yards short routes um you know it's frustrating to watch because first off like you're not opening up your offense at all right the defense is eventually just stop respecting the ability that you're going to push the ball down the field and then they can just load up the box right and and you know be like hey we're literally daring you to beat us and then you know you still don't do it right i mean heck we even see it sometimes on Sundays. Right. Well, if you watch the Bears Packers game last night. Right. I mean, watching the Bears offense try to muster up some type of offense was nonexistent. Right. They never pushed the ball down the field. I think Justin Fields threw the ball like drop back to pass.

I think like 15 or so times. Right. So seeing us start to take shots on Saturday was very, very encouraging. Right. But I feel like that, now that has to be like a more consistent thing, right? Like it can't just be a, you know, we're just going to take shots against, you know, this poor Nevada team, you know, and hopefully we connect one, right. Like it's gotta be something that's going to have to be kind of consistent. Right. We gotta have some type of shots, like whether we're taking, you know and hopefully we connect one right like it's got to be something that's going to have to be kind of consistent right we got to have some type of shots like whether we're taking you know a couple every single quarter right just to get teams off of our back to uh you know start to

respect the pass and another thing about taking those shots is you're giving your guys a chance right you got to remember like you're giving your guys a chance, right? You got to remember, like, you're giving your guys a chance, right? These guys, obviously, we've had some walk-ons and things like that, not our full complement of receivers in over the past few weeks, but now that we're starting to get those guys back and getting those guys in the game, right, you got to remember, like, these guys were recruited guys, right? They're heavily recruited guys to play Division I football as receiver, right? So these guys have ability to go up and

get the football right and this is the way you give them that chance by taking those shots and pushing the ball down the field um giving those guys opportunities right and it's only going to help the offense that much more even if you don't connect every single one of them right because realistically you're not right i mean there are going to be missed throws there's going to be great plays by the defense there's going to be drops right those things happen but if you do connect on on one or two right even if you connect on you know just one a game right that's still it still makes the defense they have to respect that right because giving up explosive plays um are a recipe for losing right and so if you can create those as an offense, right, only puts yourself in a much better position. And then obviously, you know, a quarterback position,

a situation, right? We, we know that they're going to stick with Spencer at this point, right? So now it's just on him now, like continue to rep that out more, right? Getting that confidence, just be like, Hey, you know what, At this point in time, like, I really got nothing to lose, right? I might as well just start slinging it and just, you know, let my arm strength that I have, right, and put it to work. So Spencer's going to have to improve on his accuracy on the deep ball, but, you know, trying to actually force those things deep and pushing the offense a little bit deeper,

I think is going to be a very, very good thing for not only the offense but also for spencer right because we've seen him struggle a little bit with that um short to intermediate accuracy and i think just pushing the ball downfield a little bit is going to help you know ease him a little bit kind of get allow him to relax and play a little bit more confident in the back end, especially if you can connect on a couple of those. Well, we saw some positive signs, at least forward out of the passing game. I think there's still a long, long ways to go.

As we continue here, I want to get LaShawn's perspective on this. Everybody played, except for the backup quarterback. Am I making something out of nothing? We'll get LaShawn's perspective on that and big 10 play. It is Rutgers. It's the first road trip. We'll go inside the locker room when LaShawn was playing.

As we continue here in a moment, this is Lockdown Hawkeyes. All right, back with you one final time, LaShawn, as we break things down. So everybody's playing late in the game. We're going through. We're seeing every backup possible in third-teamers and four-teamers. Everybody's getting some snaps, except for the quarterback. Now, after the game, it was 1.45 in the morning when that thing wrapped up too, so maybe that had something to do with it.

It didn't pop into my mind until afterwards, and I got thinking the next day on Sunday after I woke back up. I thought, that was on is this media guy trying to make something out of it is this me on the radio trying to come up with controversy or is there something that we read into that everybody all the backups are in there yet spencer petrus is still taking every single snap so with this honestly i don't know right i was kind of thinking the same thing i was like oh okay i was like yeah i'm like i'm like now okay we're up by quite a bit obviously nevada is not gonna have anything on offense right so i'm not really worried about

them going down and scoring so like at this point right let's get some other guys some reps right let's get some some actual tape on them on an actual, actual game, right? And see what we're working with. Right. So I thought it was a little strange that the quarterbacks, other quarterbacks didn't get any reps on Saturday. And as you just mentioned, right. It could have just been the fact that, Hey, you know, it's, it's late now. Right. I mean, the game's been delayed like three times right

spencer's been in it like might as well just leave them in there right there's no point of trying to get you know a quarterback now back to being full fully warmed up right right and um all those different things and getting them in the game right so i mean that could have been a piece of it but still i just thought it was very very weird right i mean the game was in hand um and it would have been nice to see those other quarterbacks play but part of it could have been coach ferentz just kind of sticking it to everyone like yeah like like you know what forget it like hey i said this is gonna be the quarterback spencer's gonna be the quarterback right and basically just kind of just letting him get get reps but also you know keeping spencer sp Spencer in there to obviously have a feeling like,

hey, like, obviously the coaches, like, we're still behind you, right? We still believe in you and all these different things. So obviously confidence is a big, big piece of any football player, let alone a quarterback. And, you know, obviously just trying to get him, you know, get some more positive reps before heading into Big Ten play, right? Because obviously Big Ten play does change things. Things start moving a lot faster. The games get a lot Ten play, right? Because obviously Big Ten play does change things. Things start moving a lot faster. The games get a lot more competitive, right?

So it's going to be, so they probably want to make sure that Spencer is right and ready to go before Big Ten play starts. And part of that is just obviously just leaving him in there and taking all the reps. Just an odd one. We'll put a pin on it and just something to keep in the back of your mind. Just reps are so important.

Game reps are so important. You have a backup that's an injury away from going out there and playing again. We haven't seen Padilla all year long. This is a perfect opportunity. I mean, you think that Spencer Petras behind this offensive line is going to be completely healthy all season long. Even if he is a starter all season long, it feels like a stretch. I think you're right.

I think this is stubborn Kirk coming out again and saying, Hey, you think you guys know football? I know football and Spencer is going to be the quarterback going forward. We bet you the start of big 10 play. So you guys go through your non-conference when you're playing big 10 play starts up and for Iowa, it's Rutgers, a Rutgers team that certainly improves. Shiano's got them much better but when the Big Ten slate starts I mean is there a different vibe inside the building we've talked about rivalry games and how it does feel different how about when you get ready for that first Big

Ten game yeah so everyone knows that obviously Big Ten play that's the most important part of the season right like obviously every single game is important um right i mean you only get so many opportunities on saturdays to play um and non-conference games are part of that but we know that for our goals and the goals that we're trying to accomplish right all that stuff really gets taken care of in big 10 play right so we know that our into our intensity has to has to start ramping up. Right. We've got to be locked in a lot more typically because, I mean, for most part, right. Like we don't like Iowa hasn't gone and typically done like the big kind of non-conference games like in the first few games of the year besides really Iowa State. Right. I wish we would. But, you know, we didn't. Right.

really Iowa State, right? I wish we would, but, you know, we didn't, right? But now you're getting to the point in time, like, okay, now we're going against some other really, really good football players, really good, good coaches, and all these different things. So our intensity has to wrap up, our preparation has to be better, right? And a lot of times, right, that's not, it's not really on in the practice, on the practice field, right? Because now, right, as we start to get into the bulk of the season, right, we're not going to be hitting as much those different things so it's going to be more important that every single rep that we when we are hitting or we are in pads right that those things get those reps are taken more seriously and we are focusing on the things that need to be worked on because hey when we get into actually on on the saturday playing another

big 10 team things are going to be moving fast right and we want to make sure that obviously we're fresh but obviously our technique is is up to par where where it needs to be and then again we also have to make sure that our preparation in the film room is taking up a notch as well right because again they're going to be doing a lot more different things than typically um some of the smaller schools do right mainly because of the resources they have um the coaches they have, all those different things, right? So it's not going to be, it's never, a Big Ten game is never easy.

And we know that. And we know that all of our goals that we're trying to accomplish get accomplished during the Big Ten season. Well, and that is the game. We'll start to break things down a little bit more here throughout this week and improve Rutgers' team. And I don't know if you saw, I was favored a little over a touchdown right now, but the over-under of the game is 34-and-a-half. I've never seen, without weather being involved,

a power conference over-under at 34-and-a-half. What a time to be alive, LaShawn. Yeah, I love it. I love it. I mean, as I say, Rutgers, theyShawn. Yeah, I love it. I love it. I mean, I was going to say, I mean, Rutgers, they don't score too many points on offense. So, yeah, we might be in for a defensive game, right? I mean, heck, I remember when we played Rutgers, I think my senior year,

the game was like 14-7 or something like that. 14-7, oh, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I could definitely see that under hitting. So, yeah, it'll be an interesting game for sure. Well, we will talk about that when we get back with you on Friday, LaShawn. A lot of fun. Good breakdown.

Caleb Johnson, we'll see. Maybe a star was born here on Saturday night into Sunday. Now, did you make it to the end of the game or were you sleeping? No, I made it. I made it to the end. I don't know what i honestly don't even remember what i was doing i think i was just kind of up and around uh just kind of cleaning stuff around the house and uh just getting some things done and watching some of the other football games

uh that were on uh that night but yeah i did end up staying to uh to watch the entire game probably should have went and got some rest. Because, I mean, it wasn't anything too exciting happened. But, yeah, you know, I got that black and gold blood. So, you know, stuck it through all the way to the end. Same thing. I did an instant reaction podcast. It was a late, late night. And the kids were up early, early the next day.

But, yeah, that's all right. Talking Iowa football, not a bad thing. Hey, speaking of looking forward, the Big Ten opener at home at Kinnick Stadium against Michigan has been announced today. It will be the big noon kickoff, obviously 11 a.m. Central time, but big noon kickoff. That will be the big noon game on there.

So looking forward to that. Michigan coming to town, and we've had some great moments against the Wolverines in the past. Let's hope that it's a little bit better than what we saw in the championship game a week ago. Still another game before that.

LaShawn, we'll talk about it on Friday. Appreciate your time. Appreciate it. Go Hawks.