• Donations
  • Advertise With Us

Free Hawkeye Sports Coverage

HawkFanatic Iowa Hawkeyes sports header logo
  • Football
    • Football
  • Football Recruiting
    • Football Recruiting
  • Basketball
    • Men’s Basketball
    • Women’s Basketball
    • Basketball Recruiting
  • Wrestling
    • Wrestling
  • Sports+
    • Sports+
  • About
  • HF Podcast
  • Forums

Breaking News

Iowa women’s basketball recruit Ava Jones struck by vehicle in Louisville
Fran McCaffery hires Tristan Spurlock as director of player development
2023 Missouri tight end Zach Ortwerth commits to Iowa football team
2023 Kansas forward Ava Jones commits to Iowa women’s basketball team
Iowa men’s basketball team will face Seton Hall in 2022 Gavitt Games
Hawk-Fanatic-Iowa-Hawkeyes-hawk-logo

Football

Hawk Receivers Hope Gritty Goes Long Way

Pat HartyFollow @PatHartyIowa Football, iowa-hawkeyes, jacob-hillyer, Kirk Ferentz, Matt Vandeberg, tevaun-smithSeptember 3, 2015

Tweet

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Tevaun Smith understands that the reputation of his position proceeds him. That’s why the senior and his fellow Iowa wideouts are working hard towards shaking that image.

"As receivers they kind of look at us as pretty boys and whatnot. (The coaches) want those gritty type guys. We’ve been definitely working on that and doing whatever we can to be those gritty receivers and it’s getting better everyday. We’re excited for this Saturday to be that," the Toronto product said.

The Hawkeyes kick off their season Saturday against Illinois State at Kinnick Stadium (11 a.m., BTN). Fans hope to see them extending the field with long pass plays. To increase the odds of that happening, the receivers must be complete players.

Coach Kirk Ferentz has mentioned several times during the off-season that he’s been pleased with improved blocking on the perimeter. The hit-and-miss of that aspect of the game coincided with the inconsistency of the offense a year ago, particularly the rushing attack.

Smith said the coaches increased their emphasis on those assignments since last season ended.

"We block everyday. We go against the DBs (defensive backs) everyday and do blocking drills. It definitely helped throughout camp and leading into this game. So, there’s definitely going to be a lot better down-field blocking and going and getting the safeties and whatnot. So, yeah, it’s going to be exciting," he said.

The novice views Iowa’s running game, which ranked 61st nationally last year, as being the responsibility of the offensive line and the backs. But the guys on the perimeter must carry out their assignments for the rushing attack to flow at the highest level.

Smith and classmate Jacob Hillyer look the part. The former checks in at 6-foot-2, 205 pounds while the latter is listed at 6-4, 212. The third receiver, Matt Vandeberg, goes 6-1, 185. They understand that blocking well in the running game going opens up the field for them with play-action and to be physical off the line when their number is called.

"It really goes hand-in-hand," Smith said. "If you can be that gritty receiver, it kind of helps when you’re running your routes. You’ve got to be that angry type guy and I feel like a lot of us have taken pride in that.

"I know I get pretty angry running my routes. So, I’ve got to put that into blocking as well. It’s definitely going to make me an all-around better receiver and make everybody else a better receiver, too."

Related Posts

Ronnie-Harmon-Iowa-Football

Football /

My top-10 Iowa running backs of all time

Kirk Ferentz

Football /

Athlon Sports has Iowa football losing four conference games and finishing third in Big Ten West

137A3319

Football /

Spot-on scouting report of Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa football team

‹ Harty: My crystal ball shows more of the same for Iowa football› Harty, Howe High-Five College Picks Week 1

HawkFanatic Podcast

  • Hotspot LogoHawkeye Hotspot Podcast 6-29-22
  • Mailbag LogoHF Mailbag Podcast 6-28-22
  • Hotspot LogoHawkeye Hotspot Podcast 6-23-22

Hawk Tweets

Tweets by PatHarty
What are we worth to you?
To help us continue supplying FREE content, please consider donating here

Back to Top

 
HawkFanatic Iowa Hawkeyes logo
 
  • Home
  • Football
  • Football Recruiting
  • Basketball
  • Wrestling
  • Sports+
  • About
  • HF Podcast
  • Forums
  • Donations
  • Advertise With Us
© Website Design and Development by Vortex Business Solutions - All Rights Reserved | Contact Webmaster