10@10: On Schott’s return, and nonconference success
Kyler Schott’s return, Iowa’s receiver rotation and a true freshman making an impact on Iowa special teams all have found their way into today’s Hawkeye 10@10.
Delivered each weekday at 10 a.m. during game week at hawkmania.com, the Hawkeye 10@10 provides your daily dose of Iowa football news and notes.
Here is today’s Hawkeye 10@10:
1. Kyler Schott was on the field for just shy of two dozen plays last weekend in his return to competition for Iowa.
The offensive guard who missed the Hawkeyes first two games of the season enjoyed his senior season debut for more than the action on the field. He also had a chance to lead the Hawkeye swarm onto the field prior to the start of the game.
“You don’t realize how much you miss it until you’re not in there. It’s something very special,” Schott said. “The chance to lead it was very special, something not many guys get to do.”
Schott is expected to rotate with Justin Britt again in Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. game at Kinnick Stadium against Colorado State.
2. The Hawkeyes are preparing to face one of the nation’s premier tight ends this weekend.
Colorado State’s Trey McBride is a 6-foot-4, 260-pound preseason all-American who has caught 30 passes for 339 yards and one touchdown during the Rams’ 1-2 start to the season.
“He’s been a problem for many teams,” Iowa linebacker Jestin Jacobs said. “We know we have to be physically ready to stop him.”
3. Colorado State coach Steve Addazio knows what his team is getting into Saturday against Iowa.
The second-year Rams coach was the coach of the Boston College team the Hawkeyes defeated 27-20 in the 2017 Pinstripe Bowl.
“This is one of the most physical teams in America that we’re going to play,” Addazio said. “They do what they do. They’re disciplined and well coached. We know they’re going to show up and play their tails off because that is what they do week in and week out.”
4. Iowa has used a rotation of six receivers during its first three games.
Coach Kirk Ferentz said that is the result of what is transpiring on the practice field.
In addition to returning players Tyrone Tracy Jr., Nico Ragaini and Charlie Jones, the Hawkeyes have been using Jackson Ritter, Arland Bruce and Keagan Johnson on a regular basis.
“If you have three guys who are at a certain level and everybody else is down here, those three are playing, but it’s really pretty close right now,” Ferentz said.
“Arland and Keagan, they’re young guys, but they do encouraging things. If somebody starts to separate, we’ll probably lean a little bit more to the left or right but for right now we have a pretty healthy situation.”
5. Consistency in practice has allowed one young Hawkeye to earn some early playing time. Luke Elkin, a true freshman from Neenah, Wis., has been handling long snapping duties in Iowa’s past two games.
“He’s done a good job. We pretty much base things on what we see in practice and what we see in games and right now we just feel like he gives us a little better opportunity out there,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said.
“Luke’s done a good job. I tease the coaching staff, ask if we’re sure he has a driver’s license. He looks like he’s 14, a really young-looking guy. They assure me he does.”
6. Colorado State will present Iowa with some different looks on offense.
The Rams at times have lined up with 12-, 13-, 14-personnel.
“They mix in a lot,” Iowa defensive end John Waggoner said. “It seems like they’ve got eight or nine guys on the line of scrimmage at times. It’s pretty interesting.”
Waggoner expects the Iowa defense to focus on stopping the run and leaving Colorado State in passing situations on third down.
7. With a 153-yard rushing performance against Kent State, Tyler Goodson moved from 27th on Iowa’s career rushing list to 22nd.
The junior passed Rick Bayless (1,561), Tim Sullivan (1,584), David Hudson (1,629), Jim Jensen (1,661) and Bill Reichardt (1,665) with his work against the Golden Flashes.
He enters Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. game against Colorado State three yards behind Ed Podolak and 33 yards shy of Mekhi Sargent in 20th on the Iowa career list.
8. Iowa linebacker commitment Caden Crawford had a monster game for Lansing (Kan.) last weekend.
The defensive end finished with 23 tackles, including four for a loss and forced a fumble in a 17-14 victory over Shawnee Heights, highlighting the work of Hawkeye 2022 commitments at the prep level.
Elsewhere, running back Jaziun Patterson rushed for 130 yards on 15 carries for Deerfield Beach (Fla.), tight end Addison Ostrenga caught three passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns for Sun Prairie (Wis.) in its win over Madison Memorial and defensive end Aaron Graves finished with four tackles for Southeast Valley in a win over OABCIG in Iowa prep play.
Drew Stevens, a kicker who has accepted a walk-on offer from Iowa, hit field goals of 43 and 50 yards last weekend for North Augusta (S.C.).
9. When Tyler Goodson reaches the end zone, good things happen.
During Iowa’s ongoing nine-game win streak, the junior running back has rushed for 11 touchdowns.
He has also averaged 105.8 yards per game and 5.4 yards per carry during that nine-game streak.
10. Iowa’s string of success against nonconference opponents continues to grow.
The Hawkeyes have won 14 straight games against opponents outside of the Big Ten dating to a loss to Florida in the 2017 Outback Bowl.
That’s the second-longest streak in the nation.
Only Minnesota, which has won 21 straight, is on a longer run of success than Iowa.
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