Key Takeaways From Iowa’s 40-0 Victory OVER Illinois State

hey what is up Hawk fans I wanted to do a key takeaways video for Iowa 40 to nothing shellacking of Illinois State primarily on the shoulders of a second half surge by the Iowa Hawkeye offense now before I get into any of this obviously first and foremost it is only week one uh for both teams okay and I that obviously is worth note you don't want to make sweeping generalizations just off of one game the first week of the Season teams really are truly and I know this being a football official teams really truly are working out Kinks I would say all the way through some teams are consistently working out Kinks but for the most part I would say within the first three games they are working out major Kinks and I think the goal is to do good things while some good things while you're working those things out and also not to allow those major things that you're working out to be too detrimental to where they cost you a game um in other words don't allow The Kinks uh you you're TR you try to manage The Kinks the best you can and minimize how impactful they are to the wins and Los losses column so let's start here number one I would say Aaron Graves impressed me massively the guy had three sacks I thought he ended the game with two turns out he had three sacks I think he's well on his way to becoming the next great Iowa defensive lineman and this one is not far-fetched at all I mean you know Aaron Graves was a highly recruited sought-after kid uh from the state state of Iowa he grew up uh right outside the Fort Dodge area I believe in southeast uh Southeast starts with a g I believe I I know it's it's very close to Fort Dodge because I have family that lives in Fort Dodge so it's not too far-fetched and I've said multiple times I think he should have been a even higher rated recruit than he was but he really was hurt by the fact that he committed to Iowa so early in the process to where he was unable to be seen by some of the recruiting services so this I'm expecting to be the case moving forward I believe Aaron is a a red shirt sophomore he might be a true Junior like Xavier wanpa is cuz I believe they came in in the same class together they they might be one class apart but uh if I'm not mistaken I think he's a red shirt sophomore but excellent early signs it's been a while since Iowa has had a defensive tackle that is that disruptive the last one would probably be Davon Nixon Davon Nixon would probably be the last DT that has been that disruptive uh taking over uh more you know taking over any part of the game a quarter a half the the whole game I mean Aaron Graves really was disruptive the whole game uh and he already him having three sacks just to put this in perspective is already nearly half of the way [Music] to tying last year's leading sack getter uh Joe Evans who I think had eight and a half sacks so really good stuff uh also on the defensive end you know I I actually started watching the game a bit late and I saw this in the highlights but Jamari Harris had an interception very happy for him uh the secondary looks fantastic they are living up uh to some of the preseason expectations and ultimately I think everybody has been high on them but they also have this like unbridled um ceiling uh and potential that a lot of people are hoping they will be able to see and fulfill uh on the back end Sebastian Castro had a uh takeaway uh uh via a strip uh on tackle that was made uh we had the interception from Jamari Harris uh and I believe there may have been one other forced fumble uh I know there was the the one towards the end of the game with Kaden Crawford but either way the secondary was super disruptive there were small small small passing Lanes uh that were allowed all game if any passing Lanes at all um it made life for the quarterback extremely uncomfortable uh and it was just a superb effort uh even the long Gainer that they had on John Nester number seven the uh true sophomore who is who is still competing for uh the left cornerback one spot even that he was all over that Defender and nearly came up with a interception I mean you know at the end of the day there's not really much more as a Defender that can be done I mean honestly uh the defense that he had was perfect sometimes you just have to tip your hat sorry guys my hair is all messed up sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the offensive player and just say hey that was a that was a hell of a catch and uh keep it pushing so the back end very uh excited about that um that was a key takeaway the linebackers played fine it was good to see Carson sherar who has been behind uh the vaunted linebacker Duo of Nick Jackson and uh uh uh Jay Higgins um I believe Jaden Harold was in there we also saw Landon van kerick so it's good to see some of those guys uh TJ Hall I thought had a really good game in his first start of his career I believe it was definitely uh first start in a couple of years uh and I thought he played great he has excellent size he runs very fluidly there's a reason why he had tons and tons and tons of offers coming out of high school he's probably one of the highest rated guys coming out of high school as far as offers I mean he had offers from Washington multiple Pack 12 schools multiple big 10 schools uh he was originally committed to Washington so uh excellent performance good to see him uh battle back and bounce pack from injury and uh give some impact to the Iowa Hawkeyes let's go to special teams and again I've kind of already said this in my post game but I just wanted to make it a definitive key takeaways video let's go to the Special Teams reys D of course or daan Reese daen AKA Reese daan you know I I thought he had a solid performance he was a little shaky in the first quarter but that's to be expected I mean this was this guy's first ever Collegiate game okay these guys that come from Australia they don't play tackle football like Americans do growing up through the Youth System uh I'm sure they try simulate it as best as they can but when they go to these kicking like Pro kick Australia I mean that's literally what it is is a purely kicking academy uh they're not byy and large my understanding is they're not byy and large playing football like you see in the youth rank so it's to be expected even if he did grow up in America and go through the youth ranks it's it's game one Numero Uno I mean it's these kids are super excited they're super pumped uh it's it's to be expected what was a good sign to me is he was able to bounce back from it and finish with a good performance uh towards the end of the game so that is a positive sign um Drew Stevens when I went back and watched the replay his 41 yard field goal honestly had the lift as far as its height and length distance to be good from probably 50 yards he he probably would have nailed it from 50 yards it was a 41 y but it would have been good from 50 I mean he blasted that kick and that is truly the difference between a year one kicker a year two Kicker and a year three kicker you know is the leg strength the pop on the ball the height of the ball a lot of these top kickers have uh really solid legs and they can get the distance on the kick but the the toughest thing is to remain accurate while also having height on the ball and maintain the same distance that is the question mark because when you get to college and you have all these division one athletes that are the best athletes in the world a lot of these guys have 40-in vertical leaps okay so you have to be able to have height on your kick so it was good to see that he was two for two lastly offensively I don't think there's ever going to be a truly running back one uh I don't think that that's going to happen unless one of the guys just emerges as clearly the best running back on the roster like a Shawn Green type situation or or um an acam Wadley type situation and even Aram Wadley if you guys remember there was a lot of time there where he was kind of jockeying for position Iowa really likes to have a stable of running backs and kind of have them duke it out for who's going to be the best running back and it honestly they're okay with it changing from game to game and if one emerges as the the top top tail back for the season then that's great too um to me Caleb Johnson does still have the best upside he physically he is the the most imposing running back that Iowa has uh that's not the end all Beall when you're a running back I would say the top thing is Vision but he showed that he had Vision now on one of the uh touchdowns that he scored there was a hole there but still it was on him to find that hole and he did and he had the patience and then he burst through for the touchdown then he had the one where he went outside and got for uh got to the house for a tub so we'll see how that goes it was good to see that both of them are talented um physically I think Caleb Johnson has the highest upside but Kamari Molton definitely looks much better physically than he did last year I mean the guy is a bowling ball he kind of reminds me of like a Brandon weager Adam Robinson juel Hampton remember do you guys remember when Iowa had that stable of running backs it didn't end up well as all the ended up being suspended but uh you know kind of that 5'8 to 5'9 range but they're super muscular super um uh Shifty and have some pop uh to their stuff so we'll see how that shakes out Cade mcamera really did look good uh I got to give credit where credit is due um he was patient uh he was aggressive at times I like the chance that he had and the trust that he had in re Bersy and throwing that up for a touchdown uh he looked good on his quarterback scramble you know I mean it I I was not expecting it guys based on what I saw at Kids Day what we saw in the first half is what I thought we were going to S see for the rest of the game uh what we saw at kids day I I thought is what we were going to see for at least the first three games of the season um I was not confident in Cade mcamera at all I'll give credit where credit is due now granted it is only one game and it is only uh Illinois state but credit where credit is due this is probably I I made a Facebook post about this this is probably the best quarterback performance since Nate Stanley and you know whenever State Nate Stanley left um so great great or maybe not great game but good game good enough uh the emergence of Rees vandery is crucial if if he can develop into a reliable X receiver for for the Iowa Hawkeyes it will be excellent news now it also means that he kind of has jumped ahead of jariet Buie and Dayton Howard but it is what it is um I don't know the status of those guys I believe I saw Jaret buy out there for some snaps I don't think he got any Targets I think up buoy is more of the Z receiver and kind of the starting depth chart that you see is more because Iowa does not have a legitimate X receiver to list rather than it being actually what it is as far as who they list where um based off of today if I had to guess the wi receiver rotation I would say it is going to be reys vandery at the number one spot for the X it'll be uh Caleb Brown at the number one option for um the it's either the slot or the outside I I I'm G to say slot and it's going to be Jaret buoy or Seth Anderson uh as the Z outside rece or would that be y it's either Z or y i i get it mixed up but the other outside receiver uh and they're probably going to be jockeying for position for that Seth Anderson was injured today so we'll see how that goes but I just want to fundamentally say here and unapologetically say I am Vindicated yet again that Iowa yes I get a few things here and there Incorrect and I pointed that out with Kate M mcamera but I have said for the longest time that Iowa Has Talent on the offensive side of the football and you guys saw that today with numerous guys making plays all over the field which brings me to Tim Lester okay ultimately we don't need Iowa to be Oregon we don't need Iowa to be uh you know uh uh uh Oregon State or uh or no Washington State uh with or or UCLA under chip K you know any of or Lincoln Riley USC any of these offensive Guru type teams that put up 50 plus points we don't need Iowa to be that we just need them to be competent that's it a average to slightly above average at times we don't need them to be good we don't need them to be great and we don't need them to be elite we need them to be serviceable where we can count on them to make a few plays a game they're good enough to get uh 30 plus points on uh below average opponents and they can make plays and keep you in the game against some of the higher level opponents uh or enough plays to go alongside and uh what's the What's the phrase that Iowa always uses compliment complimentary football truly compliment the Iowa defense because it's not the other other way around the defense doesn't complement the offense the offense complement Iowa's defense Iowa's defense is always going to be the focal point of the Iowa Hawkeyes so what I really liked about Tim Lester's first game is he was patient uh I don't think he really started pressing he kind of let the game come to the Iowa offense and we saw some uh I I wouldn't say that they were adjustments per se but we saw Iowa start to execute some of the plays that they were running whereas in the first half it wasn't really there but the confidence remained they kept attacking and you know he showed a lot of confidence in Kade mcamera so and I liked some of the movement uh there were a few plays I saw Iowa run this I think definitely two times maybe even Thrice uh could have been three or four times where they had Jacob Gil or one of the fast wide receivers coming on an Ender round to give the defense some some eye candy and keep them on their heels but they ultimately gave it off for a handoff and honestly there were a few times where they honestly could have given it to that Ender round wide receiver for a big Gainer but regardless of that to me that is a nice simple added wrinkle something that is easy to execute but it also keeps the defense honest and on their heels that is what is needed it's it's a very minute change but it makes all the difference it really does so uh Tim Lester great first game uh there's still a ways to go but I'm excited to see about where this offense can go as the season goes on and kind of how the wide receiver room shakes out and how the running back room shakes out but make no mistake the talent is there all Iowa needed and this is the main point that I wanted to make all Iowa needed was a coach who could put guys in the right positions to make plays because under Brian frence when he no longer had kenno Keef Iowa ran the same old isnit all the time teams knew exactly what they were doing there was no wrinkles there was there was no variation to the to the plays and every single time Iowa was trying to move the ball it was like moving teeth it was so clunky it was so full of effort that went nowhere and that is not how it's supposed to be your offense needs to be smooth it needs to be efficient and you need to put your top guys in positions for them to be the most successful and Tim Lester and I made a video on this in the off seon talked about how he wants the best guy for the play for each individual play he wants the best guy that runs that play the best at whatever spot that is on the offense rather than trying to fit a a square peg into a round hole and have a guy who doesn't run this play Super well run it anyway is because he's one of your trusted guys no you got to put your players in positions to be successful and that is really hopefully my hope is the Difference Maker because the talent is there there's plenty of Talent on this Iowa offense I can think of numerous years where Iowa had less Talent than what they do this year all right guys thank you guys so much for watching that's about it um not really much more to add like I said I I don't want to uh overhype this performance because it is only week one they have a huge game coming up against Iowa State that's going to be a big Testament to Tim Lester and the Iowa offense I'll have you guys covered for that when I do my pregame video or game preview video uh but that's pretty much it you know it was good to see some of the youngsters get out there and get reps uh the probably the the two guys that stuck out the most to me were the two guys at the wide receiver position Jacob Gil and reys vandery those are the two newcomers that made some really nice plays and I am extremely optimistic about their potential for Iowa all right guys be sure to smash that subscribe button like comment share thank you guys so much for watching hope you guys have a fantastic weekend uh Labor Day and last but not least dbap don't be a willow and facts are feelings because your feelings just matter I got to get to the gym see you guys next time go Hawks bye