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Iowa Football: Three Takeaways From Win Over Purdue
Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Three takeaways from the Iowa Hawkeyes win over Purdue
Iowa football entered the game knowing they needed to dominate from the beginning, and that’s what they did. The Iowa Hawkeyes jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead in the first quarter, seemingly putting away the Purdue Boilermakers for good early in the game.
Iowa finished the game winning 49-35, which featured a great half of football and a sub-par one. It also resulted in Purdue firing their head coach Darrell Hazell, despite Purdue being .500 halfway through the season and already topping their win total from a season ago.
Although, the bigger news for the Hawkeyes is getting back on track with just their second set of back-to-back wins in 2016. A week before hosting the tenth ranked Wisconsin Badgers, a blowout win over a bottom-dweller team in Purdue should instill confidence in a Hawkeyes team who will need to play their best football of the season on Saturday.
Despite a shaky second half for Iowa, a lot of good things took place in the first half. Here’s a look at three takeaways from their win over the Purdue Boilermakers this past week.
Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
The Run Sets Up The Pass
Iowa rushed for an astounding 365 yards and four touchdowns on 6.9 yards per carry on Saturday. Plus, LeShun Daniels Jr and Akrum Wadley both topped 150 yards on the ground, as well as each finding the end zone at least once.
It’s evident that Kirk Ferentz wanted to exploit a banged up Purdue defensive line and pound the ball, although it should also be a template of how Iowa should play on offense the rest of the year. With George Kittle leaving the game in the first quarter and returning to the sideline in the second half with a walking boot on, an already depleted Hawkeyes’ receiving core took another hit.
There is a chance that Kittle could have returned if Iowa needed him, although there’s no guarantee that he would have been 100 percent and effective. Even if Kittle is able to play next week against Wisconsin, it’s almost certain that he won’t be 100 percent, which puts even more emphasis on the run game.
The run game worked well for Iowa, but Purdue did start to slow it down in the second half. Despite Daniels and Wadley not playing the entire second half, once Purdue focused on stopping the run, they held Iowa’s running back duo to just 121 rushing yards in the second half, compared to 205 in the first half. More aggressive play calling in the second half could have led to big plays through the air.
C.J. Beathard only attempted three passes in the second half, but it became clear early that receivers were finding more open space due to Iowa’s strong run game and Purdue’s need to focus on stopping the run.
Beathard overthrew a wide open Jerminic Smith on a potential 46-yard touchdown in the first quarter. A couple of plays later, Beathard connected with Riley McCarron for a 42-yard score after McCarron beat his man on one-on-one coverage.
Sure, Wisconsin’s defensive backs are better than Purdue’s, and Beathard won’t have all day in the pocket. That being said, Iowa’s run game forced the Boilermakers to bring extra defenders to try to stop the run, leaving defensive backs to defend Iowa’s receivers with one-on-one coverage, a task that isn’t easy for any secondary.
Iowa has the running backs to pound the ball to set up play action and bring attention away from the passing game. Beathard would have a better chance of catching the secondary sleeping on a play, in turn allowing Jerminic Smith to be open downfield.
Iowa won’t rush for over 350 yards against Wisconsin, but it’s clear how important their run game is to moving the ball effectively and helping an inconsistent pass game. The Hawkeyes might not have a dominating offensive line like in years past, although the run game still sets everything up for them on offense.
Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Found an Identity on Offense
After starting the season 2-0, the Iowa Hawkeyes went 1-2 and failed to gain any momentum or build off positive play from previous weeks. That changed against Purdue, though. Despite Iowa winning by an underwhelming score of 14-7 against Minnesota, the Hawkeyes didn’t play terribly and continued to build momentum with a win over Purdue, establishing an identity on offense.
It started early when Iowa found ways to get George Kittle the ball. Kittle has been an integral part to the offense despite his lack of catches over the past couple of weeks. His blocking has still been an important part in the run game, although there was no doubt coming into the game that Kittle needed to be targeted more.
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Granted he got hurt on his second catch, but the Hawkeyes ran plays to get him the ball. He recorded 31 yards on two receptions, proving that he has the ability to make plays on shorter routes.
Iowa will need that type of production from him with Matt VandeBerg out. Iowa ran designed plays to get Kittle the ball, which is important when defenses focus on stopping him.
Along with integrating Kittle, Iowa continued to pound the ball. LeShun Daniels Jr and Akrum Wadley combined to carry the ball 38 times, Tok Akinribade had three carries, and Jerminic Smith also had a 45-yard carry on a reversal. Compare that to just 20 combined throws by C.J. Beathard and Nathan Stanley, and it’s clear that Kirk Ferentz has made running the ball the offense’s top priority.
Sure, Kittle being out and gaining a big lead could have caused them to shy away from passing it as often. However, the fact that Iowa ran so well without one of the best blocking tight ends in the nation is impressive in its own right. Plus, this is the second straight week Iowa has made a conscious effort to run the ball more.
The offensive line created holes for Wadley and Daniels to each rush for at least a 65-yard gain a week after both owned rushes of at least 30 yards. Not to mention Purdue only sacked Beathard once, and the offensive line kept him on his feet for most of the game.
No, it wasn’t pretty when the backups came in, but the starters played their best game of football on offense. A week after moving the ball well but being unable to find the end zone against Minnesota, the Hawkeyes continued to build off their win and went back to how everyone expected them to play this season, eventually finding the end zone, too.
Sure, it came against Purdue, but the important thing is Iowa knows what they want to do on offense, and it came a week before their toughest test of the season.
Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Dedicated to Stopping the Run
Most teams in the Big Ten want to run the ball. Besides Ohio State with Heisman candidate J.T. Barrett, who even like to use Mike Weber out of the backfield a lot, running the ball is the forte of most teams in the conference. That makes winning in the trenches even more important.
It’s no secret that Iowa has struggled to stop the run in 2016. Whether it’s King Frazier running through the heart of the defense in the fourth quarter or Justin Jackson torching Iowa for 171 yards on the ground, the Hawkeyes’ run defense has been very underwhelming this season.
In fact, four of their first five opponents rushed for at least 150 yards and three rushed for at least 190. Although, last week against Minnesota, the Hawkeyes forced Minnesota to abandon the run by bringing constant pressure and not allowing the Gophers’ running back duo to hurt them. It worked as Iowa held them to 102 rushing yards.
Against Purdue, Iowa did the same thing. Markell Jones being a little banged up with a shoulder injury might have worked in their favor, however Iowa never let them establish a ground game. In fact, the Boilermakers only rushed for 46 yards on 2.1 yards per carry. It forced David Blough to throw, and he answered the call.
There’s no doubt that Iowa allowing 35 points to one of the worst offenses in the Big Ten is not good. A silver lining, though, is that a couple of touchdowns came against the second team and the starters didn’t seem to be fully motivated in the second half. While simply going through the motions is never a good thing, it does explain why Blough threw for a career-high five touchdowns and ripped the Hawkeyes’ defense apart in the second half.
That being said, with Wisconsin next on the schedule, it’s a good sign that Iowa has been able to get pressure on the quarterback over the past couple of weeks and stop the run. The safeties need to do a better job of not letting receivers get behind them, but Iowa will find a lot more success trusting their secondary than allowing teams to average nearly five yards per carry against them.
When it comes down to it, not many people coined stopping the run as an area of worry coming into the season. That being said, after struggling, Iowa has seemingly put a greater focus on stopping the run and trusting the secondary more in recent weeks.
Markell Jones and Minnesota’s running back tandem are good backs, although Iowa will see how well their defense holds up against one of the better backs in the nation in Corey Clement on Saturday. It’s a relief to know that Iowa isn’t heading into next week after allowing Purdue to run all over them.
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