Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Football: The Cade McNamara question continues, Kirk Ferentz speaks & bold predictions

Episode Date: August 30, 2023

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The Cade McNamara will he or won't he play question today? After hearing from Kirk Ferentz and Cade McNamara, this thing's as clear as mud. You are Locked On Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, 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. It helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONCOLLEGE for $20 off your first purchase. Thank you to Game Time, our presenting sponsor of today's Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Well, let's get into it. After yesterday hearing from Cade McNamara, Kirk Behrens,

and their thoughts on the injury situation, we got some audio for you as well and get to hear exactly what was said by Cade McNamara and breaking down this injury as he's worked his way back from the quad injury. He has been out on the practice field, listening to a few of the other players and what they had to say on Tuesday during media availability.

It is game week, by the way, and we're getting back into the normal routine, which feels oh so good. So Cade McNamara certainly sounded at times a little bit unsure, not only about where he is injury-wise and what he could say, but I think that's a big part of it, is not wanting to rock the boat,

not wanting to come out and do things that aren't the Iowa way, right? We know that there is a certain way that Iowa football goes about their business. And in the quarter century now, with Kirk Ferentz at the helm of the Iowa football program, we know that the players are very much led in a certain direction of how they're going to talk to the media, what kind of secrets are going to come out. And we'll talk later in the week about this with LaShawn Daniels when he'll join us, the former Hawkeye running back,

because he's told us, and for every dayers, you know this, that is something that is part of off-season camp, going into when they get ready to talk to the media for the first time. That is a part of it too, how you talk to the media, what you tell the media, and there's a reason behind it. So you kind of have a new guy in Cade McNamara trying to figure out exactly, I think, the right terms to be using out there, but it should come as no surprise. Anybody that's been with us here the last couple of weeks, I've continued to maintain that this injury was much more significant than many people were letting on. And it's fair to say now that this

is questionable. I don't think there's any doubt about that. And if you walked away from listening to Kirk and Cade and the rest of the players and think that he is not at least questionable for this game on Saturday, you're out of your minds. It's just the reality of what the situation is. I don't want Cade McNamara to miss this game. I don't want him injured. I want him out there. I want him healthy. I want to see what he can do to elevate this offense this upcoming season. It's not that Cade McNamara is going to throw for 3,500 yards and 30 touchdowns this year. That's just not likely in the Iowa system. It's just not going to happen. We haven't seen anybody do that in the Kirk Ferens time. Nobody done that. Brad Banks didn't do that. We didn't see Drew Tate do things like

that. We didn't see Ricky Stanzi and on and on and on. We didn't see those guys put up those kind of numbers and that's not going to be the case with the healthy Cade McNamara. We want to see him out there though and see what more can be done with this offense. Yes, it starts up front. The receivers are going to be better. We're going to talk about all those things. But let's hear from Cade McNamara and what he had to say about this one. I think some insight that we definitely need of finding exactly what he said, what he believes. I think we'll give you a little bit of context exactly where we are right now. Here is Cade McNamara on Tuesday during media availability.

Progressing every single day. I'm feeling a lot better and really I'm just really excited to get out there with my teammates and you know we prepared really well this week so far. You expect plans happening? I mean I'm honestly just really getting better every single day. That decision is just really going to come down to the coaches and the medical staff. Have you been quitting the practice? Yeah, I've been practicing. I haven't participated in 100% of practice, but I've been practicing. Is the goal to be full go by Friday?

I mean, my intention and my goal is to play as many games as I possibly can. And, I mean, of course I want to be out there with my teammates. And, like I said, it's just kind of down to what the coaches feel and how the medical staff feels. What's the frustration? So there it is. That is the information from Cade McNamara and part of the interview that we heard earlier on Tuesday

as he went out there in front of the media. He's back practicing. In what capacity? After that first time he went through, and that's one thing I didn't hear during any of the questions to McNamara. That first time that he went out there, the first time he was throwing the football in any kind of practice reps exactly, how did he respond? What is that injury? Is it something that's going to linger? And that remains a concern about this one. If you're going to go out there, yes, he is medically

cleared. You have to certainly wonder, though, what he's going to be. Is this something that's going to be nagging? If you do give him another week of rest, is this something that's going to be back out there? As I've told you two weeks ago, this is something that is going to become very much a game time decision. And Kirk Ferentz said as much, if they know two hours before the game, will he or won't he? Well, that'll be a part of the participation report and something that we will now know, something new in the world of the Big Ten with the new participation to the injury report that's going to go out there. We also heard from Kirk Ferentz and it was put out to him very simply. Is he questionable? And the answer was, yes, he's questionable.

That's all I've been saying. He's questionable for this game, and that's where we are at this point in time. Lots of good stuff from Kirk Ferentz talking about the team. We're going to break that down, and some of the news and notes coming out of the Iowa Press Conference. One final thing. There's this theory out there right now,

and I've seen it from a couple of different times. In fact, had somebody on the radio show also reach out and say the same kind of thing. This is just Iowa with a little gamemanship for Utah State. Well, first of all, they're playing Utah State, not Utah. Okay, let's slow down on the gamemanship here. This has nothing to do with gamemanship. You don't do that with your starting quarterback, a guy that comes in, a transfer quarterback. You don't do this kind of game and ship. And the backup, we're not talking about two different guys here. This is not the difference between Brad Banks and Nate Chandler. That's not what we're talking about. This is completely different. The difference between

Cade McNamara and Deacon Hill in terms of what they're going to do offensively is not that great. Can McNamara, when healthy, move around a little bit better? Absolutely. But it's not like they're going to do offensively is not that great. Can McNamara, when healthy, move around a little bit better? Absolutely. But it's not like they're going to completely change what they do offensively if it is ultimately Deacon Hill that gets a start as opposed to Cade McNamara. This is a game and ship. Don't go down that road. It's just, this is not trying to let Utah State know who's going to be the quarterback for this game. It's game one. They'll be ready for both quarterbacks. The Iowa system is not going to change depending on the quarterback. We know that. Come on. This has nothing to do with gamanship. This is an injury that has proved to be much more difficult to come back for than

initially many people believed. We continue here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Kirk Ferentz, lots of great information from the wide receivers to the offensive line, the young guys stepping up in that wide receiver room. And I got some bold predictions for you. That's right. Some bold predictions for Iowa football coming up for the 2023 football season. We'll do that as we continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of Locked On Hawkeyes is brought to you by GameTime and the GameTime app. If you remember back to April, late March and April, made the way down to the Final Four

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Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Trent Conant back with you once again here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Let's get into Kirk Ferentz and his press conference as we are at game week and we are back into normalcy. Kids are back in school. You're off and running. You're getting back into that normal routine and there's just something about hearing Kirk up there talking on a Tuesday that I don't know. I've been listening to every press conference basically for the last 25 years. And they're just, I guess, as part of

that routine that as you get older, you like more and more. So here's a couple more. We talked about what Kirk had to say about Cade McNamara and certainly calling him questionable. He said about that again. Yeah, I think right now he is as simple as that. In his opening statement, a couple of good things in there. He talked about the kid captain as he always does. And it's just such an impactful moment that we see at Kinnick Stadium week in and week out and how amazing it is. He also talked about just going out there and it's special and it is. And I will tell you, I'll make my way through there. I'm bringing my youngest, my son, along with my daughter, Ella, and my wife will be there. All four of us going to a game together. It'll be the first time that that has happened for a football game.

And I'll have goosebumps because every single game, that first game you walk into Kinnick, at least for me still, I've been going to games for a long time, decades. I've been going to games since the 80s. And every single time I walk through whatever section I'm in, I come out that tunnel and make my way into Kinnick. I still get goosebumps. And Kirk Ferentz talked a little bit about that. So a couple more notes at the quarterback position. He mentioned Joe Lavis making his way back. Now, there's rumors out there about what the injury is. Heard sports hernia, a few other things. What we do know is he's been out for months.

He's been out since July. And, you know, this is a guy that has missed a lot of time. Got the start last year in the bowl game and the win against Kentucky. They simplified it immensely. And he did the job. His Iowa got the win 21-0. They didn't ask him to do a ton. He didn't do a ton, but he did enough to get the win. That's something Kirk also talked about is getting wins and it's not always pretty. We'll talk about that a little bit later,

but he returned to practice. Did Joe Labus the end of last week getting reps? And he did mention too, he was a little bit further along than he anticipated. He mentioned the work that he did last December and during the spring, I think, helped him kind of hit the ground running, if you will, coming off the injury. A couple other on the quarterback, it does look like if it's not Cade McNamara, it will be Deacon Hill that will get the start, though Kirk wasn't willing to go there, not because of, not about the McNamara part, just because I think he wants to give Joe Labus a real shot here throughout this week. If that turns out to come to fruition, they have to go with another quarterback. He's had a great quote though. And you know, Kirk, as he continues down the road is an aging coach. You know, he's, he's got that, he's got a little bit of that

mentality where he just doesn't care. Right. And he says things a little bit more off the cuff. But as you get older, I think all of us do that to a certain extent. And talking about Deacon Hill, we know Deacon's a big kid. Look, he's listed at 257. If he's 257, I'm under two bills. Nobody knows, understands, and thinks that that is the case. So Deacon Hill, he said, quote, he's the biggest quarterback I've been around, at least pound per inch, unquote.

Just it's incredible. What a great quote there from Kirk Ferentz. A few other things I thought were incredibly interesting. We don't know if Shannon is going through the appeal process, trying to get back some kind of eligibility. And we'll see that. And they're going through that at this point right now. There are still two players out there that we're awaiting. We've told you about the rumblings and the rumors that are out there and pass that along to you. And that's what we do here on Locked On Hawkeyes.

We're not going to throw guys under the bus, but we're at least going to give you what is out there. Is it true? It always isn't true. We know that, but that's what we're going to give to you, our listener, our viewer here on YouTube. We're going to give that to you. And told you, look to the defensive backfield.

That's what I continue to hear. That is a place to be looking. If we do see a starter or even a 2D player that is out there, that would be a place that you'd be looking. But the two players that are looking at a suspension, not a season-long one, but some kind of suspension, I would anticipate it'll either be the four or six-game variety for both of these players.

He mentioned that with those two suspended players, does not anticipate right now that they're going to go through the appeal process. Whatever the suspension ultimately is, that they will accept it, they will serve their suspension, and then they will come back. So something to know there, and we await on Noah Shannon, and it's probably not going to happen. I wouldn't anticipate before we get to game number one. If Noah Shannon has that suspension reduced,

you're likely still looking at a minimum of six game suspension. Still could be eight, nine games, something like that. Maybe he's a guy that can help you out November and December and January. We'll get into that a little bit later when we get into our bold predictions for Hawkeye football. The offensive line. And Kirk has been effusive with his praise of this offensive line. You've seen it the last two years. It hasn't been good. And it cratered to just another lower level a season ago. It was bad.

There's no two ways about it. The offensive line was awful. As bad as we've seen since Kirk's first team. He believes in this group. He believes in Logan Jones, that he's going to make the leap at the center position, that they're going to be able to find guys inside. He talked a little bit about Nick DeYoung, his versatility, being able to play inside and outside, and also the ascension of those guys that have taken the lumps right mason richmond connor colby those kind of guys that were thrown out there as freshmen and now as upperclassmen

as junior taking a step forward what other guy you mentioned though the youngest guy of the group that is likely going to play and that's jennings dunker and jennings dunker played last year as a starter in the bowl game he saw rotational minutes with this team a year ago still young he's been injured during big portions of his career over his three years but they believe in him and he had this to say about him at the right tackle position something that i have said concerns me now kirk ferentz knows more than in his little pinky that i'll ever know about offensive line and coaching and ability to evaluate what it is. I mean, this is not me certainly taking a look and thinking that I know more about offensive line play than Kirk Ferentz. I just question if he's going to have the requisite foot speed against some right tackles.

He said this, though, about Jennings Dunker, your starting right tackle. We're not messing with Jennings. He's staying there. Speaking of right tackle, sink or swim, he's staying there, He's staying there. Speaking of right tackle. Sink or swim, he's staying there. Won't go to guard. Pretty simple. Jennings Dunker is your right tackle.

Now, if De'Jon Parker comes back healthy, maybe that equation changes. But in the here and now, Jennings Dunker is going to be the guy out there at right tackle. He also mentioned that offensive line along with wide receiver are the most improved positions from a year ago. They're going to need that. Look, they went into the open last year against South Dakota State. They had one scholarship receiver that was available. You had guys that were injured. You had guys that didn't want to play.

You had guys transferring away. You had a lot that happened to that wide receiver room. And it's been replenished. And I'm excited about Seth Anderson. I'm excited what we're going to see from Deontay Vines. We know a healthy Nico Raggini, what he can bring to this team, and of course, Caleb Brown coming in from Ohio State. You got four guys that you feel really good about

that are going to make an impact coming up this season. Offensive line better, wide receiver better. That's going to make for a better Iowa football team. Couple final notes from Kirk Ferentz. He mentioned the 6-4 game. As you guys know, if you've been listening to us for a while, you know I love that game. And not just the nature of a 6-4 game and the goofiness of it. And Iowa up 6-2 taking a safety because they didn't believe

that Penn State could move the ball down the field and get a field goal to beat them. That's how much he believed in that 2004 defense. I love the game. It was a thing of beauty. It was a Ferentz special. It's what you love about the old ball coach, right? How he is built, the way that he does things, and also the extra that happened. The passing of his father that week, how little he was around the team leading up to that game, meeting the team in State College, and then going there and winning that football game. Just how special that was. An incredible moment. The tears in Kirk's eyes as he was going off the field. Just an amazing moment.

And it'll be one of my favorite memories of Iowa football. He also talked about Ricky Stanzi, as I'm sure most everybody saw the hype video that came out earlier this week on X on Twitter. If you haven't, we have it retweeted on Lockdown Hawkeyes. You can find the Lockdown Iowa account on X and just search for it and you will find it pop up. It's incredible. Ricky Stanzi did the voiceover. You got to hear the love it or leave it. You got to hear the old quips and Kirk had a quick quip of his own as he said,

well, he didn't really get going until he got a pick six and then he was able to come back. So I threw a little bit out there but definitely enjoyed that one great seeing Ricky Stanzi out there and one of the Hawkeye greats and and some great moments also in that video that really brought you back to a time we're going to bring you back here with some bold predictions that's right Iowa football bold predictions for 2023 gonna go out on a limb a little bit with a couple of these. We're going to have a good time as we continue the conversation. Iowa football, the countdown continues until the opener at Kinnick Stadium against Utah State. Bold predictions next on the Locked On

Hawkeyes podcast. Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. College football season is here, and this season Locked On is kicking up our coverage with Locked On College Football Kickoff live each Friday. Locked On will go live from 10 until noon Central time on every Locked On College YouTube channel. College Football Kickoff Live will cover all the playoff implications,

the big rivalry games going on, and we'll go in-depth like only Locked On can, including insight from and analysis from our stable of Locked On College hosts, including yours truly covering your team every day. Find Locked On College Football kickoff live every Friday. It'll be from 10 to noon Central Time on any Locked On College YouTube channel, including this one right here, Locked On Hawkeyes. You won't want to miss it.

Bold predictions as we round up a Wednesday edition of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Let's get into it. And I got maybe the boldest prediction of all. I was going to win the Big Ten West. That's not a bold prediction. I believe in this team. And for somebody that is normally very much a pessimist

as it pertains to the sport teams that I root for, I believe in this football team. Does the Cade McNamara injury have me a little bit spooked? Absolutely. Do memories of Brian Fentz making idiotic play calls still linger in my mind? No doubt about it. Can this offense take a step forward in the offensive line? I still have some doubts. The depth at the defensive back position, those still are there, but more than anything, this team a year ago was a play away, a couple plays away from getting back to the Big Ten championship game. They did it with one of the worst offenses that we've seen in major college football in decades. They're going to be better. The defense

is still going to be good. The special teams are still going to be elite. And I think Kirk's got one more in him, one more big season, and it very well could be this one. I have Iowa getting to the big 10 championship game and I have Iowa avenging one of their losses from the regular season. I have them beating the Penn state Nittany lions. That's right. I have Iowa not just winning the division in the final year of the east west divide. The west finally gets it done. Iowa gets it done and they beat Penn State in the championship game. I love this Penn State team. I think they're going to be loaded. I do not believe that I was going to go

into State College and get that game, but they'll get a second chance. With that second chance, they will get it done there. Let's continue with their bold predictions for this season. How about this one? Preseason All-American Cooper DeJean will not lead the Hawkeyes in interceptions in 2023. Now, a part of that is because I believe a lot of teams are going to be throwing the other direction. They're going to be staying away from Cooper Dajin. I think that's a part of it. But also, I think Xavier Wampa is going to be the guy that ultimately leads this team.

I called a bunch of games of Xavier in high school on radio, saw him play a ton in person. I will tell you, there is nobody that I've seen before that has the ability to close on a ball in the air like Xavier Wampa. And I think that's going to show up. You saw it in the bowl game last year against Kentucky. That continues. Xavier Wampa, not Cooper DeGene,

leads the team in interceptions this season. How about this one? Caleb Johnson will have a top 10 season in rushing yards in Iowa football history. In fact, I have him finishing in the seventh spot all time, number seven all time in receptions. That's what I have for him coming up this season. The single season record for Iowa is Sean Green back in 2008 when he ran for 1,850 yards. Don't see him getting there, but I got him north of the Dennis Mosley season in 1979.

We have him north of 1,267 yards. We'll put him at 1,300. How about that? That's what we'll get out of Caleb Johnson this year. I believe in the talent. I believe in the offensive line being better, and we have a big season coming up for Caleb Johnson. More bold predictions your

leading receiver in terms of yardage this year for the Iowa Hawkeyes is not one of the two great tight ends it is not Nico Raggini it is not Caleb Brown it's another transfer Seth Anderson will lead the team in receiving yardage this season I like Deontay Vines. I certainly like Greg Iannini and the excitement about the future of Caleb Brown. But what we saw out of Seth Anderson, the smoothness, the ability, a guy that just knows how to play the wide receiver position. Seth Anderson leads the team in receiving yards this season. However, he doesn't lead the team in touchdown catches. That goes to Luke Lachey. You saw him last year.

Well, he was one of the few guys that could get into the end zone a season ago. In fact, last year, Iowa, they just had seven touchdown passes all season long. I know, it's gross just even saying the term out loud. He gets there almost himself this year. He gets to six alone, and he leads the team. And the red zone offense has got to be better. It has been a struggle really during the Brian Ferentz era outside of when he had that two-headed monster of TJ Hawkinson and Noah Fant in the red zone.

He's got that this year. With Lachey and with all, tight ends are going to be back in vogue in the Iowa offense in the red zone, and it's going to show up this season. A couple more for you. Let's go to the offensive line. Mason Richmond will become a household name in the Big Ten,

maybe in the country. He will become the left tackle that we have been waiting for for quite a while, waiting for that guy to show up since Alaric Jackson departed, and it's been trying to piecemeal this thing together. Richmond will be the guy. He will be an All-Big Ten player. He will also get some All-American honors. Last year, he played injured. He had to have surgery after the

season concluded a year ago. Not the case this year. A healthy season, and he will be a stud at the left tackle position. And one on the defensive side of the football for our bold predictions for 2023. I got this for you. Deontay Craig will have 12 sacks. That will be the most in 20 years in a single season for Iowa football. Now, when I was looking through the list of sack leaders all the time, you had Epinesa, he had 11 and a half.

We saw Claiborne, he had 11, but he will get past that number. And then I just thought, Matt Roth, he had 12 back in 2003. That's been 20 years ago. Man, how old are we? That'll do it for today. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes

your first listen every day. As mentioned, LaShawn Daniels, he's going to be with us later in the week as we get ready for game one. And we'll also preview this Utah State team. What concerns you? Could have a punting war. They got a pretty good one over there with a pretty good mustache on top of it.

We'll break down Utah State. We'll make our season predictions as well. I gave you my bold prediction for Iowa this year. We'll go game by game, and LaShawn will break things down with us here as we continue to come with you. Your team every day. That's what we do here on the Lockdown Network. And we got you covered.

Lockdown Hawkeyes every single day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.