The Team Nobody Really Likes to Play

By Paul Smith
paul.smith@collegeblitz.com

They linger around the Top 25 nearly year-after-year. They make enough of an impression through the Big Ten to throw coachly shivers through their more highly ranked opponents week-by-week.

Of course, we're talking about your Iowa Hawkeyes, The Team Nobody Really Likes to Play.

The preseason polls list the Hawkeyes' lurking grounds at No. 16 (The Associated Press) and 17 (USA Today Coaches').

	Senior QB Drew Tate leads Iowa. (Paul R. Montague/hawkeyesports.com)

More than a few coaches bent on both tact and reality will ponder this and, almost in chorus, proclaim "Underrated."

Last year, going through a season of gut-grinding losses -- 28-27 at Northwestern in the final seconds, 23-20 against Michigan in overtime in a controversy-filled finish, and a 31-24 bowl loss to Florida, the Hawkeyes avoided the pollsters' eyes altogether.

It was a 7-5 finish, a blip on eighth-year coach Kirk Ferentz's recent radar, and when you see this is a team with major pro prospects at quarterback (Drew Tate) and tailback (Albert Young), a typical, brawny, hard-drivin' offensive line anchored by seniors Mike Elgin (right guard) and left tackle Mike Jones (left tackle), you sense the Hawkeyes' prove-it hunger.

The offense does not want for talent. Tate put up some stats that would be the envy of 90% of the National Football League: 2,828 yards, 62.2 % completions, 22 touchdowns and only seven interceptions.

Even with the 7-5 sesaon last fall, Ferentz's teams have gone 38-12 in the past four years, best in University of Iowa's well-documented football history. Better than Forrest Evashevski. Better than Nile Kinnick, for whom the Hawks' colorful home stadium is named. Better than Hayden Fry.

Scary. The goosebumps will arise soon enough on opposing coaches. The Hawkeyes open with two nearly dead-sure wins, I-AA power Montana at Kinnick Stadium, a visit to struggling Big East entry Syracuse, which finished 1-10 last fall, and then in-state pest Iowa State, which handed Iowa a 23-3 beatdown in Ames last fall comes calling.

Ferentz, a Pittsburgh area native who played collegiately at Connecticut, eyes the schedule warily.

It includes a marquee Saturday nighter with top-ranked Ohio State, Sept. 30, a matchup with unpredictable Purdue the following week and a visit to Michigan a couple of weeks later, but a bunch of others (Indiana, rebuilding Wisconsin under first-year coach Brett Bielema, Northwestern at home, Northern Illinois, etc.) and allows himself a deep breath, given the fact the Hawks shared Big Ten titles with Ohio State in 2002 and 2004.

"It may change other people's expectations (some Hawkeyes redhots began wailing after last year's disappointing finish) -- that comes with the territory," Ferentz told the Chicago Tribune's Reid Hanley.

"I'll approach this job today like I approached my job at Worcester (Mass.) Academy. I don't want to work construction. When I did, I tried to do a good job digging. I was just raised that way."

Yes, Kirk Ferentz is another classic Western PA story, a kid who grew up in a working-class environment and took the football route out.

He looks at a team which also has a strong defense, led by defensive tackle Mitch King, a kid out of another classic blue collar environment, Burlington, Iowa, who is one of the better run-stoppers and gap-pluggers in the country.

Three fairly talented mates up front, a rangy, if unspectacular linebacking corp led by senior Edmond Miles from the football goldmine of Tallahassee, Fla., and a solid secondary featuring two likely high round N.F.L. picks in senior safeties Miguel Merrick and Marcus Paschal, give the Hawkeyes defense a veteran look, one that should keep most opponents under 20 points.

But the key to 2006 will be Tate, his key returning receivers -- senior tight end Scott Chandler, who may be poised for a huge year, and wideout Herb Grigsby, along with Young, who rushed for 1,334 yards and eight T.D.s last fall.

"We think (Tate's) really poised to have an exceptional senior year," Ferentz told Hanley. "I'd really be surprised if he doesn't."

So will a lot of folks, Kirk. Kicker Kyle Schleicher (17-for-21 in field goal attempts in 2005) may be almost as good as All-Big Ten longballer Nate Kaeding from a few years back.

The special teams are solid, the offense looks ready to roll. The defense certainly won't embarrass. What's not to like? Injuries, for one thing.

Don't even think it! There is little room for negative thought in Iowa City this fall. For good reason.