By Ryan Rodriguez
The official game sheet for the Sept. 26 contest between Iowa and North Texas says the contest officially ended at 5:49 p.m. CDT.
In real life, the game was over long before that.
Offensively dynamic but defensively shaky, there was much to like and a bit to be worried about in Iowa’s victory over North Texas on Sept. 27 in Kinnick.
“Plenty of things we’ll work on and look at tomorrow as we move forward,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We’re just happy to get the victory.”
Hawk running back Jordan Canzeri certainly wasted no time showing the scatter-shot crowd at Kinnick Stadium how he was feeling.
The senior busted off a pair of big gains in two of Iowa’s first three possessions, including a pair of touchdowns. He finished with 4 total, tying a school record.
For the shifty Canzeri, it was the perfect opportunity to refine the quickness and elusiveness that have been his bread and butter since coming to Iowa five years ago.
“The offense, we were just clicking today,” he said. “We all did exactly what we wanted to do, which is come out and play a hard game.”
If Canzeri’s day was one of optimism for the Hawkeye faithful, for running back LeShun Daniels Jr., it was the opposite.
Most likely still dealing with the effects of a lingering ankle injury sustained in the second week against Iowa State, the junior had no explosiveness and generated little push the few snaps he got in the first quarter.
He finished with 21 yards on 5 carries.
“Jordan’s been playing really well for us, which is great to see,” Ferentz said. “Right now, our attitude is good, and our work ethic has been good.”
Offensively, you really couldn’t ask much more of Beathard and the Hawkeye offense. The junior hung 278 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns on the Mean Green defense. Third-stringer Derrick Mitchell Jr. even got in on the fun late in the game.
The defensive side of the ball was less than impressive.
North Texas took advantage of up-tempo play using lots of quick slants and runs that kept the Iowa D playing catch-up most of the time, good preparation for the offenses Iowa will try to shut down once Big Ten play starts on Saturday.
At times, the defense didn’t exactly inspire confidence.
The Hawkeyes seemed to be gassed and out of sorts as a less-skilled team seemed to move the ball with ease, especially between the tackles. Those drives could end in touchdowns if they’re playing a Power 5 conference team.
“There were definitely times in which we struggled to shut them down, especially when they get you out of the box there,” linebacker Cole Fisher said. “Definitely a little sloppy but nothing that’s not correctable.”
The defense was on the field quite a bit, but only because the offense was scoring so quickly.
“It’s nice when your offense can go down there and score on three plays; we just weren’t getting much time to rest,” Fisher joked afterward. “So I definitely think that tempo played a little bit into it.”
Iowa will most likely not put up 62 points at Camp Randall on Saturday, so the defense players should have a little more time to catch their breaths. Right now, at least, no one is panicking.
“Just a good total defensive effort today,” cornerback Desmond King said. “Knowing that we already played Pitt and Wisconsin plays with similar packages, I think we’re confident.”
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