Regaining Its Legs

Oct. 29, 2004

Iowa vs. Illinois Live Game Coverage
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With a 168 total yards of offense and 42 on the ground last week against Penn State, there’s little question that Iowa needs to improve its running game against Illinois on Saturday.

The good news is that the Hawkeyes (No. 23 AP; No. 24 ESPN/USA Today) have steadily gained experience in the two areas that give a team its legs: the offensive line and running back.

While the running back position has lost four players in seven games, the situation is finally settling down with sophomore Sam Brownlee and freshman Damian Sims. Brownlee started his first collegiate game last week and recorded 30 yards on 16 carries.

“He’s been playing great for us,” Head Coach Kirk Ferentz said, “and Damian’s making progress. We’ll keep bringing him along. He’s practicing well, and I hope that each week he’ll get more comfortable with what we’re doing.”

Ferentz and his team could go unbeaten through the month of October with a win at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Kickoff is set for 11:10 a.m. Saturday, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

But in order to make that accomplishment and have momentum going into the three hardest games of the Hawkeyes’ season (Purdue, Minnesota and Wisconsin), the team will have to establish a running game that can get the ball moving when the so-far impressive passing of quarterback Drew Tate is shutdown.

“I think first and foremost, everybody’s got to do their job,” Ferentz said. “If everyone takes care of what’s in front of them first, that’s where it all starts. Needless to say, there are a lot of things that we could clean up from Saturday. We left some yardage out there and some plays out there, and we have to get those cleaned up or we’re really pressing our luck a little bit.

“For us to get over the top, we need to have everyone reach a little deeper than they think they can.”

Brian Ferentz, the junior right guard, agrees with his father.

“You’re not going to win in November if you’re not moving the football,” he said. “The hard part about last week was that we had a lot of plays that were there, but we’d miss one key block. That’s what’s frustrating. We need to get everybody on the same page.

“I think it’s been proven over the last 100-some years of college football that if you’re going to win, you’ve got to be able to run the football. You’ve got to run it when it matters. Fortunately, we were able to run it when it mattered on Saturday. So hopefully we can get our act together and start running the football.”

One of the hardest things other than the injuries at running back has been getting Iowa’s act together on the offensive line. The players on the line went through changes every week up until the Michigan State game. Since then, the starting lineup has remained the same.

“I think it helps,” Brian Ferentz said. “The one thing that made it real easy for me to step in against Michigan State was that I had played next to Pete (McMahon) last year. The more you play with guys, the better you feel about it and the easier it is to communicate out there. You never get so overwhelmed when you’re playing with guys you know. We get a little closer every week.”

For the fourth week in a row, the two-deep depth chart matches the starting lineup. Lee Gray will play left tackle, Mike Jones will play left guard, Mike Elgin will be at center, Ferentz will start right guard, and Pete McMahon will play right tackle.

For the injury rattled coach, Kirk Ferentz just has two things to say about keeping his group together for the rest of the season: “Knock on wood, knock on wood.”

“I think the key thing is up front the fact that we are keeping the guys in practice now,” the coach said. “We’re actually getting some continuity in practice now, and our whole thrust is trying to improve every week. And it’s not every week that we’re going to move forward, and that was the case last week, but at least our guys competed and did things pretty well for the most part and did enough to win.”

For Brian Ferentz, establishing a running game against the Illini, who give up an average of 218.8 yards on the ground, would be an important confidence builder for the team.

“It would help immensely,” he said. “I think more than anything we have to get the confidence back in our coaches that we can run the football. I think at this point they feel more comfortable throwing the football, and I watch the tapes and I don’t blame them. I think we need to prove to our coaches that we can run the football.”

And according to Tate, who’s racked up a 209.6-yard average per game to be the fourth-best quarterback in the Big Ten, he’ll run whatever is called by the coaches on the sidelines.

“Whatever is called is called and we have to go with it, whether we throw it more or run it more,” he said. “It’s more enjoyable to win and run the ball than lose and throw it. I want to do whatever we can to move the chains and put points on the board.”

Tate says he has noticed that the more experienced offensive line has certainly helped his team. In the three games leading up to the stable line, the Hawkeyes averaged 78 yards on the ground. Since the personnel changes have settled down, the team’s averaged just more than 94 yards.

“Everyone is a veteran now,” he said. “Everyone knows what they’re doing and knows what they have to do.”

Barry Pump, hawkeyesports.com