Iowa notebook: Respect the Bison, injury report and more
IOWA CITY, Iowa – North Dakota State has won five consecutive FCS national titles and had the second player chosen in the 2016 NFL Draft.
And yet, playing the Bison still is considered a no-win situation for a team from a power five conference.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was asked Tuesday about that perception with his 13th-ranked Hawkeyes preparing to face North Dakota State on Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.
“I’m not really too worried about perception,” Ferentz said at his weekly press conference. “I’ll go back to our ’09 season, the first ballgame against UNI that year. We were very fortunate to win that ballgame. We had a pretty good team that year.
“That illustration right there, when you play anybody that’s good, UNI was very good that year. They’ve been pretty good traditionally – North Dakota State, ditto – you got to get ready to go. We’ll let other people worry about perception.”
Ferentz was referring to the 2009 season when Iowa had to block two field goals in the final seconds to defeat Northern Iowa 17-16 at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes would go on to finish 11-2 that season.
Northern Iowa also competes in the FCS, so the Iowa players are well aware that there isn’t much that separates the best FCS teams from FBS teams.
North Dakota State doesn’t recruit at the same level as teams from the power five conferences, but former Bison quarterback Carson Wentz still was the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft.
"All you got to do is look real close,” Ferentz said. “That quarterback they had last year, holy smokes. They have a lot of good players. They just don’t have 85 of them. Their top 40, I would say, is probably is as good as anybody’s.”
The Bison (2-0) have the full attention and respect of Iowa junior linebacker Josey Jewell. He knows their recent history, which includes victories over numerous power five teams, including Iowa State and Minnesota.
“They’re going to be ready for it, and we’ve got to be focused and ready for them,” Jewell said.
Injury report: Ferentz said Tuesday that a handful of players still were day-to-day with regard to injuries.
He likely was referring to sophomore center James Daniels, sophomore defensive end Parker Hesse and junior offensive guard Sean Welsh.
Daniels and Hesse both missed the Iowa State game because of leg injuries, while Welsh appeared to have injured his ankle against the Cyclones last Saturday.
Sophomore receiver Jay Scheel played against Iowa State last Saturday after being withheld from the season opener against Miami of Ohio because of a hamstring injury.
“Medically, I think we have a good chance to get Parker Hesse back,” Ferentz said. “I’d kind of compare him to where Jay Scheel was a week ago. James Daniels hasn’t been ruled out. We’ll see what he can do. He’s moving around pretty good right now. We’ll play that day by day. But we certainly can’t count on him.
“Like always, you have a handful of guys that are day by day. We’ll see how they respond during the course of the week. Hopefully we’ll be ready at kickoff. If not, we’ll play with the guys we have.”
Daniels started the season opener, but then injured his knee late in practice last Wednesday.
He was replaced in the starting lineup against Iowa State by sophomore Lucas LeGrand.
Get the ball to VandeBerg: It turns out Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard had extra incentive to throw to Matt VaneBerg on Saturday against Iowa State.
VandeBerg led Iowa with seven receptions for 129 yards and one touchdown against the Cyclones.
He then capped the evening by proposing to his girl friend at Kinnick Stadium just minutes after the game, and she accepted.
VandeBerg told his teammates before the game what he planned to do.
"I was like, okay, I’ll throw you a few extra balls," Beathard said.
Beathard was only joking with reporters, but he was thrilled for his teammates and favorite target.
"I’m happy for him, and I’m happy for their relationship," Beathard said.
LeShun Daniels still healthy: Unlike his younger brother James Daniels, Iowa senior running back LeShun Daniels has managed to stay healthy so far this season.
LeShun Daniels led Iowa with 112 rushing yards in the victory over Iowa State last Saturday. He also made it through the game healthy, unlike last season when LeShun Daniels suffered an ankle injury in the second game against Iowa State that hampered him for much of the season.
"I feel good," LeShun Daniels said Tuesday. "Obviously, I’m healthier than I was at this point last year. So I feel good and I’m ready to keep it going."
In addition to being healthy, Daniels said he is running harder this season compared to a year ago.
"Obviously, with the ankle injury it makes it difficult," Daniels said. "But I think this year I’m running a lot harder. I’m not thinking too much about my reads. If there is nothing there, I will just put my shoulder down and know that good things are going to come out of it."
Manny on the rise: Ferentz said Tuesday that true freshman Manny Rugamba had climbed to third on the depth chart at cornerback behind starters Desmond King and Greg Mabin.
Mugamba is one of 10 true freshmen who have played for Iowa this season. The Naperville, Ill., native has appeared in both games and had two tackles and a pass break-up against Iowa State last Saturday.
Head north to recruit: It’s not unusual for Iowa and North Dakota State to recruit some of the same players.
North Dakota State quarterback Easton Stick, for example, was recruited by both schools, but the Omaha, Neb., native never received a scholarship offer from Iowa.
Ferentz joked with reporters on Tuesday about about sending ace recruiter Reese Morgan further north to recruit in North Dakota.
"We might have to start recruiting North Dakota because they have a lot of guys in-state that play well for them," Ferentz said. "We haven’t ventured that far north. We may have to get Reese a new car or dogsled to help him out.
On a roll: Iowa has won nine consecutive home games, which is tied with Michigan State for the third longest active winning streak in the country.
Florida State has the longest home winning streak at 22 games, followed by Clemson at 17 games.
Iowa also won 14 consecutive regular-season games.
Ticket update: Iowa sports information director Steve Roe announced Tuesday that only a couple hundred single-game tickets still were available for the North Dakota State game.
This will mark the third time that Iowa has played North Dakota State in football, but the first time since 1947. The Hawkeyes won the two previous games by scores of 39-0 in in 1946 and 59-0 in 1947.
North Dakota State is expected to have at least 5,000 fans at Saturday’s game.