Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Reaction to Outback Bowl win | Nick Easley is Outback MVP | A look back at the 2018 season

Episode Date: January 2, 2019

The Hawks beat Mississippi State in the 2019 Outback Bowl and we have our reactions to this exciting 27-22 victory. We also talk about how we feel about the season as a whole, what we expect to see from next year's team, and who a few of our standout performers from the game were.On today's episode, I am joined by Jared Starkweather, contributor at Dear Old Gold.Twitter: @lockedoniowaHost: @wade_andrewEmail: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes, the latest addition to the Locked On Sports Network's Growing Lineup of College podcast. I'm your host, Andrew Wade, editor over at dearoldgold.com, where you can find analysis pieces on all things black and yellow, and we're bringing you an instant reaction to the day's Outback Bowl. I have with me Jared Starkweather, one of my best friends, and a contributor at Dear Old Gold right now,

to join me to talk about today's happenings. Obviously, fantastic game. Lots of fun. I'm surprised Iowa won. And we want to give you kind of our instant reactions that let you know how we feel about it, what our thoughts are on the season overall and what we kind of expect for next season. You know, with the people leaving, obviously want to touch on Nick Easley had a fantastic senior day performance or, you know, final game performance and stuff like that. So we're going to touch on that. Jared, thank you for joining the podcast, man. How are you doing today? Hi, I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. What a game, huh? Yeah, I'm still still excited about it. Yeah. Were you just watching it at home today?

Still excited about it. Yeah, were you just watching it at home today? I stayed home. You know, I have the two kids both under, you know, three years of age now. So it kind of makes it difficult to go anywhere fun and do something for the game. So I'm just getting to watch my man cave downstairs. That's a pretty nice man cave. But, yeah, man, it was a fun game.

I'm honestly surprised at how it all went down, to be honest. When, you know, the score was like 6-0, I was like, well, at some point they're going to break it big, and Mississippi State's going to blow this game out. It's going to be 17-0 going into half, and Iowa's just going to be treading water trying to survive. And then all of a sudden, you get a 75-yard touchdown pass to Nick Easley. You have a strip sack and a touchdown pass to Amir Smith-Marset, and holy crap, we're at 17-6 Iowa. And then obviously, going're at 17-6 Iowa. And then obviously going into the third quarter, I was like, okay,

let's hope we can keep the momentum going. And we had those two weird turnovers. The Amir Smith-Marset fumble was bizarre, to say the least. And then I was like, well, this is the end. I think a lot of fans are like, we've seen this before. We saw the Wisconsin game. We saw Penn State, Purdue. Once it starts going downhill, when it rains, it pours for Iowa. Personally, I'm surprised to see them actually –

they're able to come back and close out the game on a strong note. Yeah. I mean, you hit it right there. Like, going into this game, I did not think Iowa – I almost didn't think Iowa much of a chance. You know, Iowa doesn't typically match the speed of the SEC. Most teams they play, they don't – you know, we're not going to outrun them. They're going to be a lot faster than us on the field.

Iowa kind of lives or dies by their line play, dominating the line of scrimmage. And I thought Mississippi State might be a bad matchup for that because their defensive line – and their defensive line was as good as advertised. They were freaking incredible, man. They were all around, basically. And so I was worried this game would be ugly. Iowa wouldn't be able to do what they normally do. The first couple possessions, you kind of saw Iowa trying to establish the line of scrimmage. We couldn't do it. And I thought, here we go.

Yeah, then the bloom coverage where he easily goes for 75 yards, which I think was Mississippi State's longest play allowed from scrimmage of the whole season. You know, they play Alabama, so that tells you something. That was a complete shock. That turned the whole game for the first part there. And real quick, on the 75-yard touchdown pass, what I thought was interesting about that is Nick Easley's deceptively fast.

I mean, that kid runs like a low 4'4", 40s, according to reports. Obviously, we'll get that confirmed when they do the pro day and whatnot. But he was getting like very close to actually getting taken down at the end. That one cornerback just kept gaining on him over the last 30 yards. Like, oh, crap, he might actually not make it all the way in. Yeah. If that had been five more yards, I don't think he would have made it. Yeah, I think that just speaks to like Mississippi State's speed and whatnot. Dude, I completely agree. way in yeah if that had been five more yards i don't think you would have made it yeah i think

that just speaks to like mississippi state speed and whatnot dude i completely agree the offensive line i was worried about how they matched up with with mississippi state's defensive line and they the mississippi state defensive line just crushed iowa all day i mean the fact that nate stanley actually had a little bit more time in the passing game was truly remarkable to me i'm actually surprised he was able to get as many passes off without being under pressure as he was. And he handled pressure for the most part pretty well. I'd say outside of the triple coverage interception, that was one of his best performances of the

season so far of just managing the game, not screwing it up and making the right play. I mean, the Nick Easley touchdown that reminded reminded me of the Penn State T.J. Hawkinson play where he just blown coverage T.J. Hawkinson wide open and just throws it over top of him and misses. That's the kind of play he hasn't made throughout the season, so it was awesome to see that performance from him. Yeah, no, I completely agree. I mean, Stanley seems to always, every game, he has at least that one boneheaded throw where you just, you know, the guy seems like he'll lead you to believe that he's on the next step

to becoming the next level type of player, NFL-ready kind of quarterback. And then he'll make a throw like that where you just think, wow. Why are we putting that in there? Triple coverage, staring him down the whole way. Yeah. Easy read for that defense it's literally every single game for him if he can eliminate those mistakes i feel like i mean i've talked a little bit about this on daryl gold but i feel like if he can continue to improve he

has the arm talent he makes you know 75 of the plays he's making are nfl level throws or plays or reads but you're right it's one or two plays every single game. Then they're, they're not like, Oh, I made a bad pass. It's like, Oh, I threw the ball right to this guy who was standing there just waiting for me to throw it to him. And now this guy returns it to the three yard line and gives the other team great field position. Like it's not even like his mistakes are just, they're tiny mistakes. They're big, big, very game changing mistakes.

And that could have been very well what happened today, but obviously the defense was able to come through. Yeah, I mean, no, like that interception was straight up. It was, you know, he was staring down his receiver, didn't even see the defender, and threw it right in there. It was, you know, it was something he's going to look back on, I'm sure, when they review this game tape and think, that was a horrible throw, I should not have made that. And, you know, he can certainly clean that up. That's correctable mistakes going into his senior season. Hopefully they can, you know, take that next step and clean that up.

Absolutely. So are you – I'm assuming you're pretty excited about Nate Stanley coming back for the 2019 season? I'm totally excited. I mean, you know, I'm not one of those on the – everyone's favorite player is always the backup quarterback. You know, on Twitter you always read the time for Peyton Manziel to come in kind of thing.

I roll my eyes at that stuff. That's – no. Stanley has proven himself. He's a very capable quarterback. He's the kind of quarterback we need here. He can lead this team. Having him come back for a third year, senior season, it's huge. Anytime any team can get a quarterback to come back for a third year like that. He's going to know

this offense in and out. He's going to know what he needs to do. He has the experience. He can correct some of those bad reads that he does for some of those bonehead throws. He can clean some things up like his pocket awareness isn't exactly the best stuff like that i'm sure the nfl probably would like to see him you know do better at that but the guy's solid he's a solid qb he's exactly what the famous wants so absolutely and i think i'm hoping that brian ferens is a really does a better job of opening up the offense i think we saw it in a few games this season where they were willing to open up the offense and just, you know, have more of a vertical attack. And they have the

playmakers there that they haven't had in the past few years. Amir Smith-Marset, very clearly a burner, the kind of guy who can, you know, take the top off of defense. And you didn't see that happen a ton on the offensive side of the ball. Obviously, you saw the explosiveness in the special teams and whatnot. He was, you know, the kick returner of the year in the Big Ten. Obviously, you saw the explosiveness in the special teams and whatnot. He was, you know, the kick returner of the year in the Big Ten. Obviously, he's very talented there. And then Brandon Smith, I mean, I'm shocked that they don't just give the – throw the ball up to him because if he doesn't come down with it, no one's coming down with it because it's incredible watching him, you know,

make some of those amazing catches. And they didn't utilize them in the way I thought they would over the course of the season. I think that's something I'm really interested in seeing next year is them maybe open up the offense a little more, attack it vertically, be willing to utilize your next, they'll be juniors next year and get them more involved in the offense. Yeah, I like Amir Smith-Marset and Brandon Smith. Like I said, I think they have potential. Smith-Marset's got blazing speed, something Iowa doesn't normally

have. The few times this year, if you look back, that they do try to go deep to him, it works a lot of times. I mean, I know Stanley had some issues early on with his connections and things like that. But once he's on target, a lot of those deep passes to Smith-Marset did work. And Brandon Smith, to your point, he seems like he'd be a better, more jump ball type receiver. And even today's game, if you look back on it,

a lot of his passes were kind of low, coming back on the sideline kind of thing. You can utilize him better, I think, to get more jump balls, I think, throwing toward the end zone type thing. Absolutely. He did make a really good catch, though. What was that, Ty? Before we continue the discussion about the Iowa Hawkeyes' win in the 2019 Outback Bowl, I have a message for you, the listener.

Because if you're like me, you hate to miss your favorite team play, regardless of who they are playing. And that's where Sling TV comes in. Now I never have to miss a football or a basketball game. And the best part is I no longer have to pay for a bunch of channels I don't even watch with a typical cable package. For just $30 a month, you get access to ESPN, Big Ten Network, and more without the hassle of a long-term contract.

What's even more exciting is that we have a fantastic offer for you. term contract. What's even more exciting is that we have a fantastic offer for you. Locked on listeners can get a free seven day trial by going to sling.com slash locked on. That's S L I N G.com slash locked on. Never miss a game again with sling TV. He did make a really good catch though. I mean that, that one uh camera it was like on third down and stanley came at him um threw it low um i thought it was a really good throw by stanley actually to get low enough so the defender couldn't come over and then brandon smith to get that low to actually

make the catch and that's the kind of stuff that they need to trust in the receivers more i mean i feel like the way they play offense is the way I play Madden offense. I'm scared to throw interceptions. And so I do a lot of drag routes, a lot of short passing attack and that it's fine. It'll keep you close in the game, but sometimes you gotta, you know,

be willing to stretch the field. And I think Kirk's done a good job of evolving as well from the, you know, more conservative approach to getting a little bit more aggressive. We saw that in that fourth down attempt which for the record I in hindsight it worked out very well at the time I probably wouldn't have gone for it but you know we got a touchdown a few plays later so that worked out well but it'll be interesting to see him kind of get a little more

aggressive next year and I think the casino Kirk or Newkirk yeah I think I tweeted I was like you kick the field goal here. You take the points, especially in a game like this. They go for it. My heart was beating out of my chest. Then it wound up scoring, making me eat my words.

I loved it, but you know, that could have easily gone another way. I love that. I like his, his, I feel like I was just waiting for it too. If,

if they would have missed that man, Twitter would have been lit, just hating on Kirk. How dare he do this? I was just waiting for it too. If, if they would have missed that man, Twitter would have been lit, just hating on Kirk. How dare he do this? Like, why would he go for these plays and stuff? And I, I think you got to take the good and the bad though,

too. I mean, obviously there's been a few plays where I don't understand why they're going forward. I don't understand kind of what their fake attempts have been like over the season. But when you have plays like that, you know,

Kirk, Kirk, Kirk basically made a very ballsy play, and it worked out well for Iowa. And obviously they ended up winning the game, so it all worked out well. But everything is hindsight 2020, and I do like the more evolved, aggressive attack that they're starting to do now, and it will be fun to see how that plays out next year too.

And how much of that, going a little off script here, do you think does Brian have some influence over Kirk and having him kind of be more aggressive on some of these calls? I mean, I know whether your opinion of Brian is positive or not, but it seems like since he's kind of been in the works, they have been more aggressive. So I don't know if Kirk kind of, you know, Brian kind of leans into Kirk a little bit more on that type of stuff, or is that all just Kirk changing? you know, Brian kind of leans into Kirk a little bit more on that type of stuff? Or is that all just Kirk changing? Yeah, I mean, I would agree with you. I mean, since Brian's came there, they've opened up.

I mean, it's been a lot more evident this year with the fake field goals and some of those kind of bigger plays. But the evolution has really started a couple of years ago. And I believe I was, you know, reading some information about just after the 2016 team, they, you know, got stomped in the Outback Bowl against Florida. They made a lot of changes after that year and one of those was to you know kind of look at the analytics and you know do more bill belichick type and obviously both of those guys are disciples of the bill belichick coaching tree and and do more of that that you know like type stuff of being like okay it's fourth down

here obviously we typically would go for the field goal here but you know analytics say that 52 of the time you should actually go for the run there and try to get the fourth down or get the first down on that fourth down play. I think they did a lot of evolving then. It's been a slow process, and we're starting to see it come to fruition this year. Yeah. I know Kirk's big on his analytics now, which he kind of admits with a chuckle. But he's part of the game now, and I commend him for kind of diving into it.

Yeah, I do love his press conferences are so fantastic, where he basically – he's willing to admit that he's an old guy and his old habits die hard, but he also kind of makes fun and pokes fun at himself. And I don't know if you listened to Part of My Take, but he actually went on to Part of My Take, which is just mind-blowing to me that he was even there but um just you know i guess you can't teach an old dog yeah he's uh and he was funny too he was cracking jokes i mean obviously they're some of their jokes i don't know if he understood them all but

he did a really good job of kind of going with the flow in that. Yeah, it's his dry sense. He's got a very dry sense of humor. I mean, he does have a sense of humor, but you know. Extremely dry. Speaking of that, have you listened to Washed Up Walk-Ons? And for the record, anyone who's listening to this, definitely check out Washed Up Walk-Ons. It is a fantastic podcast ran by three former Iowa players. And I would say it covers a lot of different topics from what we cover on this podcast. We are more well-rounded, focusing on all Iowa sports. They, on the other hand, do a really good job of giving some very player-specific opinions on what the football team is doing.

And they do it in a pretty funny way. And they have some pretty funny Kirk takes, too. But do you listen to Washed Up Walked Ons? I have not. I'm definitely aware of it. It's on my list. It's kind of like on my it's in my queue to watch it i i just haven't gotten around to it yet but it's definitely something i want to check out i've heard good things uh you know i follow on twitter and things like that so i i'm aware of what it is and

definitely want to check it out yeah it's very entertaining they've and they've improved a lot too just from the first week to um the last like couple episodes they've had. So I'm digesting a little bit. One to want to touch on a few things. Obviously AJ Pinesa had a fantastic game as he always does. It's honestly surprising to me. He's not getting more hype. I was talking about potential all Americans for next year. And one of the guys I noted was AJ Pinesa. When you looked at the total stats or the total sacks in the nation,

I believe he was eighth or ninth or maybe 10th in the nation in sacks. Obviously added another one today. And the top seven guys, though, were actually All-Americans, like first, second, third team All-Americans. I think it's very possible that next year is an even bigger breakout year. I mean, obviously people saw how dominant he could be, but I'm hoping that Phil Parker is willing to put him in and actually play him 75% of the time

and have more against a run. That way he can be more impactful throughout the game as opposed to his limited snaps that he's been playing this year. He will, you know, Parker Hesse graduates and I love Parker Hesse, great leader for that team, solid player. But him graduating right there is going to elevate Epinesa.

He's going to play a lot more. I think he grew a lot in the run game. You can see that. That was his kind of biggest knock-on was playing the run. But, yeah, the guy is an animal. I mean, he had 10.5, 11.5 sacks in the season. He was a backup. I mean, that's the most

in the uniform since, like, Claiborne in 09. Claiborne was a first-round draft pick. I mean, the guy didn't even play half of the snaps, you know? He's approached that territory of, you can't block it. Like, half the time there was a holding flag. You're like, I guarantee you there's holding at the

missile. Because otherwise, you know, he's going to get there. He's going to sack the QB. He's going to cause fumbles. He wreaks havoc. He's at least questioning the QB on almost every play. Or he's being held. I mean, he can't stop it.

And next year, we're just going to get more of that. And it's going to be great. Yeah, I'm really excited to watch. I mean, he was destroying Big Ten tackles this year. And the Big Ten, if they're known for anything, it's having solid offensive lines. That is the one thing the big 10 is really known for and obviously in more typically historically playing a very conservative type of football obviously that's changing a lot now a lot of the offense in the big 10 are evolving into more you know the rpo type spread type concepts but i mean he was he was destroying all the offensive lines including

wisconsin he had a couple good plays against their All-American tackles. And so I'm really excited to see what happens next year. Another guy I'm kind of curious about is Imani Hooker. I'm hoping he comes back. I think he ultimately will come back, mostly because I feel like he's not getting the hype that is needed to even be considered a first, second, or third-round prospect. Safety's not really valued a ton. And as we've seen with Iowa defensive backs, they're not valued a ton in the NFL.

I mean, they've gone typically a few rounds lower than what they probably should have. And I'm looking at, obviously, Desmond King, Josh Jackson, Micah Hyde, and they performed really well. So, I mean, personally, I think there's a little bias. I think Hooker has a really great potential or future in the NFL once he gets into the nfl but i'm hoping that the lack of buzz around him allows him to come back and i think that'll really elevate the defense to have him playing again and you know allowing them to also move into more of that 4-2-5 defense that has been relatively effective against some of the more um extravagant offenses of the big 10, and you said it right with the word hype.

I was at a party the other day with a group of people, and they were all saying, oh, Hooker's gone. He's going to the NFL. I said, I think he comes back because he doesn't have the hype. He's not on a lot of draft boards very high anywhere, but I think if he comes back next year, he will have that hype. I think that year he'll have it. He has another solid year. Then he's

all of a sudden elevated on all those draft boards. He's elevated on everybody's list. I do think like you said, the history of the defensive backs at Iowa, they haven't been picked as high. They're kind of undervalued, but they've all had successful... Desmond King was the top-rated corner

pro football focus. Micah Hyde's excellent. Josh Jackson had a little rough start, but he's a rookie. So they had some success, so I think some teams will read into that. He has that vibe, and then he comes back. He has another All-American-type year. I mean, watch out. And that Iowa playing to that 4-2-5 defense with that new start position, he is made for that position.

So I just think it's great. And, you know, he's going to have his opportunities with a lot of spread offenses that they play to make plays. Absolutely. And I think another thing that maybe isn't talked about a lot is when you're playing or when you're practicing against like the first team offense and practice, he's going up against Noah Fant and t.j hawkinson on a daily basis that also is something that as a safety as a safety you can play kind of hybrid dime backer

type of role to have that experience going up against arguably one of the most athletic tight ends to ever come into the draft in the last probably 10 15 years and then arguably one of the most well-rounded tight ends and t.j hawkinson to potentially enter the draft you know that's that's some good experience that you're working on and then obviously one of the most well-rounded tight ends, and TJ Hawkinson to potentially enter the draft. You know, that's some good experience that you're working on. And then obviously going into the Big Ten, you have some strong tight ends and whatnot there. And so that'll be a really good experience. I think he can also rely on and then play in that dimeback role. I mean, as a Broncos fan, I would love to have him.

I think he'd fit in really nicely there. And being able to play in the new NFL defense has kind of taken the storm now. Yeah. And, I mean, he'll fit perfect in a defense in the NFL. Those hybrid slot guys are, like, all the rage right now. I mean, you want a guy who can come up and play in this run sport and then a guy that's also quick enough to cover, like you said, athletic tight ends or slot receivers, things like that, which he can do. So he has a future in the NFL, I have no doubt.

Absolutely. I think he needs that hype one more year. He'll get that, and I think he'll be better for it. Yeah. One other thing, I obviously would love to talk about TJ Hawkinson, but I know it's pretty much – I would be very surprised if he comes back. And then obviously Anthony Nelson is getting – you know, when you talk about him to people who just kind of watch the game,

they don't really think of him as like a top round draft pick but all the draft analysts have him as a top 40 top 45 prospect just for what he can do in both the pass game and the run game and he quietly led you know tied for the lead in the big 10 with sacks i mean he had a really quietly very good season and he's not getting a lot of hype from mainstream media but i think draft analysts have him very high and i would assume that nfl teams have him very high as well but i think there's a chance he may come back hawkinson i think he's gone for sure that's that's pretty much inevitable so i wanted to get your thoughts on that what do you think

nelson be coming back i think i think nelson could come back i do agree with you there's even the start of the year he actually was on i saw him on some draft boards uh people mentioning his name which yeah to your casual fan which kind of shocked you because he's he doesn't seem to make the big plays i mean he doesn't do the strip that strips act fumbles or interceptions or block punts like you know ajf nesca but nelson. Nelson is as solid as it gets. You couldn't ask for anything more out of him. I think he comes back. I don't know.

I haven't really looked into whether he graduated early or things like that. Sometimes play factors. My gut feeling is he comes back. Hawkinson, yeah, I think he's done. He was big on, I don't want talk about it until after the bowl game, my decision, this and that.

Usually that indicates – it's because he doesn't want to say I'm gone and be a distraction. So I think he's gone. I think his stock's as high as it can be right now. Honestly, I feel like it almost – and I understand what he's doing there. And Hawkinson seems like just a really down-to-earth, small-town kid. When you come from a 3A school in Sheraton, you're going to be – typically those type of kids are going to be more down-to-earth

and focus on the goal at hand. But honestly, I feel like him not declaring for the draft was actually almost a distraction in itself. We don't know if he's going, so the question just kept coming up. Are you going? Are you not going? And he was saying, I don't know. I'm still figuring out. Just give the damn answer at this point.

But now that it's over, we'll probably find out pretty shortly whether or not he's gone. What are your thoughts on just the team in general this season? I mean, personally, I feel like 9-4 is a solid finish, one of the better ones Kirk's had in his career. Typically, he's in the 8-4, 8-5 range. 9-4 four solid. I think they're going to probably be ranked when the final rankings come out,

probably finish the high teens or low 20s. But to me, it just feels like – and the Outback Bowl is a great, ultimately, way to close out the season. We want to close out the season on a win, but I feel like the season as a whole is a disappointment. I feel like there's a lot of what could have been, and it's frustrating to look back and see all this talent be wasted. And the same way that other teams of the past couple years have been,

you know, the Ricky Sanzi-led team after the 11-2 season, that kind of thing. Yeah. I mean, it's hard to think of a nine-win season as disappointing because, well, it's only the second nine-win season Ference has ever had, you know, 2008 being the other one. Typically typically if you think about it i would say if the over under at eight wins if you go over eight i call that a great season if you're under eight disappointing um so yeah nine wins i would say oh that's great season but yeah you're right the feel of

disappointment knowing what could have been they lost so so many close games, games that were close, but Iowa really should have won. They were in control. That Wisconsin game, they were in control that whole game. Penn State, that defense got a couple safeties, a field goal, or the special teams touchdown, pick field goal. You felt like we jumped out to a big lead. Should have won that game.

The biggest reason why it was a disappointment was because the division was so open. You didn't have an 11-1, 12-0 Wisconsin team. So Wisconsin was down, and you're thinking, this division's wide open, and they didn't win it. Northwestern was the team that came in and took advantage of that, and you feel like that should have been Iowa. So the biggest reason for disappointment, I think, is the fact that the division was so open and we didn't get the divisional title. But, you know, a 9-1 season and winning a New Year's Day bowl game,

it's hard to be too upset about that. That's very – I mean, that's a good perspective to have on it. And I think what you're sharing echoes a lot of Iowa fans' kind of feelings towards this season. You have that little bit of feelings towards the season you have that little bit of disappointment but ultimately you got to look at the bigger picture and like I said nine wins is pretty good especially for a team that is recruiting primarily two and three star type of guys developing them you know we'll take the nine win seasons and I think the other thing

not to get too sappy on it is Iowa's doing it the right way and I'm not saying other people are doing it the wrong way but there's a lot of teams that, you know, maybe a little shady, maybe do things a little bit weird or behind the scenes, you know, not exactly the way I would do it, not as morally correct. But Iowa does it the right way every single time. And when you get nine wins doing it 100% with as much of a moral compass as you can, I think that's pretty solid, too. And that speaks volumes to the program, what kind of man Kirk is.

Yeah, I agree. I'm a Kirk fan all the way. Yeah, that's fair. Pretty fair. As far as next season, obviously the Hawks are losing, I want to say, 13 seniors. It might be 12 or 13. I can't remember the final number, but overall not a ton of super impactful players. I say that with a hint of relativeness. Obviously, you're going to lose players every single year. You're going to lose starters every single year. Losing Fant's huge. Losing Hawkinson's huge. I don't doubt that. Nick Easley as a security blanket's huge. But outside of that, they're

returning a lot of really strong players. They're returning their two starting tackles. They're returning, obviously, Nate Stanley. They have their stable of running running backs although i don't know if that's considered an advantage at this point because they really weren't able to get their feet under them throughout the year and then most of the defense is returning at the secondary if a hooker comes back you have a very strong secondary i really think hankins can improve a lot ojamudia showed a lot of good things and also a lot of bad things, but there's some good things there. And then Julius Brents has the making of a future stud at corner. And obviously you have Epineza and hopefully Nelson holding down the outsides of the line.

You have a lot of good depth at the defensive line position, even though you're losing, you know, three seniors, there's a lot of really good depth. I think it gives me some room for excitement there. What are your thoughts on next year's team? Well, anytime you win a bowl game, I feel like you instantly think, oh, next year is going to be so much better, which, you know, to some extent you could probably look back and show that that's true.

Teams that win bowl games, you know, kind of catapults them into next year. We get all of our pieces back. Having a, you know, third, third year starting quarterback back is huge. Your tackles are back. Like you said, that defense, we lose some defense linemen, but there's a lot of depth there. They're loaded. Secondaries got tons of experience. Linebacking core, tons of experience. The tight end race will be interesting. Ben Hawkinson's decision, but assuming he's gone, it would be a real question mark because there's not a lot of playtime

experience, I i guess behind them they have two catches total i think what's that i think they'll i think out of all the tight ends there's only two they only have two catches total yeah i mean two catches and that's it sean byer was hurt a lot this year and he's kind of been he's been under the radar because he's kind of been locked under fanny hawkins in his whole career. But I think he's somebody they like a lot, get through Cook. I know you've, in previous podcasts, dealt with a tight end position. So there's some talent there. They got three tight ends in their draft class,

which I wonder if that's a sign they were expecting both tight ends to go to the NFL because they kind of got him. But I think they'll be all right. I think the receiving core's got some experience. Brandon Smith might be a good red zone target to help ease in the tight ends. Next year, I think the West is going to be open again. I don't expect Wisconsin to be dominant again. I do not expect Northwestern

to go one loss again in the Big Ten. That was shocking to me. I don't expect them to do that again. Teams like Purdue are definitely on the rise, but it's going to be open again. Iowa's just as good as anybody in the mix that they won that. I think a really big theme is that it's not very top-heavy in the Big Ten West anymore, and the bottom's starting to get a lot stronger. Nebraska is going to be a lot better next year. Purdue is a really strong candidate for one of those graduate transfers. There's a couple of them

floating out there for quarterback that they could instantly elevate a program like Purdue with Jeff Brom coming back. And obviously, Wisconsin is the big question mark. It depends on what they do at quarterback. I think you have Alex Hornibrook, who hasn't really shown to be the guy. Jack Cohn hasn't shown to be the guy. But they have a four-star recruit who's one of the top recruits that they've ever gotten coming in at quarterback. What if he has a year like Jake Fromm, that kind of thing?

That could really elevate that program. So a lot of question marks at the top and a lot of promise at the bottom. And then for Northwestern, I think a lot of it depends on what you do with Pat Fitzgerald. It sounds like he might be getting some looks in the NFL. I heard that he might be getting a ring from the Packers. I don't know if you've heard anything about that, but that'd be huge for the Big Ten in Iowa to have Northwestern lose him. The Packers requested to interview him, which

I'm a Packer fan, so hearing that I would be excited. Interested definitely in having him. Plus the fact that he might leave Northwestern would be good for Iowa. He's a really good coach. You know, he's the second-longest tenured behind Kirk there. So I don't think he goes anywhere. I think even his comments after the holiday poll,

he said he's a wildcat for life. He's not going anywhere. I doubt he takes that job. But, yeah, I mean, you never know. I mean, I guess if I were in his position, I mean, he's playing for his – or he's coaching for his alma mater. Like, he built that program into – it's very similar to Iowa. I mean, there are very similar programs. And he has so much job stability that he doesn't have to worry about

if he has one bad year getting canned. Also because it's Northwestern and the expectations are also just in general, lower for that program, just because of kind of what they came from and, and that little bit stricter recruiting they have to do with their, their standards for academics. So it'll be interesting to see what happens there,

but overall it should be a fun year next year. Iowa has a little bit of a tougher schedule. Some of their, you know, the teams on their schedule are going to be a little tougher. They don't have to play all the strong teams on the east so that's that's exciting at least um and they get a couple of them at home and whatnot so it should be fun overall real quick before we you know kind of end the end the pod wanting to get your thoughts in general do you

have anything else you want to say about the game obviously exciting stuff anyone you want to to call out in terms of who did really well or something you're really impressed by uh yeah i got a few players i just want to talk real quick uh nick easley i know you and i are both newton guys so newton boy he was i believe he was player of the game mvp um you know he had 100 i think he had 100 yards a couple touchdowns where would iowa's wide receiving core have been if they hadn't found that kid and taken him in from Juco? So I'm going to be sad to see him go, but I was pleased that he ended on a certainly on a huge note. Another guy I want to mention is Jake Gervais.

I think he had a huge game. He's kind of an overshadowed guy. You know, Hooker kind of steals all the thunder. Geno Stone coming up young. Nobody ever – Gervais had a rocky start, you know, back and forth, start playing time and start time early in his career. But the guy ended solid. That gifted interception he got in the end zone was a huge swinging point

of the game. He had a lot of pass break up there. I think he had another couple drops, potential interceptions. But overall, solid, you know, solid player. And I'm glad he ended on a good note. And also, Miguel Racinos And I'm glad he did another good note. And also Miguel Racinos, the kicker, had another excellent game. Nobody ever thinks about the kicker. The guy's reliable.

He's not, you know, Nick Cadean or anything. I don't want to anoint him, but he's reliable. Won a side game, you know, with the amount of kicks that he made, some pretty decent kicks. And one more really important thing the least sexy topic ever but Iowa really needs a punter oh my gosh you could see Mississippi State's punter and you know 70-yard punt then he had like a 55 yard punt with hang time and then I would you know

grass center if you can get a decent rugby punt maybe it works but we saw that backfire with the line drive rugby punt, Mississippi State. But other than that, I mean, they were constantly – the defense's field position was just sloping against them that whole game because Iowa has no punt game. And if a guy like Pete Fiers needs a punter, it would help his team out. A punter can be a huge weapon if you have a good one in Iowa. I think that says a lot about the strength of the team, though, too, the fact that we can call out the punter as an issue.

And Rastner has been really one of the bigger issues throughout the season. I mean, there's been times where he's averaging like 30 yards per punt. He doesn't really do any good coffin corner type punts. I mean, the rugby style, honestly, is just the least sexy way to kick a ball anyways i it looks so rushed and unorthodox and unconventional and inconsistent i think are kind of the words i'd use for the way he's putting the ball and yeah that guy catching that ball was impressive though i can only imagine that thing was coming pretty hot but that flipped the script for field position and could have really screwed Iowa in the long run. And yeah, that 70-yard punt by Mississippi State, I mean, Kyle Grunerweg was

literally trying to sprint backwards and couldn't catch up to it because it was going so freaking far. Thank God it went out of the end zone. That was about the only good thing that happened on that entire punt. Yep. No, like I said, nobody ever talks about the punter, but you regret it. It's one of those things you don't realize unless you have a good one, how effective of a weapon a good punter can be as far as field position, especially a team like Iowa that, you know, they need field position. They need to win that battle. Ferentz talks about winning that battle all the time.

A good punter could do wonders for them, and they haven't had one for years, I feel like. I mean, it's the last time I've had a solid punter. Ryan Donahue back in the 09 days. It's about a solid decade. Yeah, I think especially for a team like Iowa where Kirk is very much predicated on doing the simple things right and playing solid special teams, strong on defense, staying in your gaps, that kind of stuff,

to not have a punter really hurts that that motto or that method um so i completely agree and i i agree with the racino's pick i mean he had a solidly a pretty solid two years at kicker for iowa had a i mean he missed a couple kicks but the kicks he missed were some tough kicks and some bad weather conditions so overall he had a good year i mean i think he was hitting 75 percent of his field goals going in today made a couple more so I was going to bump it up and he's going to be a career around an 80 percent field goal kicker which is pretty good for someone who's he's probably not going to the NFL he's he's not really an NFL prospect on radars but that's pretty pretty good for a walk-on and then I completely agree with Jake Gervais he redeemed

himself I was a little frustrated early in the game. He missed two interceptions, and the first one was a little difficult. The second one hit him right in the freaking hands, but that third one was arguably the most important, and he got it. And I was like, hey, God, what a good time to actually come up with the ball. So I completely agree with the players of the game. Obviously love Nick Easley. I think talking to his brother, we're going to try to get him on the too so that should be should be fun to talk a little bit about his story and

obviously it's i would say it's told a lot because it's very interesting his his process to getting to iowa but i want to delve more into his work ethic and the stuff that he's doing off the field and also as he prepares for the nfl draft and not likely to be a guy drafted but i think one of the announcers made a really good point something i've been talking about it's easy to make the comparisons but um to talk about him potentially being like he's a very new england patriots type of weapon that slot receiver type of guy and i think it's easy to make that comparison when you're five foot nine white and quick that's that is very much a new england patriots receiver and i think he could fill a role in some offense the nfl if they use him right yeah uh yeah everybody compares him to a Wes Welker type guy.

I agree with that. I think he could find a place. It says a lot about him that he was Stanley's security blanket kind of the past couple of years. And typically a tight end, you would think of being a security blanket, and Iowa had two of the best tight ends in the whole country, yet easily was still the guy that stately kind of went to so i think that says a lot about him the trust he had in him he had great hands he was a tough kid uh you know deceptively fast i think not blazing speed but i think he could i think he could have a shot he

could card his place for himself in the nfl absolutely and actually it Absolutely. And actually, the deceptively fast thing is interesting. I'm curious to see what he does at the pro day and how fast he runs because I'm pretty sure he's not going to get invited to the combine. But one of the things his brother said, he said once he set the pro agility record for Iowa, the three-count shuttle record. I'll have to pull it up at some point. But he set some program records for more of the agility

and lateral quickness type of things that um are associated with the slot receiver so some good stuff i'm really excited to see what he does but jared thank you for coming on the podcast man i appreciate i know it's new year's day um obviously you have a a family you're taking care of and you've been busy for the last four hours watching the game so i appreciate you taking another 30 to 40 to talk to me about the game today and obviously we'll definitely have to have you on man yeah no i appreciate having me uh it's been fun uh what a win it certainly makes the new year going to new york feel great uh hopefully the basketball team can carry the momentum here going to the big 10 play but heck yeah man uh

obviously the the basketball game was a little bit rough against brian but um they were that was a weird situation man they only had a few guys that were really healthy and whatever. As long as they can pick it up against Purdue. First game in eight days with Christmas holiday and everything, they came out a little sluggish. They were banged up. They had some guys not playing against a smaller lineup type team, so they couldn't really use their size, free throw line and stuff.

So, I don't know. I wouldn't read too much into that. I more i'm more anxious for the purdue game here coming up which will be real test for them so yeah i mean they have purdue and the nebraska back to back that'll be um surprisingly tough so there's no easy route in the big 10 this year i'll tell you that for basketball yeah man it'll be fun we'll have you on to talk about some basketball games later on jared thank you again happy new year buddy and we'll talk to you another time bud thank you go hawks and that'll do it for our tuesday episode kind of wrapping up the game from the 2019 outback bowl with jared starkweather who you can follow on twitter he's also a contributor to dear old gold

so make sure you're checking out arnold all of his great content that he's putting out there for the website. We'll be back again tomorrow. We have a lot of great stuff in the works. I know we weren't really as active last week as we thought we'd be. It got a little difficult as I was traveling through Europe to actually get some of the podcast created, so my apologies. We will be giving you

four this week, and we'll have four going every single week, ongoing, just so you won't have to worry about the consistency as much as you had to during the holiday season. That'll do it, though. I'm your host, Andrew Wade. You can find me on Twitter at Wade underscore Andrew, and you can follow all of the exciting happenings

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Have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation, and we'll be back tomorrow.