Iowa vs. South Dakota State; which team has the edge at each position
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – It would be easy anytime a Power Five team faces an FCS opponent to just assume that the Power Five team is superior at each position.
Especially a Power Five team such as the Iowa football team that won the Big Ten West Division last season, and 10 games overall.
Logic says that Iowa should win Saturday’s season opener against FCS power South Dakota State because Iowa has better talent and more depth compared to the Jackrabbits, whose roster is filled with players that didn’t have a scholarship offer from Iowa.
The challenge is to look beyond the assumptions and realize that just because a team competes at a lower level doesn’t mean it can’t have an edge at a certain position.
That was the approach I took when doing the position breakdowns for Saturday’s game between Iowa and South Dakota State, which will be played before a sellout crowd at Kinnick Stadium.
South Dakota State is ranked third in the FCS preseason coaches poll and is led by veteran head coach John Stiegelmeier, who is entering his 26th season as head coach.
This is one of the rare times when 67-year old Kirk Ferentz will face a head coach with more tenure. Ferentz is entering his 24th season as the Iowa head coach.
It’s difficult trying to figure which team has the advantage heading into a season opener because all the information is based on the previous season, so there is a lot of guess work involved.
Here is how I see it:
Quarterback: Spencer Petras will make his 20th career start on Saturday, and the fifth-year senior from San Rafael, California has a 13-6 record as Iowa’s starting quarterback.
So, experience isn’t his problem.
His problem has been a lack of consistency caused by several factors, some of which are out of his control, but also some that are within his control, most notably accuracy.
Petras has yet to complete 60 percent of his passes for a season, and Iowa only averaged 180.1 passing yards per game last season,
South Dakota State’s quarterback, on the other hand, is sophomore Mark Gronowski, who helped lead the Jackrabbits to the FCS national title game during the 2021 spring season.
However, he also suffered an injury in the FCS title game against Sam Houston that caused him to miss the 2021 fall season, making this a tough pick.
Gronowski has had more individual success, including being named the Missouri Valley Conference Offensive Player of Year, as well as the league’s Freshman of the Year. He passed for 1,565 yards and 15 touchdowns and rushed for 577 yards and seven touchdowns in the spring of 2021.
Assuming he has fully recovered from his injury, Gronowski is clearly more versatile than Petras based on his rushing statistics, and he’s a winner.
Advantage: South Dakota State
Running back: Isaiah Davis is expected to be South Dakota State’s featured back this season after playing alongside two-time Walter Payton Award finalist Pierre Strong in each of the past two seasons.
Davis missed a big chunk of the 2021 fall season due to an injury, but he still managed to rush for 701 yards and seven touchdowns. He rushed for over 100 yards in three consecutive playoff games last season, and he has averaged close to eight yards per carry as a Jackrabbit.
Davis also rushed for 818 yards and scored 10 touchdowns during the 10-game 2021 spring schedule.
Iowa will counter with the one-two punch of sophomores Gavin Williams and Leshon Williams (no relation).
They both lack experience compared to Davis, but they also showed their potential in the Citrus Bowl when Gavin Williams rushed for 98 yards and Leshon Williams gained 42 yards in a 23-20 loss to Kentucky.
Gavin and Leshon both ran hard between the tackles in the Citrus Bowl and helped Iowa stay ahead of the chains, which is how Kirk Ferentz likes his offense to run.
South Dakota State also has a talented backup running back in sophomore Amar Johnson, who rushed for 450 yards and scored three touchdowns last fall.
This was another close call that ultimately came down to experience, or in the case of Gavin Williams and Leshon Williams, a lack of experience.
Advantage: South Dakota State
Receiver: This position could be where the Jackrabbits have their biggest advantage, partly due to the presence of senior Jaxon Janke, but also due to Iowa’s lack of depth at receiver.
Iowa could be down to just three scholarship receivers for Saturday’s game, while Janke is coming off a 2021 season in which posted team highs of 72 receptions for 1,165 receiving yards and five touchdowns.
Those numbers would be impressive at any level.
Janke caught at least two passes in 15 games last season, and he had at least 100 receiving yards in seven games last season.
His twin brother, Jadon Janke, gives the Jackrabbits another talented receiver as Jadon had 41 catches for 641 yards nine touchdowns last season.
The Janke twins both stand about 6-foot-3, so their length could cause problems for Iowa’s shorter defensive backs.
Iowa on the other hand, doesn’t have a receiver on the roster that had more than 352 receiving yards or more than two touchdowns catches last season.
Iowa is so thin at receiver right now that redshirt walk-on Alec Wick and sophomore walk-on Jack Johnson are both listed as backups for Saturday’s game.
Advantage: South Dakota State
Tight end: Saturday’s game will feature one of the best tight ends at the FBS level in Iowa senior Sam LaPorta and one of the best tight ends at the FCS level in South Dakota State junior Tucker Kraft.
LaPorta led Iowa with 53 catches and 670 receiving yards last season, while Kraft had 65 catches for 780 yards and six touchdowns last season.
With their statistics so similar, a case could be made for giving LaPorta the edge due to facing better competition.
Both teams also have a second tight end that plays a key role in 6-7, 260-pound senior Zach Heins for South Dakota State and 6-6, 252-pound sophomore Luke Lachey for Iowa.
An argument could be made for giving South Dakota State the edge, but this is one case in which Iowa’s status as a Power Five team was hard to ignore.
LaPorta is also considered one of the best college tight ends in the country, and he has excelled despite playing in a sputtering offense.
Advantage: Iowa
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Offensive line: This was another tough choice that came down to choosing between South Dakota State having more decorated offensive linemen and Iowa having offensive linemen that compete at the Power Five level.
South Dakota State only has two returning starters on the offensive line in senior left tackle Garret Greenfield and senior right guard Mason McCormick.
But they both were named preseason All-Americans, and they helped South Dakota State average 36.1 points and 441.1 yards per game last season.
Iowa has multiple offensive linemen who have started games, but none have come close to distinguishing themselves as stars.
Former Iowa All-America center Tyler Linderbaum also has moved on to the NFL where he now plays for the Baltimore Ravens after being selected in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft.
Sophomore Logan Jones, a converted defensive tackle, will replace Linderbaum at center for Iowa.
Iowa certatinly has some concerns on the offensive line, but it was hard to look past the fact that South Dakota State has three new starters on the offensive line.
Advantage: Iowa
Defensive line: South Dakota State has two returning starters on the defensive line: defensive tackle Caleb Sanders, who is from Glenwood, Iowa, and defensive end Reece Winkelman.
Sanders will enter Saturday’s season opener with 32 tackles for loss and 15 sacks as a Jackrabbit, while Winkelman also has 15 sacks and 30 tackles for loss during his career.
Sanders and Winkelman certainly give the Jackrabbits a solid foundation to build around, but Iowa has arguably one of the best defensive lines in the Big Ten with three starters returning, and with key reserve Lukas Van Ness considered to be a star on the rise.
Advantage: Iowa
Linebacker: Solon native Adam Bock returns at middle linebacker for the Jackrabbits after having started all 15 games last fall and leading the team with 135 tackles.
Bock was clearly overlooked as a recruit and will have something to prove on Saturday against the school for which he grew up cheering.
Senior Isaiah Stalbird started 14 games at linebacker for South Dakota State last season. He finished with 73 tackles last season, including 5.5 for losses. He also broke up four passes and recovered two fumbles last fall.
Iowa has its top three linebackers returning from last season, led by Associated Press preseason All-America selection Jack Campbell, who finished second in the Big Ten last season with 143 tackles.
South Dakota native Seth Benson has started 21 games and he finished second on the team last season with 105 tackles, while junior Jestin Jacobs has made nine career starts and finished with 53 tackles last season.
Advantage: Iowa
Defensive back: Iowa had to replace three starters from last season, and will be without suspended junior Jermari Harris, who started six games at cornerback last season.
But even with those holes to fill, Iowa still has multiple defensive backs who have starting experience, led by fifth-year senior cornerback Riley Moss, who was named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year last season despite missing three games due to a knee injury.
Moss has started 26 games, and he had two pick-sixes against Indiana in the 2021 season opener.
Senior strong safety Kaevon Merriweather has 12 career starts for the Hawkeyes and has appeared in 33 games overall, while senior cornerback Terry Roberts has made one career start and is expected to replace Harris on Saturday.
Junior Quinn Schulte will replace three-year starter Jack Koerner at free safety after having played in 12 games last season.
South Dakota State has two starters returning from a secondary that helped the Jackrabbits intercept 21 passes last season.
They are junior free safety Cale Reeder and right cornerback DyShawn Gales.
Advantage: Iowa
Special teams: Junior Hunter Dustman is expected to play a dual role as South Dakota State’s kicker and punter. To handle both duties is rare at the college level.
He is far more accomplished as a punter after having averaged 45.1 yards on 35 attempts last season.
As a kicker, however, Dustman has very little experience. He made his lone field goal attempt last season and two extra-point tried.
Iowa will counter with one of the best punters at the Power Five level in junior Tory Taylor, who averaged 46.1 yards on 80 attempts last season.
But just like the Jackrabbits, Iowa lacks experience at kicker where sophomore Alex Blom and true freshman Drew Stevens have yet to kick in a game.
There competition for the starting position was too close to call as of Tuesday, according to Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz.
As for the return game, Iowa would’ve had a clear advantage if Charlies Jones hadn’t transferred to Purdue in June.
His loss leaves Iowa with little experience in the return game as Jones handled both punt and kick returns last season. Jones was also named the Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year last season.
So, his loss is significant.
Iowa has several players competing for punt and kicker returner, including sophomore receiver Arland Bruce and Riley Moss.
Sophomore Tyler Feldkamp is expected to handle both punt and kick returns for the Jackrabbits, while Amar Johnson will also return kicks.
Special teams have been a strength for Iowa since LeVar Woods became the special teams coordinator in 2017.
And though there are key holes to fill on special teams, Woods has shown a knack for rising to the occasion.
Advantage: Iowa
Prediction: Iowa 28, South Dakota State 13