Iowa vs. Nevada; which team has the advantage at each position
By Pat Harty
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The worst offense in FBS versus a team that gave up 55 points and 616 yards in a loss to Incarnate Word last Saturday at home.
Iowa versus Nevada.
Under the lights at Kinnick Stadium.
If ever there were a defense that might struggle to contain the sputtering Iowa offense, it could be the Nevada defense, which is allowing 404.3 yards per game, and an average of 5.9 yards per play.
Incarnate Word, which is located in San Antonio, Texas, shredded Nevada for 406 passing yards last Saturday.
So, if Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras should struggle against the Wolf Pack, Kinnick Stadium will quickly turn into a chorus of boos on Saturday.
Because the thinking will be if Iowa can’t move the ball against a defense that gave up more than 600 yards to Incarnate Word, then Iowa is in big trouble.
Nevada has 29 first-year transfers on its current roster, and a new head coach in Ken Wilson, who replaced Jay Norvell after last season.
Norvell, a former Iowa defensive back, is now the head coach at Colorado State.
Norvell led the Wolf Pack to eight wins last season, but 16 of the starters from last season have moved on.
Here is a look at which team has the advantage at each position.
Quarterback: Nevada quarterback Nate Cox stands out just from being 6-foot-9 because there aren’t many quarterbacks that tall.
But he also faces the tall task of replacing former star quarterback Carson Strong, who was one of nine starters that had to be replaced from last season’s explosive offense.
Cox has completed 34-of-61 passes for 372 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. He is completing 55.7 percent of his passes and has a 117.8 efficiency rating, while his backup, Shane Illingworth had passed for 152 yards and has a 123.1 efficiency rating.
Cox passed for 302 yards and two touchdowns in the loss to Incarnate Word, and he also ran for his second touchdown of the season.
Petras, on the other hand, is only completing 45.1 percent of his passes for zero touchdowns and two interceptions, and he has a horrible 70.4 efficiency rating.
Petras is also the only quarterback to play for Iowa in the first two games, much to the dismay of fans who are clamoring for backup quarterback Alex Padilla to get a chance.
Advantage: Nevada
Running back: Nevada is averaging 161.7 rushing yards per game, while Iowa is averaging 57.5 rushing yards per game.
That’s a huge difference regardless of the competition.

The Wolf Pack also have nine rushing touchdowns in three games, while Iowa has just one rushing touchdowns in two games.
Fifth-year senior Toa Taua leads Nevada in rushing with 246 yards on 61 attempts. He has also scored three touchdowns and is averaging 4.0 yards per carry.
Another fifth-year senior, Devonte Lee, leads Nevada with four rushing touchdowns and is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
Iowa, meanwhile, is averaging just 1.9 yards per carry as a team and none of the running backs have gained more than 10 yards on a carry.
Sophomore Gavin Williams is expected to play a more prominent role on Saturday after missing the first game and playing sparingly in the second game due to an injury.
His presence should help, but there hasn’t been a lot of running room so far.
Leshon Williams leads Iowa in rushing with 106 yards, but he’s only averaging 2.8 yards per carry.
Advantage: Nevada
Receiver: Nevada starts three receivers and those three receivers – Jamaal Bell, B.J. Casteel and Tyrese Mack – have combined for 27 catches and 246 yards and one touchdown.
Those numbers over three games leave much to be desired, but they look pretty good compared to Iowa’s receivers, who have combined for just seven catches for 78 yards and zero touchdowns.

Sophomore Arland Bruce leads the Iowa receivers with six receptions for 77 yards, while redshirt freshman walk-on Alec Wick has one catch for 14 yards.
There is a chance that Nico Ragaini and Keagan Johnson both could play on Saturday after missing the first two games. They were both expected to be starters this season, after having played prominent roles last season. So, to add them would provide a boost.
But until it happens, Iowa’s receivers are suspect at best.
Advantage: Nevada
Tight end: Sam LaPorta entered the season as one of the top tight ends in the country after having led Iowa with 53 catches and 670 receiving yards last season.
He has 10 catches in two games, which is respectable, but he’s only gained 64 yards on those 10 catches, which helps to explain Iowa’s problems on offense.
Luke Lachey has three catches for 20 yards as LaPorta’s backup, and Lachey also excels as a blocker.
Nevada starting tight end Cooper Shults has one catch for six yards, but he also has missed two games.
Jacob Munro has appeared in all three games and has five catches for 49 yards.
Munro is listed as the backup to Shults on this week’s depth chart.
Advantage: Iowa
Offensive line: Nevada’s starting offensive line consists of a sixth-year senior, a redshirt senior, a redshirt junior, a true junior and a redshirt freshman.
So, that’s a lot of experience, but it’s still to early to know how effective this group will be.
To say that Iowa’s offensive line struggled in the first two games would be an understatement.
The running game has sputtered, while pass protection has also been a problem.
Iowa would appear to have more upside at these five positions, but right now, the Iowa offensive line is a very slow work in progress.
Advantage: Nevada
Defensive line: Iowa has one of the best defensive lines in the Big Ten, if not the country, and an emerging star in sophomore Lukas Van Ness, who doesn’t even start.
Nevada gave up 210 rushing yards against Incarnate Word, which doesn’t speak well for its defensive linemen.
Fifth-year senior Dom Peterson, who starts at defensive tackle, leads Nevada with three sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. He also has blocked a kick and forced a fumble.
He has 46 career tackles for loss, which ranks third on Nevada’s all-time list.
Peterson gives Nevada a proven veteran to build around, but the jury is still out on his supporting cast.
Advantage: Iowa

Linebacker: Nevada gave up 210 rushing yards and 406 passing yards in the loss to Incarnate Word last Saturday.
So, it’s probably fair to say that the Nevada linebackers struggled in all phases of the game last Saturday.
Nevada uses a 4-2-5 alignment on defense and lists redshirt junior Maurice Wilmer and true junior Naki Mateialona as its two starting linebackers for the Iowa game.
Wilmer and Mateialona both have seven tackles in three games, while Iowa’s top two linebackers – Jack Campbell and Seth Benson – have 21 and 14 tackles, respectively in just two games.
Iowa will be without injured linebacker Jestin Jacobs on Saturday, but there really is no comparison between these two units.
Advantage Iowa
Secondary: Free safety Bentlee Sanders leads the nation with four of Nevada’s seven interceptions in three games. Nevada leads the country with 11 takeaways, largely because of these guys.
Those are impressive takeaway numbers, to say the least.
However, Nevada is also allowing 305.7 passing yards per game, and that doesn’t speak well for the secondary.
Iowa, on the other hand, is allowing just 135.5 passing yards per game, and is led by fifth-year senior cornerback Riley Moss, who was named the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year last season.
First-year starters Quinn Schulte at free safety and Cooper DeJean at multiple positions in the secondary are both off to good starts this season for the Hawkeyes.

Schulte has 10 tackles and a team-high four pass breakups, while DeJean is second on the team with 15 tackles and two pass breakups.
Senior strong safety Kaevon Merriweather will make his 15th career start for Iowa on Saturday, and he has played in 35 games overall.
Advantage: Iowa
Special teams: Iowa has one of the best punters in college football in junior Tory Taylor, who is averaging 48.9 yards on 16 attempts. Nine of his punts have been downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Nevada, on the other hand, has a top-notch kicker in Brandon Talton, who has made all six of his field-goal attempts this season, including one from 50 yards.
Talton is third in career scoring at Nevada with 311 points.
Iowa kicker Alex Blom has missed two of his three field-goal attempts this season.
Nevada punter Matt Freem has punted 16 times for a respectable 42.3 average.
So, Iowa has the edge at punter, while Nevada has a big edge at kicker.
Iowa also has the edge in overall special teams play, thanks to players such as senior defensive back Terry Roberts, who excels in punt coverage.
Advantage: Iowa