Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Recap of the embarrassing effort @ Minnesota | Women's bball, tennis, and wrestling dominate | Nick Kendell talks about Iowa's d-line and Jake Gervase

Episode Date: January 28, 2019

We kick off the show talking about Iowa's disappointing loss to Minnesota at Minnesota yesterday including how bad the defensive effort was and how good Garza and Cook played for most of the game. Segment two gets us talking about how all other Hawkeye athletics dominated this weekend. The women crushed Purdue, wrestling remains undefeated after stomping on #18 Illinois and the men's tennis team took care of business to move to 5-0. Segment three has us heading back to our fantastic conversation with NFL Draft analyst Nick Kendell as we talk about the draft prospects of Iowa's defensive line (Parker Hesse and Matt Nelson) as well as safety Jake Gervase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to another episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. The Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is a part of the Locked On Sports Network's Growing Lineup of College podcast. As you may know, if you've already listened to the show, the Locked On Hawkeyes brings you daily, bite-sized content pieces all about the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. 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 are back after a two-day hiatus, obviously not giving you episodes over the weekend, but a lot of stuff happened over this past weekend. So I want to make sure we keep you in the loop with what went on in Iowa Hawkeye Athletics. Starting off for the day, we're going to talk about the Iowa versus Minnesota basketball game. The men struggled throughout that game, obviously lost, very disappointing loss, and we want to talk about that on segment number one. On segment number two, though, we're going to get to a lot happier games because the rest of the Iowa Hawkeye

athletic world crushed it this weekend, and we want to make sure that we're talking about that. So on segment number two, we're going to cover the women's basketball team, the wrestling team, the tennis team, and swimming and diving. So make sure you're staying tuned for segment number two. And then finally, on segment number three, if you've been listening to the show the last couple days, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week, you know we've been having NFL draft analyst Nick Kendall on to talk about Iowa Hawkeye football prospects and who could be going in the NFL draft, what are their draft prospects, that kind of thing. It's been a fantastic, kind of continuous piece.

Obviously, the conversation with Nick was extensive. We covered a lot of material, so I've been giving that information to you in sort of bite-sized chunks. I'm kind of dropping a few players here and there over the last couple days. On today's episode, we're going to cover the draft prospects for Parker Hesse, Matt Nelson, Sam Brinks, Miguel Racinos, and Jake Gervais. So make sure you're tuning into segment number three. We'll be giving you all that information. And if you're a big fan of the NFL draft, or you're a big fan of Iowa Hawkeye football, or both, or neither, and you just feel like listening to some other shows, check out Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday's episode. We had fantastic content.

On Wednesday, we covered, I believe, Anthony Nelson and Noah Pham. On Thursday, we covered TJ Hawkinson and Imani Hooker. And on Friday, we covered Nick Easley, Ross Reynolds, and Keegan Render. So make sure you're tuning into those episodes as well, and tune in for the rest of the week. We have some fantastic stuff coming to you, talking about the draft prospects for next year. Obviously, with a lot of people leaving this season, there's going to be some people who are going to step up. And who are those guys who could really make a play and potentially leave early for the NFL draft?

Or guys like Nate Stanley, who are already looked at as potential day one, day two draft prospects. What do they need to do to improve their draft prospects for next season? Before we jump in, though, to talk about the Iowa versus Minnesota game, make sure you are subscribing to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast at. And or if you have a smart speaker at home, it's very easy to listen to the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast. of a smart speaker at home, it's very easy to listen to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

All you need to do is tell Siri, Google, or Alexa to play podcast Locked On Hawkeyes. It is that easy to listen to one of the newest shows on the Locked On Sports Network. It's just that easy. There's no excuse to not listen to this awesome podcast about the Iowa Hawkeyes. So with that being said, let's jump right into it. Let's cover the worst thing first, and that was yesterday's game, Iowa versus Minnesota. Very disappointing game. Obviously, if you saw the Iowa versus Michigan State game, Iowa was in that game for a long period of time. They were up 50-42 at one point in the second half. Michigan State had a fantastic performance down the stretch, obviously beat the Hawks pretty bad towards the end of it,

and that's why this game was so important. Iowa is in the midst of a very tough four-game stretch. They're taking on Michigan State, the number 16 in the nation. Then they had to go away to Minnesota. Not a great team, but a NCAA tournament contender. They're on the bubble right now as we speak. And then finally, next week they're taking on Michigan, number five Michigan, before heading to Indiana, which is, they're taking on Michigan, number five Michigan, before heading to Indiana, which is always a tough place to play, regardless of how good or bad Indiana is doing this year. And so far, not so good. They've kind of struggled a little bit the last couple games. But regardless, Iowa really needed to get this win. They needed to rebound from their

performance against Michigan State. They came out with so much energy and the crowd was electric in Carver and Iowa just couldn't close the deal out. So it was important that they rebounded and bounced back, but they unfortunately were not able to do that. And it was really disappointing to watch that game kind of take place and unfold. Iowa's defense was absolutely atrocious. It was embarrassing to watch them play defense. You couldn't tell what the heck they were doing. All that communication and energy they brought to the Michigan State game was out the freaking window as we watched the game against Minnesota. And again, Minnesota isn't a Michigan State team. There is no excuse for Iowa to not play better defense.

And Minnesota was missing their starting center, Daniel Otoro, who was averaging 10 points a game and 7 boards. So the fact that Iowa couldn't get together was just it's unfortunate and it just kind of shows the type of impact that Michigan State loss had on them. I think obviously they're a little bit down from that game. I think it's easy to come into that game against Minnesota and not bring as much energy when you really left it all on the floor against Michigan State. In terms of kind of what Iowa was able to do effectively,

Luka Garza and Tyler Cook really played well offensively. Also, Isaiah Moss could not miss from three-point in the first half. They combined to score 66 of Iowa's 87 points. If you saw or listened to our conversation last week as we talked about the Iowa-Michigan State game on Friday morning's episode, you know one of the things that was huge about that game was the fact that the guard play was just disappointing all around. You know, Joe Wieskamp, Jordan Bohannon, Isaiah Moss couldn't really get much going offensively.

Thankfully, Isaiah Moss had his game on today. He was doing fantastic. But Bohannon and Wieskamp just couldn't do a lot. They went 1-5 from the the field and that only field goal they got was a garbage time layup by Bohannon in the closing seconds. So just a bad performance all around. And you could tell that Fran was frustrated. I mean, he sat his entire starting unit middle of the way through the second half and put in, you know, of all people, Riley Till and kind of left those guys in there and they weren't able to close the gap at all. And it was obvious that

the talent discrepancy between the starting unit and the bench unit. But I think it was important for Fran to kind of send a message that I'm willing to lose this game to send a message to my starters that you need to play better defense. You need to be focused. You need to be bringing the energy consistently throughout the game. If you don't, you're going to lose games like this to the Minnesota Gophers. And you could tell that the defense wasn't there. I mean, Minnesota coming into this game was shooting 44% from the field and 32% from three. Against Iowa, they shot 57% from the field and 39% from three. So again, embarrassing performance all around. Iowa did though, I'll give them this,

they were able to come back. They were able to make a game out of it. And to the point where I thought, holy crap, is Iowa going to actually win this game? Are they going to actually do this? Ultimately, as you know, they did not. They ended up losing 92-87. But for a certain period of time, they went on a 15-2 run with five minutes remaining. With a minute and 34, they were only down four points. Unfortunately, some mishaps happened.

I think Iowa had the opportunity to close that game out or at least get it to overtime, whatever it may be. But some unfortunate circumstances. Tyler Cook being the star forward, I think he wanted to close out the game for Iowa and really get them back in. He made a few blunders that ultimately cost him. He missed a free throw.

He didn't even hit the rim. And then when Iowa was down four he was driving to the bucket and lost the ball so not exactly the best performance from Tyler Cook but he was a large you know a large reason why Iowa was even in that game to begin with so disappointing game Iowa's on a two-game losing streak right now they are set to face number five Michigan on Friday evening so hopefully that break in between will be enough time for Fran to kind of kick his team's butt into gear, give them sort of that push that they need to go in and hopefully maybe upset a Michigan team. When I looked at this schedule, this four-game stretch, I really thought if Iowa could go two and two in this stretch, that would be huge. And I was looking at the Minnesota and Indiana game. So now to go two and two, they need to knock off number five Michigan and go to Indiana and win that so it'll

be really important for Iowa to continue to hopefully build off of that bad performance continue to work and progress on the defensive side of the ball obviously the offensive side of the ball is is doing okay I would like to see them put the whole thing together everyone on the team actually have a strong strong offensive, but that's neither here nor there. So we'll see how they come back on Friday evening. But that'll do it for the recap of the Iowa-Minnesota game. We're going to probably be giving you three takeaways on tomorrow morning's episode.

I want to kind of dive back into the film, look at the game again, and watch and kind of see some of the big takeaways from that game so I can give you in-depth analysis on that. I'm recording this the night before, so the game just ended a few minutes ago. and watch and kind of see some of the big takeaways from that game. So I can give you in-depth analysis on that. I'm recording this the night before. So the game just ended a few minutes ago, obviously a little frustrated,

obviously didn't get a chance to, you know, watch it from an analytical perspective as much as I would have liked to just, you know, watching the game casually. So want to make sure I'm giving you some additional takes on that on tomorrow morning's episode. So stay tuned for that. Before we jump into segment number two,

though, where we're going to be talking about Iowa Hawkeye athletics 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, the 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. Locked On listeners can get a free 7-day trial by going to sling.com.

That's S-L-I-N-G dot com slash locked on. Never miss a game again with Sling TV. All right, we are back after that message from our sponsor for the show. We're on segment number two. We're going to be talking about Iowa Hawkeye Athletics. Just a reminder, though, stay're on segment number two. We're going to be talking about Iowa Hawkeye Athletics. Just a reminder though, stay tuned on segment number three. We're going to be giving you the additional content from our talk with Nick Kendall, the NFL draft analyst from 24-7 Sports.

We're going to be talking about some of the remaining draft eligible seniors, Parker Hesse, Matt Nelson, Sam Brinks, Miguel Racinos, and Jake Gervais. So make sure you stay tuned for that conversation on segment number three. But let's get right down to it. Obviously, the Iowa-Minnesota game was disappointing from a men's perspective, but the rest of Iowa Hawkeye Athletics did fantastic. The women are on a five game winning streak. They beat Purdue at Purdue, which is always a tough place to play. They won 72-58 despite shooting 28% from three-point, but they did shoot 52% overall and they held Purdue to 38% shooting overall. So a strong defensive performance,

a good offensive performance from the field, but not obviously from three-point land. And it was huge. I mean, the game was pretty close, all right? So Iowa was only up 62-56 So Iowa was only up 62-56, and they were able to close out the game on a 10-2 run to build that lead to 14 points. So fantastic performance from the women's basketball team. Gustafson, Megan Gustafson, again, I think she is a fantastic player. She kind of struggled in this game, and I use the word struggled in air quotes because she still shot 10 of 20 for 50% for 25 points and she pulled in 11 boards in that two blocks but when you're that good 50% is actually kind of a down game for her she's averaging around 70% shooting so despite all that she did fantastic Hannah Stewart had the

hot hand today she shot 10 of 12 for 20 points and she also brought in seven boards and Kathleen Doyle had a great game she you know dished out nine assists and had seven points. So another great game by the women's basketball team. We'll be talking about their upcoming schedule on a few more episodes later this week. The men's tennis team also had a great weekend. They beat Butler five to two. They are currently unbeaten in five and O

and their next game is against Miami on February 8th. That'll be in Iowa City. So if you're in the area, make sure to check out the men's tennis team that is off to a very hot start in non-conference play. The wrestling team, they also remain undefeated. They are having a fantastic season. They took down No. 18 ranked Illinois 31-8 and Northwestern 32-7 this weekend.

They have matches on Friday and Sunday. Their next match is on Super Bowl Sunday against Nebraska at 12 p.m. That'll be another fantastic wrestling meet. Obviously, I'm very biased and I feel like the Iowa Hawkeyes, the wrestling team, will come out victorious pretty easily as they have most of the season, but stay tuned for that. We'll be giving you a full recap of that wrestling meet the following Monday. Also, men's swimming and diving was in action

this weekend. The men's swimming and diving team coming off of a big win against Wisconsin and Northwestern last Saturday. They took on, you know, they went to the Shamrock Invitational this weekend and they finished third with 780.5 points while the women's team finished fourth with 434.5 points. So congratulations to those teams. Fantastic performances all around. Obviously kind of softens the blow a little bit from the men's team. I know a lot of people who are listening to the show probably focus more attention on the men's team, but I do try to give you a well-rounded approach to all the Iowa Hawkeye athletics because some of those other teams are doing fantastic jobs right now.

And obviously the wrestling team, the tennis team, undefeated. The women's team is ranked in the top 25 and will be a contender for, you know, a Sweet 16 appearance. So make sure you're tuning into the other Iowa Hawkeye Athletics. But that'll do it for our segment number two. Just a reminder that on segment number three, we're going to be having Nick Kendall talk about the remaining seniors who are draft eligible.

And that is Parker Hesse, Matt Nelson, Sam Brinks, Miguel Racinos, and Jake Gervais. So make sure you're tuning in to segment number three after a few messages from our sponsors on today's show. All right, and thank you for listening to those messages from our sponsors. As I said, on segment number three, we're going to be giving you our conversation with Nick talking a little bit about the remaining draft eligible seniors. So let's tune into that conversation right now.

We have three seniors played together for a while. We have Matt Nelson, Parker Hesse, and Sam Brinks. When I look at this group to me, I don't know if Sam Brinks is really NFL quality necessarily. I think Parker Hesse is a very hardworking, but he's kind of an undersized, not exactly the kind of guy who's going to make a huge difference on a team. And then I think Matt Nelson is pretty intriguing just because of how tall he is and the fact that he was playing that defense position, but got moved into defensive tackle, obviously the numbers kind of dropped a little bit. But I think there's a little bit more versatility

and potential with Matt Nelson than you would have a Parker Hesse and especially a Sam Brinks. What are your thoughts on those three guys? I can't disagree. The thing with me, with Matt Nelson, is that he might be too tall, which I know,

so bear with me here, but the NFL, the, the inside game, especially with the defensive tackles versus interior offensive lineman, the low man wins. I mean, it's great to be long.

It's great to be tall, but leverage is everything. And he does a pretty good job with knee bend. I mean, he's not an overall freakish guy, but there's a reason you don't see many seven foot tall nose tackles in the NFL. Those guys that big, you're going to get guys at your legs. You're going to be on the ground.

You're going to lose the leverage battle. You're not going to have great balance. So there's something to be said about his body type. I do like the length. I do think he has the ability to occupy multiple gaps in that regard. But when he's taking on double teams, I mean, we saw it against Wisconsin. He was driven back.

And that has partially to do with, I mean, just his body size. He's not a 320 pound guy, despite that, you know, six foot seven frame. You know, he's going to have to, and he does a good job. I mean, he reworks the offensive line. He'll, our defensive line,

he'll reset his hands, he'll reset his feet, he'll shuffle them to reestablish that that anchor but i think that at some point being that tall works against you because you are automatically at a disadvantage in the leverage battle which is everything as it comes to trench play that said he's a guy who's been moved around a very smart kid obviously i think he got into medical school i believe that's He said in an interview that his goal was, once he's done playing, if he has an NFL future, he's going to med school and he wants to be a doctor. Not just your regular Joe Schmo family practice doctor. He wants to be an orthopedic surgeon or something.

Yeah. So, smart kid. That's definitely going to be a story. And he's going to come in there and work hard. The athletic upside, I mean, I wouldn't say it's super high he did have that amazing sack against iowa state this year which was fun but those type of defensive tackles pretty much if you can't get after the passer consistently you're going to fall down the draft i mean there's nose tackles but the the day of the the hog mollies up front that just eat blockers and free up the linebackers and stop the run their values pretty much dead so i mean that's those guys you're seeing them fall to where they used to be second or third round picks you're seeing them go fifth sixth seventh round even undrafted

so not that he's just not i don't think he's the juiced up type of pass rusher that you you see we'll see teams value that said the, the character, the versatility, I think he has the ability to play some one technique, even some three technique and heavier base sets. That's something that teams will like, as well as the personality and the character. I actually think if I'm picking, I'm picking Parker Hesse first. He's a guy that there are some questions about the size,

the length, the athleticism. But as far as an edge-setting base guy who has also a little bit of ability to work out in the flats and coverage, offers some versatility there, I think he's a pretty solid player. And when you're getting overshadowed by the likes of Anthony Nelson, especially A.J. Epinesa, you're going to not look as good. But I really think that he, again, is a guy who could go six seventh round maybe undrafted but i think there's some versatility there especially when you know you saw him kick into three technique when the when the hawkeyes used their i don't know if you what did they call their light package it's like they're not it's not nascar package i

can't remember that's what the broncos call it um it's essentially a nascar package yeah i mean because like they have aj epinesa they have chauncey golston they have anthony nelson they have parker hesse and it's just yes let's let's kill the past let's kill the passer yep essentially i mean they're giving up anchoring ability against the run to get penetration and disruption to the backfield which i mean that's what you want so i think parker hesse is another guy that probably around the same value as matt nelson but i lean to him a little bit more because, A, it's about getting after the quarterback. You can't be a total liability against the run,

but it's about getting after the quarterback. And Parker Hesse is one of the best. I mean, I would argue he was our best edge-setting player last year. I mean, that's one reason that he started so much over A.J. Epinesa, who, I mean, while his flashes were incredible, his ability to consistently set the edge and not get too much depth up the field or work back inside or work too far outside. I mean, Parker Hesse was consistent holding that edge. He'd beat that guy and he'd be there and force them back into help or not let them kick out. So I think that Hesse is another

one that I value pretty highly, higher than what I've heard from draft Twitter and whatnot. So I wouldn't be surprised if he gets picked. Probably, probably I wouldn't bet on him being picked sixth, seventh round because he doesn't have much special teams upside, growth upside, et cetera, et cetera. But you're going to get a solid player. Absolutely. And then I think we could probably close the door pretty quickly,

unless you feel like it's worth exploring. But I think Sam Brinks, his career is probably done. Would that be an accurate statement? He might get a chance to be a coach, but I don't, I don't see him in the NFL now. Same with a Hockaday, the last guy that probably on this, the senior group, obviously Racino's you touched on him. I'm not going to go too much into kickers because that's totally fair.

I don't think anyone really cares. Good luck to me. Nate Cading's the dude still, but if mercy racinos can do some stuff in the nfl that'd be amazing but i think uh jake travis is another one who'll have a chance in the nfl again undrafted free agent guy in the 90 man squad that is fighting for a spot the preseason game three preseason game four etc etc but another guy that offers some versatility as special teams and he's shown that he actually can play some single high. I don't think he's athletic enough in the NFL to do that. If you leave him back there, he's not going to be able to cover enough ground. But coming downhill, solid tackler, solid instincts,

a guy that was a leader for that team for sure. And if he makes a team, that'd be amazing. I think he'll probably be one of those ones that he'll get a couple chances to make some teams as a young guy. Then, unfortunately, he's cut down. That's just kind of where I see his value, his range. But good player, and I think he'll get a shot as well. I mean, if you're playing football, especially with how Iowa's started to –

I mean, they've always been a developmental program, but their recruiting has gone up recently as well, and the talent level has increased, et cetera, et cetera. Thank Chris Doyle. Thank Kirk running the stable program. Maybe even thank all the, the big $10 that are coming into Iowa and this new indoor facility and the robot quarterback, whatever the heck that thing is.

But I think I was definitely a program and the big 10 as a whole are trending up as far as talent. And that's good for the league and good for draft analysts like myself. Yeah. And I think, you know, pretty impressive regardless, just even getting to the NFL Travoss, far as talent and that's good for the league and good for draft analysts like myself yeah and i think you know pretty impressive regardless just even getting to the nfl travis i believe was a walk-on so and i mean he had some he had some struggles bouncing in and out of the starting lineup earlier in his career so he had a really good rebound season i believe he was honorable mention all big 10 so uh either way just a fantastic conclusion to his career and played a big role in the Outback Bowl.

Pissed me off a few times, dropped an easy interception and then arguably a potential interception, but came back big with that interception in the end zone. So all is good in my world with him, but I'll be excited to see kind of where he goes. All right, thank you again to Nick. He's been so gracious with his time we spent an hour and a half last week talking about all these iowa hawkeye players who are draft eligible and who could be draft eligible next season so again a big shout out to nick for his time giving us his

in-depth analysis expertise on iowa hawkeyes and the nfl draft but that'll do it for our monday episode we hope you had a fantastic weekend. Thank you again for joining us on the Monday episode. We hope you enjoyed this episode on your Monday morning commute. As you probably know by now, I'm your host, Andrew Wade. You can find me on Twitter at Wade underscore Andrew, and you can follow all the exciting happenings of the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast on Twitter at Locked on Iowa. Make sure you're also subscribing to our podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify,

or wherever you get your podcast at. And if you have a smart speaker at home, you can just tell Siri, Google, or Alexa to play podcast LockedOnHawkeyes. That will give you the latest episode of the LockedOnHawkeyes podcast. Again, you can also reach out to me with questions, comments, or suggestions at LockedOnHawkeyes at gmail.com. Actually, fantastic, exciting stuff. We had our first email this past weekend, so shout out to the person.

They know who they are. We really appreciate the email. We're looking forward to continuing the improvement of the show. So again, let me know if you have any thoughts or comments on the show. Always love to hear from you, the fans. But again, that'll do it for our Monday episode. Thank you for joining us on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Have a fantastic day, Hawkeye Nation, and we'll be back tomorrow.