Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa Hoops in the B1G Tournament vs. Ohio State, Hawkeye football spotlight on the defensive line
Episode Date: March 14, 2024Trent Condon is back on the latest Locked on Hawkeyes Podcast. First, some thoughts on the importance to the Hawkeyes defensive line to make a step forward this year and what it means for Iowa to have... a successful 2024 season. Some of the impactful players for Iowa and some potential for some new names to step forward. Then a preview of the Big Ten Tournament game for the Hawkeye men as they face off against a red hot Ohio State team. What it will take for the Hawkeyes to get the win. Finally, some thoughts on NCAA wrestling and the seeds that the Hawkeye wrestlers received.  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Robinhood Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer. Amazon Fire TV Fire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTV Nissan Our friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV’s with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com. LinkedIn These days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/lockedoncollege. Terms and conditions apply. Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuel New customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. eBay Motors With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Transcript
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Let's talk a little football today, a look at the Iowa defensive line and its importance.
If I was going to have another successful season in 2024, plus we preview I was matchup
today in the big 10 tournament.
It's the Hawkeyes and the Buckeyes today.
Locked on Hawkeyes.
You are locked on Hawkeyes, your daily podcast on the Iowa Hawkeyes.
Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Hey, welcome in.
I'm Trent Condon, and this is the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.
Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
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Hawkeye fans. This episode is
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We got basketball coming up here
as we preview the matchup coming up this evening
as the Hawkeyes take on Ohio State
in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.
The winner moves on and gets Illinois
then tomorrow evening.
We'll break that down and take a deeper look at it.
Iowa's chances of being an NCAA tournament team.
What a win against the Buckeyes would mean for Iowa going forward.
We will talk about that.
Plus a little wrestling talk later on today.
As the seeds are out for the NCAA tournament.
How the draws go for the Iowa Hawkeyes as they try to chase a team trophy.
No, not a title.
That's Penn State's. But second, third, can they get up there? What it's going to take? We'll get
into that here in just a little bit. But want to open things up today talking some football.
Football has kind of fallen by the wayside with what we've had with the incredible run
out of the Iowa women's basketball team looking to solidify themselves as a number one seed
in the NCAA tournament. Obviously, that's going to be a big conversation piece
and really is dominated of what we talked about.
The Iowa men's team trying to get back on the bubble.
We've been there a whole bunch, and it's been relatively quiet from Iowa City.
You know, we passed along a few nuggets that have come out,
but with Tim Lester taking over as the new offensive coordinator,
I thought we would hear a little bit more that there be some more rumblings.
Now, they're not practicing at this point.
We're still, what, a week and a half away before we get spring practice opened up.
However, I really thought that this was going to be a chance where we were going to find
out a little bit more and some of those nuggets that start to come out.
Hasn't been the case.
It's been incredibly quiet.
Good or bad?
Don't know.
No reason to speculate on one way or the other what that is.
But I went to a position group that's incredibly important.
And as we look at this team, the offensive improvement is going to dominate the storylines
and certainly what we're going to talk about a ton during spring football and throughout
the summertime.
That's going to be a big part of the conversation.
But I want to go to an aspect that maybe has been overlooked.
You know, we look at this season coming up this year
and nine starters coming back,
all the guys that decide to come back for an extra year of eligibility.
You get another year out of Jay Higgins, out of Nick Jackson,
both of those guys coming back for another season.
Xavier Wampa, what he could possibly ascend to be,
and just on and on and on.
We've talked a ton about that, and that's important.
Sebastian Castro obviously coming back.
You know, those kind of guys and what that means for the Iowa defense.
But one area we haven't talked a whole lot about is the defensive line.
And there is a pretty good, really, connection between when I was good up front
and when they're getting to the quarterback more specifically
and how I was successful throughout the course of the year.
We've talked in the past about how the turnovers have dried up the last couple of years,
and I think there's a reason for that.
As team has just looked at how woeful the Iowa offense has become,
they didn't have to take chances anymore.
They were willing, if it was three and out, they're fine with that.
If they had to punt it away, they weren't going to take the chances that they did in the past
when Iowa's offense was at least competent.
And I think that's led to a decrease in the number of turnovers forced over the last two seasons.
But hand in hand with that is the defensive line.
And this past season, the defensive line was good.
There were some struggles early on.
We certainly saw them struggle against the run much more than we anticipate a Phil Parker's
defense is going to early in the season.
And they figured it out by the middle of the year.
They were playing at a really high level up front. I think a piece of that was Nick Jackson,
not just coming into a new system and learning what Phil Parker and company want to do,
but he was also moving positions, going from the middle and moving outside.
And there was a change there and he really ascended as the season went on. And you saw that
out of Nick Jackson, but the defensive line, all right, they're going to be good because
well, they're good every single year, right? I mean, it's just kind of goes with the territory of what
we expect from this Iowa defensive line that they're going to be really good. And I think
they're going to be good again this season, but you lose from a year ago. First, Joey, the bull,
Joe Evans, not in a half sacks last year, 13 and a half tackles for loss. He finishes in the top
five all time in sacks at the University of Iowa for a walk on kid
that was given jersey number 13.
Just absolutely amazing what he turned into and morphed into throughout his career.
Had the nine and a half sacks, also 10 quarterback hurries a year ago, but not just him.
Also lost in Logan Lee and the way I would defensive tackles play.
You're not going to see many eye popping statistic, but he was just so steady, so good.
And you knew he was going to be in the right space.
He was going to play assignment football.
He was going to be at a high level and lose him.
Three sacks a year ago from him.
Also had another quarterback hurry.
Had three pass breakups and deflections this past season.
So you're losing a lot up front when you lose Joe Evans and Logan Lee,
both those guys moving on.
You need to see, obviously, why A. Black continue.
And after the shoulder injury that he sustained against Wisconsin,
I thought maybe it could be season over for him.
Not only was it not season over,
I think he played his best football of his career
after he sustained a pretty major shoulder injury
and played at a really high level, had that big sling on the arm,
the big shoulder wrap out there, and he was still playing really, really well.
If he continues to improve, as we've seen the last couple of seasons, he's going to
be a big piece of what they do in the middle.
The one guy, though, that is, I think, a number one in terms of importance for this defense
and taking another step is Deontay Craig.
We saw Deontay during his sophomore campaign put up a monster season, and there were some
rumblings out there that if Craig last season would have had a monster year,
that he could be a guy that'd be going out to the NFL draft.
And he'd be preparing right now to hear his name called.
It didn't play out that way.
He was banged up.
He was injured throughout the course of the season.
But just three sacks a year ago.
Also did have seven quarterback hurries.
So you got to put that in the mix too.
But just three sacks out of Deontay
Craig last season. That was a disappointment. We need 45 to play at a high level. We really do.
He is that kind of player off the edge. He has the quick twitch that you're looking for outside.
He's got a plethora of moves. Also, we need Craig to go back to really the guy that we saw as a
sophomore and then ascend past that. If I was defensive line, it's going to be at an elite
level. Another guy we have to put out there is Aaron Graves.
And he comes in all American out of high school, playing small school football.
All right, how is he going to translate?
He was out there right away as a true freshman, getting reps and played a ton this past season.
Two and a half sacks, four and a half tackles for a loss last year.
But it wasn't as impactful as I thought it was going to be.
Very well could be on the job training
and we're going to see a big jump.
And we do see that plenty of times.
That's another guy
that definitely needs to take a step forward.
Now, those are the guys we know.
You throw Max Llewellyn in there.
He was a rotational piece.
Of course, had a good play,
a bunch of big plays
throughout the course of his career.
He's going to be out there a whole lot more.
So what else?
You know, who are some of the other guys
that we're going to be looking at
that need to put together strong performances on this defensive line?
Ethan Hurkett, obviously another one that is just out there doing his thing
and making plays.
I think we saw a lot of good things out of him.
And him and Lou Ellen, kind of rotational outside.
But the other one is Brian Allen.
Brian Allen last year during spring football,
in the open practice that we got
at the end, he was outstanding. Then in the one day that we got to see the team during August camp
at kids day, he was outstanding there. Didn't see a ton of reps, which I was really surprised by.
I thought we were going to see a whole lot more out of him this past season. It just didn't come
to fruition. So you're kind of left wondering, you know, what's happening there? What is he going to
be? Because it looks like he's got the motor you're looking for. Is it something technically
that they're still working at trying to get at that level? Is that kind of the piece that they're
looking at? I think that's one part that you're looking at for him this upcoming season. He also
lose another couple of guys, not just as we mentioned with Logan Lee moving on with, uh,
with Evans moving on both of those guys, but also it really felt like this year we were going to see Ontario
Thompson be able to help out inside.
And he decided to transfer away.
He moved on and he'll be playing in the max.
So we didn't see that,
you know,
is Brackney going to be a guy he read shirt of this past season,
got portraiting Johnson,
a walk on that.
I continue to hear quite a bit about a Kenan from West Des Moines Valley.
Can he help out on that defensive line he's got to get bigger but that's another one maybe to
tuck away for future reference uh going forward on that front of what he's going to be and can
anybody else be a rotational piece and what other part of this is we're talking about getting to the
quarterback and that's so important for what Iowa does defensively is getting to the quarterback. Is this the time that we see a
move that we all of a sudden see after on the wrestling mat and a little bit on the football
field and special teams, Ben Keeter simplify things, keep his weight up. Doesn't have to
worry about, you know, being a certain weight to be a linebacker. Hey, get as big as you want.
And he just become a rush guy. You keep it simple for him give him the ability
to be a rush guy that's something we've talked about now well going back to when he was still
committed to the hawkeyes uh back during his high school career keep an eye on that one and see if
anything does happen on that front for ben keeter a little football talk that's a good way to kick
things off let's talk basketball as we continue time to get in to the hawkeyes and the buckeyes
it's the opening round of the big 10 tournament,
a big,
big chance for Iowa.
What a win does here for their NCAA tournament resume.
We'll talk about it and what it's going to take to beat the box.
We'll do that as we continue locked on Hawkeyes.
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Trent Conner back with you once again here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.
As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Let's get into it.
5.30 tip-off central time this evening as Iowa takes on Ohio State. So the Buckeyes
are playing some good basketball, and that's where you have to start.
If you just remember this team from what they were going back
to when these two teams faced off here about a month ago on that Friday night,
this is a much different team.
They're playing at a high level after the firing of Holtman,
whatever the reason for.
Diebler has got this team playing good basketball.
One thing that has been talked about a lot from Ohio State is it's just simplified.
You know, every little nuance of the team
was magnified with Holtman.
And it's just been an ability for them
to not have to play scared about that.
And that was something that almost felt like
was something that was a big, big part
of what happened for this team.
So this is the numbers currently
from my dude, Bart Torvik,
and his great college basketball
analytical website,
barttorvik.com.
Currently, the Iowa Hawkeyes
odds to make the NCAA tournament
are at 20.8%.
With a loss to Ohio State,
that drops down to 6.5%.
It's not happening.
A loss here, it's over.
You can say it's 6.5%.
I mean, we'd have to have
a COVID outbreak for this to happen
and Iowa to get in. With a win over Ohio State, it jumps up to 41.5%. Still has them out of his
tournament field with a win. If you win this game, though, and beat Illinois, suddenly Iowa's chances
are up to 63.4%. He has them as an 11 seed if they do that, beat the Buckeyes, beat the Illini
in the quarterfinal round. Iowa's chances increased to 63 point four percent chance
of making the tournament. You get to the championship game all the way up to 75 point
eight percent. And guess what? Hey, kids, if they win four, they're going no matter what,
because they have the automatic bid and they'll be tournament champions for the second time in
the last three seasons. Now, that's what we're all hoping for. Another great run. Don't
have to worry about it. A question was asked by a Hawkeye fan on Twitter about that and I asked him,
what if they do win four games? He has the, excuse me, ascending all the way up to a number
eight seed. If it plays out in that fashion. Oh boy. Would love to see that now. Yes. We know
the number one seeds not going to be matched up likely with Purdue Houston.
You can't.
Yeah.
In the second round, the round of 32, that wouldn't be very fun, but maybe it's North
Carolina.
Maybe it's Arizona.
Maybe it's Tennessee.
Hey, I went, Tennessee's got some tournament history.
And though I was lost a couple of tight games to the balls, third times a charm across our
fingers and hope at the very least.
So what's it going to take to beat Ohio State?
I mean, we have to start, obviously,
on what happened the last time out against Illinois.
And your seniors, they were bad.
Tony Perkins didn't have it.
1-10 from the floor in that game.
Just really struggled all over the place in the matchup.
He's got to step up, and we know his ability off the bounce,
how good he can be and be outstanding. Josh Dix didn't make a three-pointer. Hit six shots, six of 13 from the
floor, but 0 of 3 from downtown. Peyton Sanford, he was the only guy offensively that even rated as
adequate on the offensive end of the floor in that game against Illinois. And that's not a
great Illinois team defensively. That was a huge disappointment in this one. Iowa for the game,
not a great Illinois team defensively. That was a huge disappointment in this one. Iowa for the game shoot seven to 21 for three for Iowa standards. That's okay. Obviously not great. You want to be
better than that, but we know this is not a great three point shooting team, but they shoot an
uncharacteristic 16 of 44 from inside the three point arc. That's 36.4%. One of the worst
performances of the season in that game and only put 61 points up in the game.
Are we going to see a little more Dambale?
I think that's something you're going to have to do.
So those are some of the looks at this team.
As we remember back to the game against Ohio State and Carver,
that was a time that Ohio State was not playing very well.
They were struggling in their own right.
It was before the firing of Holtman, before Diebler took over.
But that took a whole lot of Patrick McCaffrey late in the game.
His late clutch free throws were the difference of the game
as they were able to keep them at arm's reach
and a last second heave at the horn off the mark for Ohio State
as Iowa survived in that one.
It was a very balanced attack.
Battle had 17, 14 apiece for Aparra and for Thornton.
Bruce Thornton, he can really get it going, though, at any time.
They shot 7 to 16 from behind the arc.
I was going to have to play better than they did in that game
the first time out against Ohio State.
They're going to have to play at a higher level.
This team offensively is really good, 39th in the country
in offensive efficiency.
The one thing that they're excellent at,
not just getting to the free throw line and the free throw rate,
they shoot 77% from the free throw line.
Got to play smart.
Can't foul.
Can't get in foul trouble.
We don't want the two foul rule to come up again for Fran.
Got to stay away from that.
They pound the ball inside.
They will do that.
Distribute.
Not a ton of three-pointers overall.
They really like to work the ball in and try to get to the free throw line. You know, the old Dr. Tom adage, right? Shoot more free throw,
make more free throws than your opponent's attempts. That's what Ohio State certainly
likes to do. On the other side, defensively for Ohio State, not a great team on that side.
They are 70th in the country in defensive efficiency, but it has gone up throughout
the course of the year. And as we look back at Ohio State and kind of what they have been here over, let's say,
the last month of the season or so, I think that's kind of a fair way to put it as we go back to,
let's say, January, I just said January, go back to February 10th. There you go. There's a fair
number. That's on that Saturday. Ohio State going back just over a month now.
They are one of the better teams in the country.
Iowa during that time frame is ranked 34th in the country.
34th while 42nd for Ohio State.
So check that 27 for Ohio State.
They're playing a lot better on the defensive end of the floor.
That's been a big difference also for this Ohio State team. Got to be better. I mean, it's as simple as that. To expect Iowa's going to be
able to grind out a 68-64 win, it's just not their style. Got to get the pace up, have to play with
pace, have to maybe even see a little bit more Brock Harding in this game. If he was as good as
he was in the first half against Illinois, and Iowa easily could have been down 25 at the half
if they didn't have Brock Harding in the first half. And if he has it, and if we're seeing a struggle, if Josh Dix just can't get
it going, if another struggle continues for Tony Perkins, you got to go with Harding. You just do
at this point. It is do or die for this Iowa basketball team and what they have. Speaking
of do or die, that is the case for the wrestling squad as they get ready for next week's NCAA tournament down in Kansas
City. We'll talk a little bit about the seeds that came out last night and break down exactly
what the paths are going to be for the Hawkeye wrestling team. A little wrestling talk as we
continue. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.
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Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast.
Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
Wrap it up with a little wrestling.
And as I mentioned at the top, look, if Iowa, what you're searching for is a team trophy.
Finish in the top three.
Penn State's going to run away with it.
And even with all the goofiness that's happening inside that program, guys injured, what's happening there?
The top half of the bracket just absolutely loaded at 174 pounds with Carter Storocci.
With the injury that he's gone through, he's the number nine seed.
Ridiculous in its own right. Makai Lewis's the number nine seed, ridiculous in its own right.
Makai Lewis, the number one seed there at the top.
That's also the side of the bracket, by the way,
that Patrick Kennedy is in.
And we'll get to Patrick here in a moment.
But at the top, as we kick things off
at the top of the bracket at 125 pounds,
it's Drake Ayala.
He earns the number three seed.
Really good spot there on the opposite side
of Braden Davis from Penn State who's got out
to a great start in his career he's the number one seed you're looking at potentially in the
quarterfinals facing off against Oklahoma State's Troy Spratley we saw him earlier this season in
that final duel of the regular season the number two seed out of Lehigh is Luke Stanich I think
the real chance here for Drake Aieala to make it to the championship bout,
and maybe Iowa's best chance of getting there.
We move on, and we go to 133 pounds.
Brody Teske gets the number 15 seed.
He'll open up against 18-seeded Derek Cardinal from South Dakota State.
Then, with a win, we'll likely see undefeated wrestler from Lehigh, Ryan Crookham.
Some people, about college wrestling a little bit more than me, think that Teske maybe has got a shot in that one. It's going to be a tall task,
but that's what's in front of him at 133 pounds. At 141, the other great chance of potentially
getting to the championship bout, that's Real Woods, 18-3 on the season. A tough end of the
season for Woods. At the end, he'll be looking
at Bo Bartlett in the semifinals if the seeding plays out out of Penn State. The number one seed,
Ohio State's Jesse Mendez on the top of the bracket there at 141. 149 pounds for the Hawkeyes,
and that one path is going to be pretty difficult for Caleb Rathje. Now, he'll open up with Jordan
Williams against Oklahoma State. Then after that, he will likely face off against four-seeded Caleb Henson of
Virginia Tech. 25-2 on the season out of the ACC is also on the top half of the bracket. That means
that Reg Lovett of Nebraska is on his side of the bracket if he would advance and get to the
semifinals. At 157 for the Hawkeyes. Jared Franek, a number 10 seed,
23 and five on the season for Franek. If he wins his opening round bout as he gets produced,
Joey Blaze anticipate he will. It'll be either Peyton Keller from Ohio or another Mac wrestler
from central Michigan, Johnny Lovett. You're looking at potentially facing off then even
with the win against Keller against the number two seed from Arizona State,
Jacory Teamer.
So that's the side of the bracket.
A difficult draw there for Jared Franek in that one.
165 pounds for the Hawkeyes.
As Caliendo, he gets the number six seed,
looking at potentially in the quarterfinals.
That'll be against Julian Ramirez of Cornell.
He's the number three seed.
Also on the bottom side of the bracket.
Undefeated, Messenbrink out of Penn State.
Yes, once again, we go that route.
174, we mentioned it.
Patrick Kennedy, wrong side of the bracket here.
You got Shane Griffin, the four seed.
Ridiculous.
That's who we would win if he'd pull an upset against fifth-seeded Philip Cargillano of Harvard.
Top seed, Makai Lewis is there.
Mentioned Storosi is also on that side of the bracket.
Ridiculous.
Absolutely loaded on that front.
That's what we have there in that weight class.
Continuing through, and we get in to 197 for the Hawkeyes.
And, well, that one is, it's empty.
It's empty.
And we could talk about the disappointment there,
but it's just the reality.
And then we get to heavyweight,
and that is where Bradley Hill, who got the call,
he is at 20-7 on the air, gets the 25 seed.
He'll get NC State's Owen Treppin.
Look, you put all this together, and Iowa,
it's about finishing the top three.
And you hate to be at this point, but after
the way that the season ended before the
duel against Oklahoma State, that's just kind of
the bed that they made themselves into.
We'll have you covered.
It'll be a busy week. Hopefully we'll have
the men in the NCAA tournament, the women
obviously hosting the first and second round
of the NCAA tournament and wrestling.
I've said it for years.
I've talked to my boy, Doug Schwab up at UNI, former Iowa national champion.
You have to move this thing away from this weekend.
It just does not make sense.
I understand they sell out the building every single time.
The NCAA wrestling numbers are dwindling, not just in terms of numbers of division one
programs, but the TV numbers have started to go back.
You're going up against a behemoth.
Move it back a couple of weeks.
Push back the calendar.
You have to do it for the sport.
Big picture.
You have to look at that.
Unfortunately, it feels like they're unwilling to do just that.
With that, we are out of here for today.
We'll be back tonight with an instant reaction podcast
after Iowa, Ohio State.
We got you covered on that front.
Get ready for the weekend.
Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
And don't forget, coming up, Locked On College Basketball
bracket breakdown, Monday, March 18th at 6 a.m. Central Time.
Our experts Andy Patton and Isaac Schottie will break down their brackets
and discuss everything you need to know
to fill out a winning bracket and prepare for this year's NCAA tournament.
Find the Locked On Bracket Breakdown Monday, March 18th
on the Locked On College Basketball podcast feed
and wherever you get podcasts.
We'll talk to you again after the Hawkeyes and the Buckeyes tonight,
instant reaction style.
Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
Go Hawks! Tonight, instant reaction style. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day.
Go Hawks.