By John Bohnenkamp

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Anterio Thompson couldn’t remember the exact punt block Iowa special teams coordinator LeVar Woods showed him from a past season.

But Thompson remembered Woods’ instruction about the video clip.

“He told me to sleep on that, dream on that,” Thompson said during Tuesday’s media availability.

Thompson then went and made a similar play in last Saturday’s 10-7 win over Northwestern, blocking a punt that helped lead to Iowa’s lone touchdown of the game.

Thompson powered through Northwestern’s blocking scheme to get a hand on the punt by Hunter Renner on the Wildcats’ first possession of the second half. Iowa got the ball at the Northwestern 25-yard line, and seven plays later took a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Deacon Hill to tight end Addison Ostrenga.

“Really, just with my speed and force, (it was) just get back there, get a hand on the ball,” Thompson said. “To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to get there. I wasn’t sure if I pushed (the blocker) back enough. I knew I had a pretty good wingspan, so I was able to get back there, get my hand on the ball. It was a great feeling.”

Iowa’s offensive struggles this season have put the onus on the Hawkeyes’ special teams and defense to not just get the offense good field position, but also make big plays with the opportunities to get points themselves.

“We’ve just got to understand we’ve got to make it easier for our offense,” Thompson said. “If we’re able to got our offense on the 30 (yard line), somewhere around there, we have a good chance of scoring. We’re not really just focused on making plays for them. We know they’ll get right and get in the end zone eventually.”

It was Thompson’s second blocked punt of the season — he had one against Western Michigan that went out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

Thompson, a defensive lineman, transferred from Iowa Western Community College in the offseason, but currently isn’t on Iowa’s two-deep.

Thompson knows right now he’s needed on special teams.

“Right now, I’m focused on making plays, giving our team the best opportunity to win games,” he said. “I know my time is going to come, and when my number gets called I’m going to be ready for it.”

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OSTRENGA HEALTHY AGAIN: Ostrenga’s touchdown reception was the first of his college career, and it was a sign that the sophomore was healthy again.

Iowa has already lost tight ends Luke Lachey and Erick All to season-ending injuries. Ostrenga, who started the season at No. 3 on the depth chart, has had his own injury problems — he missed games against Purdue and Wisconsin with an infection in his leg that required a hospital stay.

“Kind of got scraped up and got a little infected,” Ostrenga said. “Had to go in the hospital for a couple of days, but it’s all good.”

“He went through a little medical thing for a couple weeks where we lost him,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “But he’s rebounded from that. He was positive during that whole time.”

Ostrenga has six catches for 45 yards this season, and is currently No. 2 on the depth chart behind Steven Stilianos.

“There’s nothing he doesn’t like about this whole thing,” Ferentz said. “It’s infectious. When he’s in the huddle, we’re better off with him in there because of the way he operates, the energy that comes out of him just from being out there.

“Some guys have that ability, just how they’re wired. He just happens to be one of those guys. He’s playing good football, too. Again, talk about limited experience, but he’s really doing a good job.”

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INJURY UPDATE: Ferentz isn’t sure of the availability of center Logan Jones, who was injured in last Saturday’s game. Jones is still listed at No. 1 on the depth chart.

“Yeah, time will tell. We’ll see how the week goes here,” Ferentz said.

Ferentz said late-season injuries are nothing new.

“It’s November, so we’re dealing with all that stuff,” Ferentz said. “We had a lot of it going into the bye (week). The bye got a lot of guys cleaned up pretty well, so that helped mentally. We don’t have the luxury of taking a week off now.

“The guys are working back. We’ll see who can do what on Saturday.”

Ferentz said the absence of running back Kaleb Johnson in last Saturday’s game wasn’t because of injuries.

“There’s no drama or nothing going on,” Ferentz said. “Just playing the guys right now that have practiced the best and practiced best through the bye week, in our minds have played the best at this point. It’s an open competition. Everybody has an opportunity out there. It’s day to day, week to week. That’s how we do things.”

Johnson had 58 rushing yards against Rutgers, Iowa’s opponent at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, in a game last season.

“Watching him on film against Rutgers last year, (he) ran the ball well, so hopefully we can get him up and running here,” Ferentz said.