Hawk linebackers stepped up to stop Spartans
Hawkeye linebacker James Morris.
Bruce Davis wasn’t coming back, Jeremiha Hunter’s availability for Saturday’s game against Michigan State wasn’t looking good and Jeff Tarpinian wasn’t healing as fast as he hoped, leaving the Hawkeyes without three of the top five linebackers on their preseason depth chart.
Ferentz said on his radio show Wednesday night that if Iowa was playing the next day, its four inside linebackers would be Troy Johnson, Shane DiBona, James Morris and Christian Kirksey — a fifth-year senior, a redshirt freshman and two true freshmen.
That wasn’t the way the No. 15 Hawkeyes (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) planned it in August. That wasn’t an ideal situation to take on a fifth-ranked opponent with a balanced and explosive offense and Iowa’s Big Ten title hopes on the line.
“It hasn’t been great all season,” Ferentz said of Iowa’s linebacker health. “It seems like there’s been a few landmines at that position. We’ve been playing without our first two middle linebackers for about a month now.”
Davis is done for the season after the junior blew out his knee in the third game and Tarpinian has played sparingly in the subsequent four games while dealing with a stinger. Then Hunter, a three-year starter at the other inside linebacker position, hobbled off against Wisconsin with a leg injury.
The Hawkeyes took inventory and went with linebacker-by-committee Saturday, and the approach served Iowa well in a 37-6 whipping of then-No. 5 Michigan State.
Morris and DiBona started at the two inside linebacker positions with Tyler Nielsen at outside linebacker. The Hawkeyes used four others by the end of the first half when they shuttled linebackers in and out of the game and shut down the Spartans.
“We all get reps, we all work hard, we all study film,” DiBona said. “You’ve got to be ready. You never know when your number is going to be called.”
Nielsen left the game in the first half with an undisclosed injury and didn’t return. He was replaced by fifth-year senior Ross Peterson. Hunter was in uniform but did not play.
Tarpinian played sparingly in Iowa’s wins against Ball State and Penn State and wasn’t in uniform against Michigan and Wisconsin. He said last week he was trying to stay positive. But his return to the field was taking longer than he anticipated and the clock has been ticking on the fifth-year senior’s career.
“I talked to coach on Monday and basically told him I was tired of sitting around waiting for this thing to get better, and if there’s anything you guys can let me do, I want to do it,” he said. “That’s kind of when I decided to get into some passing situations this week, and it felt great being able to get back out there and help any way I could.”
Paradoxically, Iowa was running thin at linebacker going into the game and yet the Hawkeyes rolled out more linebackers Saturday.
Morris and Troy Johnson played extensively in early-down circumstances. The Hawkeyes used Lance Tillison and Tarpinian in predictable passing situations. They even went to their “Raider” defense, a 3-4 package used to counter underneath passing routes.
“We used that package a lot more (Saturday) than we have in the past,” DiBona said. “All the linebackers know what to do, and we just did it. Everyone had to play today and everyone did a good job. You never know when your number is going to be called. You have to be ready to play full speed and be physical. That’s what the Big Ten is all about.”
Michigan State scored at least 30 points in seven of its first eight games. Iowa was leading 37-0 when the Spartans reached the end zone in the fourth quarter. The Hawkeyes held Michigan State to 31 yards rushing and intercepted quarterback Kirk Cousins three times.
The linebackers had a hand in limiting the Spartans to a season-low 258 yards. Johnson and Morris each had nine tackles and DiBona had four.
“Young guys are improving during the week,” Ferentz said. “We’re a different team than we were eight weeks ago. I think we’ve seen those guys improve; they’re a little more confident in what they’re doing now, and from the sidelines, it seemed like both those young guys played well and we’ve seen them growing on special teams. I think it’s carried over to their defensive play as well.”
The Hawkeyes figure to be in better shape at linebacker Saturday when they play at Indiana. Ferentz said Hunter is getting close to returning to action and Nielsen “should be OK.” Tarpinian said he got through the Michigan State game in good shape.
“I don’t think I took any steps back,” he said. “I felt a little weak, a little rusty, but I don’t think I took any steps back.”
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
The Hawk linebackers were outstanding, especially Morris. The TV announcers gave him several good compliments. His stop on 3rd and 1 in the first half sure didn’t look like a true freshman. He is too fast to stay at the Mike & will likely be the future Will in pass coverage next couple years
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