College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Iowa Hawkeyes season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Iowa Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 10-3 overall, 6-3 in Big Ten
Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz, 22nd year, 162-104
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 14
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 23
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 13
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Offense 3 Things To Know
– Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has as much talent and experience to work with as Iowa has enjoyed in a long time, but a whole lot more pop has to be generated from the nation’s 99th ranked attack.
The Hawkeyes have their moments, but they simply didn’t score enough until they ripped up USC for 49 in the Holiday Bowl win.
They didn’t score more than 27 points against anyone but Rutgers in Big Ten play, but that was still almost enough to come up with a huge season – each of Iowa’s three losses came by seven points or fewer.
CFN in 60 Video: Iowa Hawkeyes Preview
– It’s not that QB Nate Stanley was bad; he just didn’t make the jump up in production he probably should’ve. Now it’s up to 6-5, 231-pound sophomore Spencer Petras to be the guy with the massive arm who can stretch the field more and get the offense to be a bit more explosive. He’ll have to fight off a few options, including freshman Deuce Hogan, the star of the 2020 recruiting class.
No matter who the quarterback is, he’ll have a fantastic receiving corps to help the cause.
Star with senior Ihmir Smith-Marsette, the 6-1, 186-pound senior who led the team with 722 yards on 44 catches and five scores. He averaged over 16 yards per catch, and so did sophomore Tyrone Tracy, who was second on the team with 589 yards.
Senior Brandon Smith is a 6-2, 219-pound physical receiver who made 37 grabs in his nine appearances, and sophomore Nico Ragaini led the team with 46 catches as a possession receiver. Throw in tight ends Sam LaPorta and Shaun Beyer – these two should do a whole lot more than they did last season – and the pass catching weapons and depth are there.
– Losing OT Tristan Wirfs to the first round of the NFL Draft stinks, but everyone else is expected back, and that’s more than a little bit of a shocker.
Alaric Jackson could’ve been a possible first rounder, but he was banged up for most of last season and is back to potentially up his draft positioning. The rest of the line is solid, but the whole group has to do more for the running game.
Tyler Goodson had an okay season with 638 rushing yards and five scores, but he was a good receiver and has the flash to start doing a whole lot more.
Former JUCO transfer Mekhi Sargent returns after finishing second on the team with 563 yards and four scores, but third-leading rusher Toren Young – who was one of the former Hawkeye players speaking out against the program in June – left the team this offseason.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Defense 3 Things To Know
– Longtime Iowa assistant and defensive coordinator Phil Parker has a bunch of work to do to build back up the nation’s 12th-best defense that allowed just 308 yards and 14 points per game.
How strong was the Hawkeye D? It didn’t allow more than 24 points, and it cave up fewer than 20 nine times.
But now the line needs a bit of an overhaul.
DE Chauncey Golston is back at one end – he should be among the team’s best pass rushers – but the other three starters are gone up front, including new Buffalo Bill AJ Epenesa and both starting tackles – Cedrick Lattimore and Brady Reiff were killers against the run.
Iowa is great at filling in the gaps and keeping the production going, needing Daviyon Nixon bring the 305-pound bulk to a bigger role at one tackle, and with a rotation at the other spot around junior Austin Schulte. Hybrid sophomore pass rusher Joe Evans will get the first look on the other side of Golston.
– The line might be a concern, but it’ll be fine with a little bit of time – and the same goes for the linebacking corps.
Eventually.
Leading tackler Kristian Welch is done, but Dijmon Colbert is a good-sized linebacker who can move on the outside. The middle would’ve been fine with Dillon Doyle taking over for Welch, but he left for Baylor after this dad, strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle, reached an agreement and parted ways with the program.
Nick Neimann is a good veteran who can do a variety of things as a dangerous player in the backfield on the other side of Colbert.
– Losing three starters from the secondary certainly doesn’t help the cause – not having Geno Stone around at strong safety hurts – but this group is in the best shape right away. The depth was there last year, and it’ll payoff this season with enough options and position battles to quickly make up for the losses.
Jack Koerner returns after finishing second on the team with 81 tackles, and Matt Hankins is a decent-hitting corner who made 58 tackles with two picks. The rest of the parts – like Riley Moss at the other corner and sophomore Dane Belton taking over for Stone – will be fine.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Iowa Hawkeyes Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Iowa Hawkeyes Players
Best Iowa Hawkeyes Offensive Player
OT Alaric Jackson, Sr.
Tristan Wirfs was selected by Tampa Bay with the 13th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. There were some varying opinions on where Jackson might have gone if he had come out early – he wasn’t quite himself with a knee problem bothering him – but he certainly would’ve flirted with the first round. Now the 6-6, 320-pound senior will be the anchor on the line from his left tackle spot.
He was a bit banged up throughout last season, but he locked it down over the second half of the year to earn All-Big Ten honors. This year, if he stays healthy, he might just be the league’s best blocker – at least the NFL types might think so.
2. C Tyler Linderbaum, Soph.
3. WR Ihimir Smith-Marsette, Sr.
4. QB Spencer Petras, Soph.
5. PK Keith Duncan, Sr.
Best Iowa Hawkeyes Defensive Player
DE Chauncey Golston, Sr.
Go ahead and throw Golston into the Key Player To A Successful Season bucket, too, considering all the stars lost on the defensive front.
The 6-5, 272-pounder is more of an end who could play tackle, but he produces no matter where he lines up. He earned All-Big Ten honors making 47 tackles with three sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss, and he was always around the ball with three fumble recoveries and five broken up passes.
2. LB Djimon Colbert, Jr.
3. CB Matt Hankins, Sr.
4. S Jack Koerner, Jr.
5. DT Daviyon Nixon, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Iowa Hawkeyes Offense
Start making more of the birdie putts instead of settling for pars.
The biggest key early on will be to crank up more downfield plays with the passing game. That will come in time – Spencer Petras has a serious arm, and this is the best Iowa receiving corps in a long, long time. Overall, though, it’s time to get more touchdowns when venturing into the red zone.
Helped by the kicking of Keith Duncan, the Hawkeyes were amazing when they got inside the 20, finishing fourth in the nation in red zone conversions hitting 40-of-42. The only problem was that 15 of the 40 were field goals, and 15 of the touchdowns came in three games.
However, when the team came up with the touchdowns, the O had its three biggest point total games of the year in easy wins over Miami University, Middle Tennessee and USC.
There was one trip inside the 20 in the 10-3 loss to Michigan – the team came away with a field goal. There were two trips against Penn State – both were field goals in the 17-12 loss.
The Nebraska game was the only other game without a touchdown from inside the 20, and that turned into a fight until the finish.
Over the last five years, Iowa is 23-1 when it scores three or more touchdowns when getting into the red zone.
Biggest Key To The Iowa Hawkeyes Defense
Be a whole lot better on third down conversions.
This all falls under the formula that Iowa needs to get right for it all to work. If it’s not going to be a 40-point-per-game team, and it’s going to rely on great defense, coaching, and special teams to take over most games, it has to do all of the little things right.
This year, with the revamped D, getting off the field matters more than ever.
Overall the Iowa defense was great, and it will be again after the new starters come into place, but when it couldn’t stop long marches, there was a problem.
In 2014, Iowa lost to Wisconsin 26-24 after allowing the Badger O to convert on 54% of their third down tries. That was the last time the Hawkeyes D allowed anyone to convert more than 50% of their attempts before Penn State converted on 53% of its chances in the 17-12 victory in mid-October of last season.
A few weeks later, Wisconsin hammered away for over 57% of its third down tries in a 24-22 win.
By the way, the Hawkeyes are 1-8 over the last eight years when allowing teams to convert more than half of their third down chances.
Key Iowa Hawkeyes Player To A Successful Season
LB Jack Campbell, Soph.
Kristian Welch was an all-star linebacker in the middle of one of the nation’s best run defenses last year. He led the team with 87 tackles with three sacks and nine tackles for loss.
He graduated, but Dillon Doyle was ready to go after making 23 stops as a nice backup in his year as the apprentice. He left for Baylor.
Now it’s likely up to Campbell, a 6-5, 218-pound sophomore to either step up and shine in the middle, or use his size and range on the outside while someone else takes over on the inside.
There’s a ton of upside and athleticism, but he only made five tackles last year. Now he has to make a thin linebacking group a whole lot stronger behind a line that’s undergoing an overhaul, too.
Key Game To The Iowa Hawkeyes Season
at Minnesota, Sept. 18
The Hawkeyes kept the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy last year – handing Minnesota one it its two losses on the year – with a fifth-straight victory in the series and the seventh in the last eight.
The home showdown against Wisconsin in the regular season finale might mean everything, but lose to the Gophers in the Big Ten opener on the road, and with Michigan State, at Ohio State, and at Penn State up next in conference play … uh oh.
– Iowa Hawkeyes Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Iowa Fun Stats
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Iowa 90 – Opponents 34
– Red Zone Scores: Iowa 40-of-42 (95%) – Opponents 23-of-29 (79%)
– Fumbles: Opponents 15 (lost 9) – Opponents 9 (lost 5)
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Iowa Hawkeyes Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
CFN in 60 Video: Iowa Hawkeyes Preview
No current college football coach has been with his school longer than Kirk Ferentz, who took over in 1999 and went 4-19 in his first two seasons.
He has had just two losing campaigns in his last 19, and has the program on a run five straight seasons with eight wins or more, but he hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2004.
This year’s team needs to break in a new starting quarterback, has to figure out how to score more points, and has to replace a whole slew of key parts from a killer defensive front seven.
Ferentz has turned Iowa into enough of a machine that filling in the parts shouldn’t be a problem, and at least eight wins is a given going into the year, but …
None of that mattered in early June as the on-field side of things became irrelevant.
The charges by several former players of racial discrimination within the program took over the spotlight, leading to the parting of ways with longtime star strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle. Ferentz and the entire program are attempting to make a whole slew of changes in the way things are run, and that will likely be how this season is measured.
And that’s the backdrop for a team that has a whole bunch of things to figure out on the field, too.
Set The Iowa Hawkeyes Regular Season Win Total At … 7.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 7
Can the Hawkeyes win their road dates?
Here’s the plus side. Wisconsin, Nebraska, and what should be a much-improved Northwestern team have to come to Iowa City. It helps to not have to deal with Michigan from the East, however …
Missing Maryland and Rutgers from the other division hurts, and then there’s this issue – at Ohio State, at Penn State, in back-to-back weeks.
Going to Minnesota won’t be a breeze, either. Out of those three road games, if Iowa can pull off two wins, it’ll likely have the shot at winning the Big Ten West when the Badgers come to town at the end of the regular season.
But Buckeyes, Nittany Lions, Badgers and Gophers won’t going to be Ferentz’s biggest concern compared to making sure all of his Hawkeyes are fine.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
