Iowa Hawkeyes Destroy Ball State 45-0: What Have We Learned?

On Saturday, Iowa obliterated the Ball State Cardinals 45-0.

Not to be a downer, but I'm not sure if that means that much. After all, we already knew the Hawkeyes could dominate an overmatched team. We learned that in the first game of the year against Eastern Illinois. Some might also argue that we further learned that fact against Iowa State.

For that reason, I am all for adding a ninth Big Ten game to the schedule. Three out-of-conference games is plenty, especially if a fourth one is nothing but the difference between one cupcake game or two.

Nevertheless, I'll get off my soapbox, and say we might not have learned that much about the team and what they are capable of against more formidable competition.

However, we have learned a few things about some individuals, as well as what sort of personnel Iowa is likely to use from this point forward.

And Iowa's New Kicker Is...

Senior Daniel Murray is still nursing a sore hip flexor, and redshirt sophomore Trent Mossbrucker seemed to really hurt his position on the depth chart with a failed extra-point attempt against Arizona.

Moreover, there are no guarantees which one of them would have won the placekicking job if Murray had been healthy.

In effect, Iowa trotted out a new placekicker against Ball State: True freshman Michael Meyer.

Meyer had already secured the job of kickoffs from the first game of the year, and he has done quite well in that capacity. In 25 kicks, he has eight touchbacks. At 32 percent, that is good for third in the conference.

That is a far cry from last season, when Iowa had a touchback percentage of 7.58. That was second-to-last in the Big Ten, and did Iowa no favors in the field position battle.

Besides, it is evident that kickoff return coverage is a work-in-progress for Iowa, and every little bit will help. The way things have been going, I know I breathe a sigh of relief every time the opposing kick returner downs it in the end zone.

That said, we knew Meyer was on kickoffs. What is news is that he is now the placekicker.

On Saturday, he was six-for-six on point-after attempts and one-for-two on field goals. His miss was a 37-yarder that had plenty of distance, but was hooked to the left.

Meyer's ascent up the depth charts leaves a couple of questions. Firstly, Iowa now has two kickers on scholarship, and neither one of them is actually playing.  With 85 scholarships to go around on an FBS team, that is not a good thing.

Secondly, at the beginning of the year, I projected that one of the three big questions that Iowa had to answer in order to be successful was placekicking.

As Iowa is a team that plays a lot of close games, they cannot afford to leave points on the field.

Therefore, the Hawkeyes' placekicker is required to be automatic inside the 30. For Iowa, that can easily be the difference between 7-5 and 10-2.

Thus, the question is, is Meyer the best of all evils, or is he really the answer at kicker?

Adrian Clayborn Isn't The Only Player on This Defensive Line

Iowa fans want to see their defensive line cut loose on the quarterback on every down. They know they can do it, and they want to see it.

However, this year, there are certain realities that Hawk fans will have to get used to.

First of all, this year, most teams are going to attack Iowa's defense with quick passes that don't allow the line to generate any sort of pass rush.

The quarterback will drop three steps and throw. Think Northwestern, only 12 out of 12 games.

Secondly, No. 94, Adrian Clayborn, will be double- and triple-teamed every single down.

If you've been wondering why, after four games, he has yet to generate a sack that, along with the quick pass, is the reason.

One of my biggest concerns coming out of the Arizona game was the lack of production from the defensive line. Again, for the most part, Arizona got the ball out of their quarterback's hand in a hurry.

Nevertheless, Arizona did have two passes of over 30 yards, including one huge 37-yard pass on the game-winning drive.

Iowa's line had time to get to the quarterback on those plays, but while Clayborn was mobbed by blockers, the other linemen—Klug, Ballard, Daniels, and Binns—failed to win somewhat favorable matchups.

I'm not saying the line has played poorly. I am saying that they have failed to fully take advantage of the opportunity that the gang-blocking of Adrian Clayborn has given them.

Enter Mike Diesel, aka junior tackle Mike Daniels. Already leading the Hawks with two sacks and 3.5 tackles-for-loss, in the game against Ball State, Daniels added six more tackles, four more tackles-for-loss, and a sack to his yearly totals.

With that sort of production, teams will be forced to choose their poison: Daniels or Clayborn. Or hopefully, Ballard or Binns or Klug.

Is This Iowa Or Wisconsin?

Jewel Hampton is done for the year with a torn ACL. Paki O'Meara was out for at least this game following a concussion last week.

Jason White went out against Iowa State with a torn ACL. Brandon Wegher was out before the season began.

The only tailback that is still left standing is starter Adam Robinson. In effect, Iowa had to populate their depth chart with available bodies.

Against BSU, the first back to step off the bench was redshirt freshman Brad Rogers. Rogers is officially listed at 215 pounds, but there is no way that is accurate. As it is, he came into the program at 230 pounds.

Certainly, he might have lost weight, but he has been practicing at fullback for the last year.

A fullback more appropriately weighs in at 240 pounds than 215, and by the looks of Rogers, he is closer to the former than the latter. Furthermore, he runs more like the latter.

The next man off the bench was true freshman Marcus Coker. Coker has missed a lot of practice time due to a shoulder injury that he sustained in camp.

However, rumors abounded that Coker was going to have his redshirt burned if had remained healthy.

As it turns out, Iowa had to burn his shirt despite the time he missed due to health issues.

Coker also came into the program weighing 230, but unlike Rogers, he has been pegged to remain at tailback.

In the game, Rogers rushed for 66 yards on nine carries for a 7.3 average.

It should also be noted he fumbled the ball once, which is one more time than Adam Robinson has fumbled in his entire career.

Meanwhile, Coker ran for 60 yards on 10 carries.

Certainly, they both ran against a softened up defense, but they also ran behind the second-team offensive line.

Okay, I'm Beginning To Believe in Stanzi

Despite the third best quarterback efficiency rating in the Big Ten coming into this week, I still didn't trust that Iowa's signal caller had turned the corner.

Despite the fact that he had only thrown one interception in three games, and that interception was not his fault, I still didn't trust him.

Despite the fact that he hadn't thrown one bona fide, godawful Stanziball on the year, I still didn't trust him.

However, I'm finally beginning to believe.

Not because of his numbers against Ball State: He completed 76 percent of his passes for 287 yards, with three touchdowns, and zero sacks or interceptions.

After all, numbers don't always tell the entire story, and besides, Ball State is not what one would consider a good defense.

The reason I am finally beginning to believe is two-fold. Firstly, he is making passes he has had trouble with throughout his career.

After all, Stanzi could always hit a 30-yard post or a short delay to his tight end.

He has had problems with the routine throws; the eight-yard curl or the five-yard slant. Against Ball State, he hit those passes with regularity (again, against a lousy defense).

Secondly, he routinely went through his progressions, often opting to pass to his third and fourth options.

Last year, as often as not, he locked onto his primary receiver, refused to check down, and occasionally got himself in trouble.

This evolution reveals a mature quarterback, and this was another of the three big questions I referred to earlier.

It appears, as of now, this is the only one of those questions that has been answered.

Of course, it remains to be seen how he will do when the competition level goes up. Also, his stubborn and immature refusal to give up on plays has already cost the Hawks dearly this year.

Still, I think I am finally comfortable in believing that whatever happens, the ball is safe is his hands.

Special Teams and Defense Still Need Some Work

OK, Iowa won 45-0, but not everything was flowers and sausages.

To begin with, there was the issue of penalties. Nine in all for 85 yards. Amongst those penalties were a lot of illegal blocks and false starts that are sure to keep Kirk Ferentz up at night.

And speaking of penalties, punt returner Colin Sandeman returned a punt to the Ball State 13-yard line. Until a block in the back brought it back to the Iowa 48.

Then there was the issue of missed tackles and losing containment. In fact, during Kirk Ferentz's post game press conference, he specifically mentioned his displeasure with his team's tackling in three separate instances.

Translation: The Iowa Hawkeyes' defense and special teams will be doing a boatload of tackling drills this week.

Missed tackles and losing containment are things you can get away with against Ball State. If you do that against Michigan's Denard Robinson or Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor, you'll be lucky if all you're looking at is a 10-yard gain.

Then there were dropped passes. Three on the first two drives, to be precise. Maybe it was just a hangover from the Arizona game. Maybe the weather played a factor.

Nevertheless, at this point in the year, with one senior and one junior receiver, as well as a senior tight end, such things should not happen.

The kickoff team was decidedly better than they were against Arizona, but then again, this is Ball State.

Next week against Penn State—who is second in kickoff return average in the Big Ten—will be a much truer test.

Also, as was the case last week, punter Ryan Donahue nailed a punt inside the opponent's five-yard line.

However, instead of fielding the punt, the gunners stood around and watched it bounce into the end zone. That is a communication problem, and it needs to be fixed.

Finally, there was the issue of the offensive line. They let up zero sacks, and Iowa gained 256 yards rushing. Still, that was as much due to their competition as them.

There were multiple plays where blocks were missed, as well as instances where the line was pushed around by the much smaller and less experienced Ball State line.

Yes, Iowa got a nice win, but as senior guard Julian Vandervelde remarked, "It’s both kind of encouraging and discouraging at the same time. We feel like we probably should be farther along by now. You can see the things that we still need to work on: penalties, missing blocks. There are a lot of yards that we’re leaving out there.”