Five questions heading into Iowa football media day
IOWA CITY, Iowa – Welcome to the next step in getting closer to the much-anticipated start of the Iowa football team’s 2016 season.
Iowa will hold its annual media day event on Saturday, less than two weeks after the Big Ten Conference staged its own football media days in Chicago.
Up next after Saturday will be the Kids Day practice on Aug. 13 followed by the start of Kirk Ferentz’s weekly in-season press conferences on Tuesday, Aug. 30.
After that, it’ll finally be time for some football on Sept. 3 when Iowa faces Miami (Ohio) in the season opener at Kinnick Stadium.
There is plenty of work to do before then, though, as Ferentz prepares for his 18th season as head coach.
Here are five questions that will go a long way in determining Iowa’s success this season.
1. Can C.J. Beathard stay healthy? Iowa’s senior quarterback said at Big Ten Media Day that he was healthy for just 2 ½ games last season. The Hawkeyes dodged a bullet, though, as Beathard still managed to start all 14 games with Iowa winning 12 of them. Beathard was limited in some games from a physical standpoint. But his teammates fed off his energy and toughness just from him being on the field.
What happens if Beathard can’t play for an extended period this season?
The spotlight will shift to third-year sophomore Tyler Wiegers, who served as Beathard’s seldom-used backup last season.
Wiegers completed 3-of-4 passes for 32 yards while appearing in just four games last season. We’ve seen glimpses of him in practice, but for the most part, Weigers is untested and inexperienced.
Next in line is redshirt freshman Drew Cook followed by incoming freshman Nathan Stanley.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Cook had been running neck and neck with classmate Ryan Boyle until Boyle switched from quarterback to receiver in the spring.
Boyle made the switch in order to play sooner at a position where I needs a boost. It seems unlikely that Boyle would’ve switched so quickly from quarterback if Cook had been struggling in practice.
2. What’s up with the kicking game? If keeping Beathard healthy is Iowa’s top priority, finding a dependable kicker and punter isn’t far behind.
Kicker Marshall Koehn and punter Dillon Kidd both used up their eligibility last season, leaving behind two huge voids to fill.
Iowa has a history of playing in close games under Ferentz, including last season when six of Iowa’s 12 victories were by eight or fewer points.
Field goals and field position both are crucial to winning and losing.
Sophomore Miguel Recinos was listed as the starting kicker throughout spring practice and nothing has changed since then, while redshirt freshman Colton Rastetter is the No. 1 punter.
Ron Coluzzi, a graduate transfer from Central Michigan, also will be in the mix at punter and kicker. Coluzzi averaged 39.2 yards as a punter last season, with 20 of his 59 attempts landing inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. He also had 20 touchbacks on 61 kickoffs with the Chippewas.
That is all we really know about the kicking game at this stage. We know that Desmond King is a dangerous return specialists, but the kickers with exception to Coluzzi are untested, unheralded and mostly unnoticed until now.
3. Will fans get a full shot of LeShun Daniels? Iowa’s senior running back has been hobbled by leg injuries in each of the past two seasons. Daniels has looked spectacular at times when healthy, a 225-pound combination of power and speed.
The problem is that he hasn’t been able to stay healthy for an entire season.
Daniels has one more chance to correct that problem.
4. What will Desmond King do for an encore? The Detroit native already has made history as the only Jim Thorpe Award winner to return to college.
From a statistical standpoint, King probably won’t match what he did last season when he tied the school record with eight interceptions because quarterbacks will be reluctant to challenge him.
But to neutralize one side of the field is huge in its own part. That’s why King’s impact this season will go beyond statistics.
5. Who wins the ground game? Iowa did that with regularity last season, averaging 207.4 rushing yards per game, while allowing just 123.0 yards.
Outside of Beathard playing in all 14 games last season, the fact that Iowa out-gained its opponents by an average of 84.4 rushing yards per game is arguably the most important statistic from last season.