By Mario Williams | [email protected]

One of the places in which the Iowa football team is young, more than ever before, is at wide receiver.

A big question heading into Iowa’s first game, against Miami (Ohio), was what the unit would look like and who would step up to the challenge. Iowa no longer has Tevaun Smith, who was a weapon for starting quarterback C.J. Beathard last season, and Jacob Hillyer’s solid blocking ability is gone.

“It’s kind of a tale of two cities in some ways, and I think we’ve made good progress,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “But that’s one of the areas where we’ve had some injuries, and that’s not uncommon. Receivers tend to have more soft-tissue-type injuries, and we’ve had some of those.”

However, Iowa does have a new look, and after its 45-21 win against Miami, that new look could possibly work for the Hawkeyes.

It was shown with stellar blocking and key plays made by senior Matt VandeBerg and sophomore Jerminic Smith.

Smith was supplanted on the depth chart by sophomore Jay Scheel last week, but an injury forced things to move around. Scheel didn’t see any time against Miami, and Smith looked like Iowa’s No. 1 receiver in its season-opening victory.

Ferentz hopes Scheel will be ready to go this week against Iowa State but classified it as a “touch-and-go thing.”

Smith was one of the four true freshmen to get his feet wet during the 2015 season. He was also one of the first true freshmen under Ferentz to record more than 100 receiving yards in a single game (118 yards against Illinois).

The Garland, Texas, native has the ability to be a key part of Iowa’s receiving unit with some of his experience.

His playmaking ability showed throughout the game, and Ferentz even let him run the ball on a trick play — in the third quarter of the game against the RedHawks, Smith took a reverse for 10 yards. Beathard found him again on a nice look, but he dropped a pass that was a bit behind him.

VandeBerg got Iowa down near the 16-yard line with a reception on the same possession, but the Hawkeyes couldn’t capitalize.

Iowa found itself in fourth down situation and decided to go for it. Miami was in a man-to-man look, and Beathard found Smith for a 12-yard catch. Hawkeyes 35, RedHawks 7.

“Smith did a great job on catching the ball,” Beathard said. “It was a sticky situation where he knew he was going to get hit. He made a big play in a big part of the game.”

That touchdown was the first of Smith’s career as a Hawkeye. He finished the game with 3 catches for 51 yards.

“You just have to locate the ball and make the play,” Smith said. “Being able to make a tough catch and tuck the ball is part of being a receiver.

“A lot went through my mind when I got the touchdown. It was just me soaking it in that I really got in the end zone for the first time for my first college touchdown.”