Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Mid-October means homecoming games around college football and the Hoosiers are hosting the Hawkeyes for their homecoming on October 13th. Iowa and Indiana have not met on the gridiron since 2015 when the Hawkeye knocked off the Hoosiers 35-27 at Memorial Stadium. Iowa leads the series 44-28-4 with the last Hoosier win coming in 2012 in Bloomington.

Week Seven: Iowa Hawkeyes

Date & Time: Saturday October 13, 2018, Noon ET

Venue: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN

TV: ABC/ESPN/ESPN2

Hawkeyes at a Glance

Head Coach: Kirk Ferentz

Entering his 23rd Season Overall and 20th at Iowa

Overall Record: 155-118

At Iowa: 143-97

Iowa Last Season: 8-5 (4-5) Defeated Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl 27-20

Hawkeye Returning Leaders

Passing: Nate Stanley (55.8 pct. 2,437 yards 26 TDs 6 INT)

Rushing: Toren Young (45 att. 193 yards 4.3 YPC 3 Total TDs)

Receiving: Nick Easily (51 rec. 530 yards 10.4 YPR 4 Total TDs)

Tackles: S Jake Gervase (58 tackles 3 TFL, 3 INTs, 6 Passes Defensed)

Pre-Season Predictions

Athlon’s: 2nd in Big Ten West

Lindy’s: 2nd in Big Ten West

Street & Smith’s: 2nd in the Big Ten West

Phil Steele: 2nd in the Big Ten West

Impact Newcomers for the Hawkeyes

1. Tyler Linderbaum, DT- The Hawkeye defensive line is strong with several upperclassmen coming back to start, but teams need around 10 in the rotation to be really dominant. Linderbaum could be one of the freshmen to up into the mix early. He was a U.S. Army All-American and at 6’2” 260-pounds he has the size to come in and play, especially if he adds bulk over the summer.

2. Tyrone Tracy, WR- Iowa usually only runs a two wide receiver set, but Tyrone Tracy may be too good for Ferentz not to find a way to get the ball into his hands. Tracy is an Indianapolis native, an area Iowa has recruited well, and took home the Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year award after rushing for 1,412 yards with 1,132 yards receiving and 30 total touchdowns.

3. Logan Klemp, LB- The Hawkeyes lose three studs at linebacker in Josey Jewel, Ben Niemann and Bo Bower. Iowa has a trio in mind to step up, but Klemp could be one of the true freshmen who could work his way into the rotation. Out of Jewell, IA, the 6’3” 210-pound Klemp is coming off a senior season where he racked up 82.5 tackles, 12 TFL’s and six sacks.

Offensive Preview

The Iowa offense is what you’d expect out of a Big Ten team that has had the same coach for two decades. Run the ball well, use play action to set up the pass to solid wide receivers and a big tight end. The question for Iowa heading into 2018 is do they let quarterback Nate Stanley off the leash a little bit more after he posted a very solid sophomore year?

As a sophomore Iowa QB Nate Stanley had a very solid, however up and down, season. He threw for 26 touchdowns and 2,437 yards, though his accuracy down field is lacking as he completed just 55.8 percent of his passes and threw six picks. Stanley also has taken too many sacks. He should be able to improve upon all of his weaknesses as a junior. The offensive line was inconsistent at best in 2017 but could be better in 2018.

The Hawkeyes may have to reverse engineer their offense in 2018 and let Stanley throw the ball to open up the run game. Iowa struggled to run the ball in 2017, finished 97th nationally with 139.2 yards per game and that was with Akrum Wadley and James Butler leading the way. Both of them are gone, as are center James Daniels, guard Sean Welsh and tackle Ike Boettger.

The running backs unit will be led by sophomore Toren Young, a 5’11” 220-pound bruiser, who ran for 193 yards on 45 carries as a freshman. Backing him up is another sophomore, Ivory Kelly-Martin. Kelly-Martin ran for 184 yards and a 9.4 yard per carry average with three touchdowns. This sophomore duo has a chance to be a really good pair in the back field.

Leading the way for the running game is going to be an offensive line unit that will have to replace four of the five starters who opened the 2017 season. However, the Hawkeyes have some experience coming back. Kegan Render will take over the center duties as James Daniels is off to the NFL. Render started in place of Daniels in the 2017 opener against Wyoming and started the other 12 games at either guard position. Alaric Johnson started 12 games last season as well and will be at the right tackle position in 2018 as sophomore Tristian Wirfs switches to the left tackle position after seven starts on the right side. The two new starters will be at the guard positions where Levi Paulsen and Ross Reynolds are slated to start. After an un-Iowa-like ground game a year ago, having a new line can’t hurt much.

If Iowa continues to struggle to run the ball Stanley has some nice targets to hit in the passing game. The best of which is tight end Noah Fant who is a first-team All-American. Fant was outstanding in 2017 hauling in 30 catches for 494 yards and 11 touchdowns. He is Stanley’s security blanket and when teams gear up to stop the run in the red zone, Fant is usually the beneficiary. T.J. Hockenson is Iowa’s second tight end, the Hawkeyes base offense has two TEs, and he added 24 catches, 320 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Needless to say, IU will have to be ready to defend the tight ends.

Leading receiver Nick Easily, a former walk-on, is back after making 51 catches for 530 yards and four scores. He’s deadly in the slot and IU will have to make a choice on who will cover him and Fant in pass coverage. Alongside Easily is Sophomore Brandon Smith who should be able to replace the production of Matt Vandenberg. True freshman Tyrone Tracy could be a factor at wide receiver as well. He’s electric with the ball in his hands.

Defensive Preview

When the casual fan thinks of Iowa football, they think about a great defense. In 2017 Iowa ranked in the top-50 in every major per game category and 17th nationally in scoring defense surrendering just 19.9 points per game. If the 2018 defense wants to live up to the Iowa standard that has been set they will have to do it while replacing two All-Americans in linebacker Josey Jewell and corner Josh Jackson.

That project starts upfront where the Hawkeyes return defensive ends Parker Hesse (Sr.) and Anthony Nelson (Jr.) who combined for 84 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks. These two give Iowa a solid foundation to build their D on. Behind them is former five-star recruit sophomore A.J. Epenesa who added 15 tackles, 5.5 TFLs and 4.5 sacks.

Plugging up the middle of the line will be juniors Cedrick Lattimore and Brady Reiff. In limited playing time these two made 28 combined tackles. Junior Garrett and sophomore Dalles Jacobus will be the depth at the tackle position.

The biggest question on defense for Iowa is how they will replace their starting three linebackers. There is talent there, but because the three departing starters were so good, none of them have that much experience. Between the three projected starters (Nick Niemann, Kristian Welch and Aaron Mends) they have accounted for just 16 tackles. They dipped their toes in the water and now it is time for that trio to wade into the deep end.

Iowa will be hard pressed to replace the production Josh Jackson brought. The All-American corner made 48 tackles and intercepted EIGHT passes, including two pick-sixes. Iowa does return two starters in junior cornerback Manny Rugamba and senior safety Jake Gervase. Rugamba made 38 tackles and had four passes defensed in 2017, while those numbers don’t make up for the loss of Jackson, he’s more than capable. Gervase is Iowa’s returning leading tackler after posting 58, including three for a loss in 2017. (EDITORS NOTE: Rugamba has transferred from Iowa since the publishing of this article) Freshman Trey Cramer has a chance to crack the two-deep and a number of upperclassmen will round out the depth in the secondary.

Special Teams Preview

Kicker Miguel Recinos is back for his senior season after connecting on 11-of-13 field goals and kicking just over 45-percent of kickoffs for touchbacks in 2017.

Where Iowa struggled last year was in the punt game as they cycled through two punters (three if you count Stanley punting three times). Junior Colten Rastetter was bad enough to lose his job to a freshman. Rastetter averaged just 37.8 yards per punt. Freshman Ryan Gersonde was slightly better at 42.5 yards per punt but only appeared in three games due to injury.

The Hawkeyes will likely turn back to two sophomores to handle the kick return duties as Ihmir Smith-Marsette averaged 33.5 yards per return and Ivory Kelly-Martin, who will probably see limited time on the return units, are back. Sophomore wide receiver Max Cooper should handle the punt return duties. Don’t be surprised if Ferentz turns to true freshman Tyrone Tracy if they need a spark in this area.

The Huddle

First Glance Preview: Iowa Comes in to Bloomington For Homecoming Oct. 13