Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - What's next in the Iowa gambling investigation? Throwback Thursday to 2004 Hawkeye football

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

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More on the sports gambling investigation with the University of Iowa. How concerned should we be with the names that haven't been released? Plus, it's a throwback Thursday. We take it back to 2004, Iowa's last Big Ten championship team. 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.

I'm Trent Condon and this is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Locked On Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We're available wherever you get podcasts. You can also watch me on YouTube. While you're there, make sure you hit that subscribe button. Helps us get in front of more Hawkeye fans. Well, yesterday, the bombshell was released. Aaron Blom, the backup kicker, bet on Iowa football game,

though he was not involved in it back in 2021. That was on the investigation part from the DCI, and that was handed out along with Iowa baseball player Garrett Christensen and former Iowa basketball player Aaron Ulis. So that was the information that we found out yesterday. You can go back, had an opportunity to talk with David Eichold, get his thoughts on things on yesterday's pod. Today, we're going to go a little bit deeper. And one angle that I want to continue to reiterate, first of all, there is no evidence of point shaving, gambling, game fixing, those kinds of things. That's not what this is about. It's something that the national media

has got, frankly, wrong. There's a lot of lot of people i think that are jumping to conclusions out there that frankly aren't there and we've heard that from both the iowa dci and we have heard that certainly uh from a number of different sources so that is a place to start but i want to go this direction so as we know going back to big 10 football media days noah shannon was getting ready to make his way to indianapolis and then about a week before he comes out and says i I will not be going. There was a press release that came out. And because he is involved in the investigation, he would not be going. Now, his name was not released today from the DCI.

That was not one that there was a criminal complaint about. It appears that this is an NCAA issue. And that is what we're waiting on. The NCAA now with their information to make a ruling. And going back to June, that is when we got the new guidelines that were put in place by the NCAA. And those new guidelines basically set up different parameters. In the past, it was you make a bet, period. Your college career is over. That is not the case anymore. They have changed that, and it looks a whole lot different now about what it is. And the way that it is now currently set up with this,

if you bet less than $200 cumulatively, less than $200, you make a couple of $5 bets and that's it, and it's done, well then you, in fact, do not even have to sit out any games. $200 or less, you get a sports wagering rules and prevention education class, and that's it. $201 to $500, a loss of 10% of the season. $501 to $800, a loss of 20% of the season. And greater than $800, a loss of 30% of the season,

plus rules and prevention education. So that is how it is written. You also have to get reinstatement from the NCAA. When you go over that $800, NCAA reinstatement staff are directed to consider whether additional loss of eligibility, including permanent ineligibility, are appropriate. So you have that. And these new guidelines, though better, are not good enough.

Because as we've seen with a number of these, I go to Aaron Ulis. And again, you look at Aaron Ulis and you look at it on the surface and the amount of bets that he made, totaling over a thousand bets. You're seeing tens of thousands of dollars in it. There's a little sticker shock, I think, for people. But then you do the math. He's making $25 wagers. He is not betting in excess of $30,000. Now, yes, combined, that's what it is. And I still maintain that the NCAA, they need to look at this and understand the scope and what sports gambling is. And when you're doing the cumulative nature, basically everybody's going to go over that $800 threshold. They didn't go far enough.

Or they didn't understand enough. Did they have actually a gambler that helped with this? Somebody that has done sports wagering before because it doesn't feel like it. If that's what you put up and you make these cumulative, that is where the issue is. Look, these players knew. They knew that they couldn't gamble. The players that have been identified were doing it by falsifying documents, either using other people's information. For Aaron Ulis, it was his brother. For Garrett Christensen, it was his mom. And the same thing for Aaron Blom. Those three players all used different family members

and used their information in order to bet and do it under the age of 21. So that's the component that we have here. But it's just something that still rankles me that the NCAA didn't go far enough or doesn't understand enough about sports wagering that they put this in place in the way that they did. And that's something that I believe still needs to be looked at.

Another thing that we learn at Big Ten Football Media Days is Kirk Ferentz mentioned that the players that are involved have lawyers. That is going to add yet another wrinkle to this. But I want to go to this step and what this means. So Noah Shannon, I would be completely shocked if it's less than $200 and he doesn't sit out a game. In fact, for whatever the remaining players are, I would be shocked if anybody is under

that $800 threshold that is put in place by the NCAA. So what does that mean? Well, for a 12-game season, very simply, that would be 3.6 games of the season. You think they're going to round down? Because I don't. Here's the problem. Game four this year?

Yeah, that's Penn State. So if you're talking about not only losing Noah Shannon, but we believe there is going to be at least a couple of other players continue to hear a defensive back might be involved. And we know the depth in the defensive backfield is not great at this time, or at least we're going to be talking about some new guys

that are going to have to step up and take a step forward if that is the case. That is something, if it is four games, and I think that's what it's going to be, that is going to impact with that road trip to Penn State and Iowa being without Shannon, maybe being without another player there. We know Aaron Blom, his career is over. Iowa went out, got a backup punter, hopefully a backup kicker. Maybe he can do both of those things in a walk-on after the news of Blom today, because Aaron Blom was both the backup kicker,

as we saw him kick a year ago, including the miss against Iowa State after they somehow got down the field in the final seconds in the rain soak game and were able to have an opportunity to tie that game and send it into overtime. And you know what, man, I don't know if anybody wanted to watch any more of that football as poorly as that game was played, but that aside. So Aaron Blom, his NCAA career is over. Anybody that is involved that also bet on the sport and bet on Iowa, their career would be over. And not just Iowa football. If you're a football player and you bet on Iowa basketball, you bet on the women's team, you bet on the field hockey team, if there was a line out there, you bet on anything involving the University of Iowa, your university, your college career is over. That is the way that is written by the NCAA.

It does feel like this is something that we are going to have some kind of determination here very quickly. Remember, a week from Friday coming up on will be August 11th. That will be Iowa Football Media Day. And certainly at that point in time, you would think we're going to have some more information. Maybe guys that aren't available because of the investigation going on. And it's been all over the place. Hearing what the NCAA is going to do, how quickly this is going to be resolved. We just never know. You really don't.

And it's all speculation at this point. This thing could drag on. And what does that mean? As camp starts up here, does that mean as camp starts up here does that mean that noah shannon shouldn't be practicing does that mean anybody else that still has investigation and looking to having some kind of suspension from the ncaa that they shouldn't be practicing looking for those guidelines and exactly how it's going to be going to be important going forward well on thursdays here throughout the summer months we like to take a look back and we're going to go back to one of my favorite football teams in Iowa football history. It's

2004. You remember that 2004 team, the last Iowa Big Ten championship team in 2004 played for the title a couple of times in the Big Ten championship game. Well, that wasn't a thing back in 2004. I will want to share of the trophy that season. We'll talk about that. Plus, we'll talk about what this gambling investigation doesn't have a chance to put a cloud over the 2023 football season. That's as we continue here on the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. Today's episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available.

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Terms and conditions apply. Trent Conant back with you again on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. As always, thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. Coming up tomorrow, LaShawn Daniels is going to join us. In fact, you might ask him a little bit about this investigation and what it does, what kind of cloud is hanging out there. And of course, we're going to be talking a lot of

Iowa football with him as we gear up for the season, one that is going to be an exciting one. But before we look forward, a look back. We do this on Thursdays. It's a throwback Thursday. If you have any teams that you want to see spotlighted that we haven't talked about here throughout the course of the season, hit me up on Twitter at Trent Condon. Would love to get your insight, and we can talk about some of these teams.

So the 2004 team, after coming off 2002, of course, the Orange Bowl season, the Big Ten championship season, 8-0 in the Big Ten that year. Didn't get our shot against Ohio State. Boy, I wish we would have got the Buckeyes late that season. Alas, that was not the case. Followed up in 2003. You lose Brad Banks. You lose a ton of players off that team.

You lose the offensive lineman outside of gallery. And yet they go out there and once again win double-digit games. Back-to-back top 10 seasons for the Hawkeyes. 2004, early on it did not look like it was going to be that way Iowa survives in week two against Iowa State and then it's a road trip down to Tempe to take on Arizona State so I would seen Arizona State the year before it was a home and home series Iowa had handled them pretty easily it was one of those weird games too it wasn't quite a night game because I want to say it was like a five o'clock start on ESPN2, something like that the year previous. And Iowa's

defense just absolutely demoralized Andrew Walter and that Arizona State team. But 2004 was completely different. If you're down there in Tempe, you remember the tailgating, the heat, and then the rains came and the lightning delay. And it just threw everything off. And that Iowa team that day was as bad as Iowa looked in a very, very long time. We're talking about seasons. You talk about the disappointment of the 2002 season at the end and the loss in the game against USC in the Orange Bowl. It was nothing in comparison to the way that Iowa played against Arizona State.

And certainly, I think, set the wheels in motion, a reason that Iowa has not gone back out there to the left coast and played games, had the series that was already in place against Arizona that came a couple of years later. And Kirk Ferens basically said, yeah, this is not the place for us to be playing non-conference games. It was ugly. So a week later, Iowa takes on Michigan. And this is back when Michigan, they were still the heavyweight. They are kind of, they were what they're kind of turning into again.

The physicality, the winged helmets, the big, strong quarterback play. They had everything there and they took it to Iowa. Yet coming off the 44-7 loss, Iowa hung around, got out to an early lead. Ed Hinkle made an incredible grab to make it 7-0 and they hung around. Came back late, scored a touchdown, lose it, 30-17. For my purposes, though, as a cover, I was a 13.5-point dog that day, and they bounced back and got the cover, but not the win. And that was it in terms of losses.

Iowa sitting at 2-2, definitely a crossroads of the season. What is this team going to be? What is going to happen? Well, all they do is rip off eight consecutive wins after that one and some absolutely incredible games in there. Some of the most memorable games that you're going to have with Iowa football. So as you go through and you take a look back at that season, the first one, Michigan State.

In fact, this was the only game over about a five-year stretch that I missed in Kinnick Stadium because, well, I had a family member getting married that day and, well, I had to go to the wedding. Yeah, that was a disappointing one for me. They get that one, right the ship, dominating performance against Michigan State, and they win it 38-16. Then the domination of Ohio State. Now, this is an Ohio State team that was limited offensively late in the game. They finally score as Troy Smith put them in the end zone. But Iowa got their biggest win against, at the time, Ohio State and won it 33-7.

The following week is a road trip out to Penn State. And maybe one of the most memorable games because of the final score, 6-4. What I loved about that game, Iowa racing out to a 6-2 halftime lead. Also, though, what was happening in the life of Kirk Ferentz. And his father had passed away that week. He was not around the team very much that week. He was up with his family during that time. Met the team in State College.

And the emotion on the sidelines, seeing after the game, the hugs that were there, the tears that were shed by Kirk Ferents, but also the belief in his team. Late in that game, where a field goal would have beat them, they decide up by four, six to two, we're just going to take a safety. We're going to step out of the back of the end zone. We're going to punt the ball back. And all Penn State needs is a field goal to beat us. And they believe so much of that defense that they did just that.

It was an absolutely incredible performance. I know a lot of people make fun of the game that don't remember the game. That one, I remember well and remember just how dominating the defense was that day. Then a win against Illinois, that one on the road.

I was at that one as well as my first trip ever to Champaign-Urbana, a super windy day. Iowa at this point had been absolutely devastated by injuries in the backfield. The running backs, they were down to Aaron Mickens, who was a fullback, who was playing running back at the time.

Injuries all over the place. Thought Jermell Lewis was going to have a monster season. That wasn't the case as he was injured. And the injuries just got piling up more and more throughout the course of the season. Super windy day there. Also a story from that one. As we're making our way back after the ball game back to our tailgate spot and to get the vehicles and head back to our hotel and get ready for a little partying that night,

had a group of frat nerds from Illinois. They're hollering at us to go back to our farms. I mean, a really great comment. And I pointed at a guy and I said, buddy, you got a barn on your campus. Look, there's a silo right back there. Shut up. And they quickly shut up. That was a good one.

I was happy about myself on that one. Illinois, what a bunch of dorks. All right. After that, it was a win against Purdue as Iowa continued the winning streak. Another tough game. And then a road trip up to Minnesota in the 2004 season. This Minnesota team was really good, really talented. And though Iowa had the lead throughout the course of this one, it was ultimately a play by Chad Greenway. Second down play, they

gave the ball to Barber, maybe it was Maroney, one of the two great running backs for Minnesota. Hit him for a loss. Greenway made just a great play out on the edge. Looked like it was destined to pick up seven, eight, maybe ten yards and make the field goal a little bit easier. That would have been a game winner for Minnesota. Instead, he couple of yards set up a 51 yard field goal and Lloyd absolutely shanked that one Iowa survives in the Metrodome 29-27 we were doing the hokey pokey on our way back out of the dome in that one then after that victory that set up what turned out to be a Big Ten championship game with an upset earlier in the day as Michigan fell to Ohio State we knew walking in that day against Wisconsin that if Iowa

won this one they were going to have their second Big Ten title in the last three seasons though Michigan had the tiebreaker to get the bid to the Rose Bowl we know this was going to set Iowa up to make their way and get another championship. And they did just that. Some dominating defense once again. Early on in that game, Drew Tate, he really struggled. And Drew Tate, there are so many memories of him. Just the Houdini act that he was making at times.

We talked about the running game and all the injuries at the running back position. But his ability to spin out of the pocket, to make plays on the run, to move out, to waggle, to do the different things. He was the prototype of what we thought maybe Iowa was going to do going forward at the quarterback position. Unfortunately, it really hasn't been the case. Drew Tate, he was one of a kind. And that season, 2004, putting it all together,

so much fun to watch what he was able to do at an offense that was very limited, but a defense that was playing at such an elite level. Of course, that set up the 2004-2005 Citrus Capital One Bowl. They were going through the game

change at that point in time. That one, just another great game. Iowa jumping out early. Clinton Solomon running past the LSU defense to get an early score. But here comes Jamarcus Russell as a freshman off the past the LSU defense to get an early score. But here comes Jamarcus Russell as a freshman off the bench for LSU. They come roaring back and setting up a play that will live in infamy. On the final play of the game, Warren Holloway,

who had never caught a touchdown in his career, he catches one, a 56-yarder, as Iowa wins it at the gun against LSU, 30-25. And all those bourbon-swilling Tiger fans, they were very quiet after that one. A real fun one also in that one. I was up in the press box for that game also, and most of the beat writers had already made their way down to the field. I stayed up there. I was not going to be doing any work after the ball game.

I decided that I was going to get back out there, do a little tailgating after the game. But there were still a few people up there. Of course, no cheering in the press box. That is a rule. There was some cheering in the press box, though, after that one as Iowa wins it at the gun. And just an absolutely incredible season as Iowa. Crazy to think that is the last time that they won a Big Ten title. So looking back at that season and looking at some of the numbers, Drew Tate, the numbers don't marry exactly

what he was. Threw 20 touchdowns that year against 14 interceptions, threw for 2,700 yards, 2,786 overall on the season, completed 62% of his passes. Let's hope that Cade McNamara can do the exact same thing for the Iowa offense though coming up this year. Your running game was led that season by Sam Brownlee. They walk on from Emmitsburg. He had 227 yards. That's right. That was the leading rusher for Iowa. 2.4 yards per carry. Jermell Lewis before he exited the season with an injury. Averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Jermell Lewis, before he exited the season with an injury, averaged 3.5 yards per carry.

Marcus Simmons, transfer from Nebraska, he averaged 3.8 yards a carry. Mentioned Aaron Mickens a little bit earlier. Albert Young got hurt that year. Damian Sims got hurt that year. You had Tom Bush, the fullback. He was out there. They tried a lot. Didn't have a whole lot on the season, but ultimately got it done.

Your leading receiver that year, you had Ed Hinkle. He had a big season with 63 catches. Clinton Solomon, he had 58 catches. Scott Chandler, the tight end, had big play Tony Jackson. That was the team, but the team, more than anything, was built on the defense. That defense that year, with what they did up front, it was so much fun to watch. You had the defensive backfield, Antoine Allen and Jovan Johnson playing together now for another season.

Considine on the back end. We mentioned Greenway and Abdul Hodge. Just a fun team that was built on defense and got it done with just enough offense. Maybe that's what we'll have with Iowa football coming up this year. We throw it back to 2004. Let's go back forward now to 2023. We mentioned this gambling investigation. A question, is this going to taint the season? Is this going to throw a dark cloud over the season? We'll get into that as we come back. This is the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast.

Trent Conant back with you one final time on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. As we put a cap on things here on a Thursday. Big thank you to everybody out there for hanging out with us. Again, coming up tomorrow for you every dayers. We will be joined once again by LaShawn Daniels. We'll talk plenty of Iowa football and looking forward. But with this investigation and a bunch of what-ifs,

does this have an opportunity to derail what is setting up to what I believe to be a really good season? And I just can't see it. I can't see it because of the leadership that I believe is going to be there, from the guys that just do it by work, right? The Jay Higgins, the Cooper DeJeans, the guys like that, the improvements that we're going to see offensively. And finally, with Cade McNamara,

you hear so much going back to his Michigan teammates. And that was such a huge, huge conversation piece in Indianapolis with the Michigan guys. I know it was brought up by a few of the Iowa beat writers, but just talking about Cade McNamara. And they talked about one of the reasons, one of the up by a few of the Iowa beat writers, but just talking about Cade McNamara. And they talked about one of the reasons, one of the players said,

one of the reasons he went to Michigan was Cade McNamara. That's why he went there. Not for the winged helmets, not for Jim Harbaugh, because of Cade McNamara. He is such a galvanizing force. He is such a player that knows how to absolutely rally the troops

and get people to believe that I don't believe that this is something that's going to lead to a problem. When we continue to hear those kind of things about a player like Cade McNamara, absolutely. I don't believe this is going to be something that can derail things. And one more note on that. So as we're getting ready to the season, I've been talking to a bunch of different people involved in the Big Ten, doing a lot of preview pods with some different podcasts and been on a couple of radio shows, was up in one in South Dakota. And when I bring up my optimism for the offense this year, not just Iowa football, but the offense, there's so many people that are taken

back. And with the last two years, and certainly last season, what it did to taint the view of Iowa football. I was never been known as an offensive juggernaut, even when it was going well. Outside of the 2002 season, that's not what people think about when they think about Iowa football under Kirk Ferentz. It's about the defense. It's about line play.

It's about tight ends. Those are the things, but never an explosive offense. And not that I believe that this is going to be some kind of explosive offense. I still have my concerns as Brian Ferentz is a play caller. I just don't think he is good at that skill. But there is enough talent that they're going to be able to overcome some of his deficiencies coming up this year.

But when I bring up any kind of optimism like that with the offense, so many people are taken back. It does leave me wondering, are we getting too pumped up? Are we going too far? Is the offensive line really going to take that jump this year? Is actually having wide receivers? Look, you go back to 2019, they had over 100 catches more from wide receivers that season than they did this past year.

The wide receivers are going to be better. The offensive line is going to be better. The quarterback is going to be better. The great running back freshman season that we saw a year ago in Caleb Johnson, you think he's going to be better. The great running back freshman season that we saw a year ago in Caleb Johnson, you think he's going to be better. And yet people are surprised that Iowa, I think, offensively is going to be a whole lot better this year. We will see.

We'll see you again tomorrow here on the Lockdown Hawkeyes podcast with LaShawn Daniels, and we will have you covered on everything going on. And if anything else changes or breaks, we will get into that with the sports gambling investigation. That does it for today. Thanks for making Lockdown Hawkeyes your first listen every day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Go Hawks.