By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Kirk Ferentz has sometimes been accused of being too stubborn and too loyal to certain players, and too unwilling to make a change, especially if it means favoring a younger player whose body of work is limited.

And while that’s a matter for debate, it certainly doesn’t apply in the case of true freshman running back Kaleb Johnson, who rushed for a career-high 200 yards and scored on a 75-yard run in Iowa’s 24-3 victory at Purdue this past Saturday.

Johnson was no higher than third on the depth chart when the season began, but the Hamilton, Ohio native is now clearly Iowa’s No. 1 running back, and it’s easy to see why Kirk Ferentz has rewarded him so quickly as a true freshman.

Johnson is the real deal at 6-foot-2 and 212-pounds, a rare combination of power, speed, size and finesse.

He also is running with more patience now as he gets more used to the speed and tendencies of the college game.

Third-year sophomores Gavin Williams and Leshon Williams (no relation) were listed as the top two running backs after spring practice and heading into the season.

But then Gavin Williams was slowed by an injury and Iowa needed a second option at running back and Johnson was ready, and has since proven to be able to not only fill that role, but to be Iowa’s featured running back.

Johnson has gone from combining for 14 rushing attempts in Iowa’s first three games to combining for 47 carries in the last three games, including a career high 22 carries against Purdue.

Johnson also leads Iowa in rushing with 553 yards on 96 attempts.

This couldn’t have happened without Kirk Ferentz trusting Johnson in the early stages of the season when Johnson barely had any body of work. That trust had to have started in practice because Kirk Ferentz didn’t have anything else to base it on.

Kirk Ferentz will say that he trusts all three running backs to carry the load, and since Gavin Williams returned from his injury, all three have been used in games this season.

But the amount of workload has shifted more to Johnson simply because he’s earned it, in practices, but more importantly, in the games when it really matters.

Johnson raised eyebrows when the former four-star recruit rushed for 103 yards on just seven carries against Nevada in the third game of the season.

The competition might have left something to be desired, but for Johnson to have surpassed 100 rushing yards in just his third game as a Hawkeye was impressive.

He scored on touchdown runs of 40 and 55 yards against Nevada, giving an early glimpse of his big-play capability.

Johnson was one of two high school running backs that signed with Iowa’s 2022 recruiting class, along with Florida native Jaziun Patterson.

Kirk Ferentz said early on that one of the two freshmen running backs would likely play a role this season, and Johnson has certainly met that challenge, and then some, while Patterson has appeared in two games, including having four rushing attempts against Purdue.

Johnson is far from being a finished product, but he also has played in just nine games, and only saw very limited action in the first three games.

“I’m just happy for him,” Kirk Ferentz said after the Purdue game. “I’ve said it along, he’s a great young guy with a great personality, great to work with and a great attitude.

“He’s still figuring it out as a back, but he did pretty good today for not knowing what he’s doing, sometimes.”

Kirk Ferentz hasn’t lost faith in Gavin Williams or Leshon Williams, and both will be counted on down the stretch to help as Iowa (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) tries to keep pace in the wide-open Big Ten West Division.

But it’s reasonable to assume that stopping Kaleb Johnson is Wisconsin’s biggest concern on defense in preparation for this coming Saturday’s game at Kinnick Stadium.

Johnson, in many ways, is similar to a typical Wisconsin running back in that he can grind and pound for the tough yards in traffic, while also having breakaway speed, vision and elusiveness.

Johnson also appears to be durable, while Gavin Williams and Leshon Williams have been hampered by nagging injuries, including this past week in practice.

Kirk Ferentz puts a lot of stock in what happens in practice and it seems pretty apparent that Johnson continues to make a strong impression during the week of preparation.

Every running back needs help, however, and Johnson received plenty of help from his offensive line against Purdue. It was by far the best performance by the Iowa offensive line this season in regard to run blocking.

“I don’t want to say we controlled the line of scrimmage, but I thought we did some good things up there,” Kirk Ferentz said. “And the exciting thing for me is I know we can get better.”

Johnson is part of a youth movement on the Iowa football team that also includes true freshman kicker Drew Stevens, who has made 12-of-14 field-goal attempts this season, while also handling kickoffs.

Stevens was the backup field-goal kicker behind sophomore Aaron Blom for the first two games. But after Blom missed two of three field-goal attempts in the first two games, Stevens was given an opportunity, and has since become highly effective and reliable.

Johnson is the first Hawkeye to run for 200 yards in a game since Akrum Wadley rushed for 204 yards in a 2015 game at Northwestern.

“The offensive line, those guys are improving every week,” Johnson said. “They’re giving me the holes.

“It feels so good. To get 200 yards, that’s real.”

Johnson, who was previously committed to Cal-Berkeley before signing with Iowa, was right to praise his offensive line because they deserved it, and because it’s what a running should do following a strong performance.

Johnson is the first Hawkeye freshman since Marcus Coker in 2010 to have two 100-yard performances in a season, and his 200 rushing yards against Purdue is the 18^th most in program history and the second most by a freshman in program history behind Coker’s 219 yards against Missouri in the 2010 Insight Bowl.

Johnson has compiled these numbers despite playing for an offense that has been ranked at or near the bottom nationally in multiple statistical categories throughout the season.

Johnson earned the trust of Kirk Ferentz early on as a true freshman, and has since seized the opportunity that came with it.