By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa offensive lineman Gennings Dunker doesn’t have to be on social media to know what’s out there.

He also apparently doesn’t pay any attention to Iowa football statistics, even good ones such as Iowa being ranked 10^th nationally in rushing with an average of 222.3 yards per game.

“If I’m being honest, I didn’t even know that we were ranked at all in any rushing,” Dunker said Tuesday. “I don’t know if that stuff really matters at all. It’s just kind of getting a call and then finding out who you’re blocking and then working together.”

To say that the 6-foot-5, 316-pound Dunker lives in his own world and beats to his own drum would be fair.

The Lena, Illinois native isn’t on Instagram or X, and he has a specific reason for sometimes being on Facebook.

“The only reason I have Facebook is I go on Facebook Market Place, sometimes,” Dunker said. “They’ve got nice pop-up campers that I look at sometimes.”

Dunker was wise to not be on social media in each of the past two seasons as the Iowa offensive line struggled.

Fans were upset with how poorly the offense was performing, and many of them would go to social media to voice their displeasure.

“I’m sure they weren’t too happy with us,” Dunker said. “I’ve had people send me stuff, not that I look at social media but I’m sure it wasn’t great. I can predict exactly what people we’re going to say after certain games.”

Dunker never said exactly what was sent to him, but he was right about fans being unhappy with the performance of the offensive line the past two seasons, and with the offense overall, and about fans voicing their anger and frustration on social media.

Social media is not a fun place to be when the Iowa football team is struggling.

And while there has been some disappointment this season with Iowa already having lost three games, the performance of the offensive line, along Kaleb Johnson’s rise to stardom, are two storylines that have helped to re-energize the fans.

Dunker and his cohorts on the offensive line have gone from being a weakness last season to a strength this season under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

“Got the same guys up front,” Dunker said. “It’s just about improving and working on the little things every day. I’m sure last year everyone wanted us to all transfer out, the entire front five. And now, it’s just working and getting better every day.”

From the way Dunker describes it, Lester has made some subtle changes to the offense, and particularly to the running game, but nothing too dramatic.

“He changed a couple things with the blocking, just kind of the aiming points and how we were hitting some kind of runs,” Dunker said of Lester. “I know a little bit of the pass protection was changed, too.

“But it wasn’t a 180 from last year. It was maybe like a ten-degree turn, like very slight changes.”

So, then how do you explain improving this much from one season to another?

Dunker said it starts with the head Hawk Kirk Ferentz, whose area of expertise is the offensive line, and with offensive line coach George Barnett.

They both encouraged the offensive linemen during those tough times to trust the process and to just keep working and grinding.

“That’s all it was, just trusting coach Ferentz and coach Barnett and his coaching,” Dunker said. “You’ve got to trust that coach Ferentz knows what he’s talking about. And if he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, I don’t know who does in any aspect. So, you’ve just got to trust him and do exactly what he says.”

Dunker might not care about statistics, but he sure enjoys blocking for Kaleb Johnson and for all the Iowa running backs.

Johnson leads the Big Ten, and ranks second nationally, with 1,279 rushing yards heading into Friday’s game against UCLA at Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles.

He also has scored 20 touchdowns, tying Shonn Green’s program record for most touchdowns in a season.

“I just think he’s pretty to watch run,” Dunker said of Johnson. “I just think he looks good.”

Dunker, who starts at right tackle, is one of two junior starters on the offensive line, along with left guard Beau Stephens.

The other three starters on the offensive line are seniors that have endured their share of hardship along the way.

“I think it’s taken a while, especially up front,” said Iowa senior center Logan Jones. “If you look at where we were two years ago, we’ve grown a lot and I think a lot of what do comes from coaches just believing in us, starting with coach Ferentz and coach Barnett. Just harping on the fundamentals. That’s what it takes.

“So, we ‘ll continue to work on those, and I still think we have lot of room to grow and we’re gong to continue do to that.”

George Barnett was also an easy target for criticism when the offensive line was struggling, but Kirk Ferentz has never stopped believing in his fourth-year offensive line coach.

“He’s done a great job, and I know out there he gets maligned a little bit,” Kirk Ferentz said of Barnett. “I guess that’s after the quarterback, after the coordinator, but offensive line coaches catch a lot of crap, too, and it doesn’t seem to faze him. He keeps working and keeps coaching.”

Dunker, meanwhile, will continue to avoid social media, because frankly, it just doesn’t interest him, other than looking at the new pop-up campers on Facebook.

He already has enough to keep himself busy as a Hawkeye football player, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and a two-time winner of the hay bale toss at Solon Beef Days.

“I also just kind of hang out in my basement and do my schoolwork,” Dunker said. “I don’t really leave too much.”