For Kirk Ferentz’s Spring recap, click the photo below:
Ferentz meets with the media at the conclusion of Spring Camp
I’ve got audio from players that I’ll be incorporating into the next several posts for my final project in my sports writing class.
58 days until kickoff!
Darkhorse’s slogan “For the sports fan who’s not afraid to suffer” is becoming more and more fitting as news from Iowa’s off-season conditioning and practices continues to surface. The newest item of bad news involves junior-to-be left guard Julian Vandervelde.
Vandervelde has an unspecified injury that will require him to miss playing time early in the season. In a press conference today, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz commented that “[the staff] were hopeful that Julian’s injury could be healed through normal rehab, but it became apparent surgical repair was the best path to take. Julian may miss some playing time, but we are optimistic he will return to full strength very early in the season.”
Julian Vandervelde will miss some early playing time. (photo courtesy of the Quad City Times)
Vandervelde started 6 games as a freshman in 2007 and 9 as a sophomore in 2009. He was expected to start at either left guard or center, the latter a position at which he practiced in the spring as the Hawkeyes looked to find a replacement for the graduated Rob Bruggeman.
Vandervelde has been one of my favorite Hawkeyes since he earned a standing ovation from not only his teammates, but the entire Texas Longhorns team for singing a song from the “The Phantom of the Opera” at the 2006 Alamo Bowl’s team talent show. He was just a freshman at the time. He also sang the national anthem for Hillary Clinton during her campaign stop Iowa City.
He’s the kind of player that you love to root for; the kind you don’t see downtown making an ass of himself, but that you know will be a success long after football. We wish him a speedy recovery!
Hawkeyereport.com‘s Tom Kakert and the Cedar Rapids Gazette’s Marc Morehouse are reporting that middle linebacker Jacody Coleman is leaving the University of Iowa.
Coleman flirted with the idea in the spring before deciding to redshirt in 2009 while starter Pat Angerer played his senior season. Coleman would have had two seasons to start in 2010 and 2011.
It seems that Coleman has changed his mind again, this time opting to transfer to a school in the Houston area.
I felt that coming out of spring camp, linebacker might have been the team’s deepest position, but this changes things. Coleman was a great player during his freshman and sophomore seasons at Iowa, collecting 52 tackles, 6 of which were for loss.
Blair Sanderson of Hawkeyereport.com is reporting that runningback Jewel Hampton has injured his ACL in summer workouts.
Hampton was expected to be the starter at tailback in 2009 after backing up Shonn Greene in 2008 as a true freshman.
The Indiana native rushed for 461 yards on 91 carries last season, averaging 5 yards per carry.
Jewel Hampton
Iowa has a handful of runningbacks who will now challenge for the starting spot, most notably redshirt freshman Jeff Brinson and incoming freshman Brandon Wegher.
ACL injuries typically take anywhere from 8 to 12 months to heal, meaning that Hampton will most likely miss the 2009 season.
At this point last year, the Hawkeyes had just one verbal commitment for the class of 2009 in Ohio running back Brad Rogers. While signing day isn’t until February, Iowa fans had reason to be concerned as conference giants Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State were already in the double digits with commits.
The Hawkeyes find themselves in a much better position this year with recruiting, though. Kirk Ferentz and his staff received their eighth verbal commitment this week when Harlan’s Matt Hoch let them know that he’d be playing his college ball at the University of Iowa. Hoch, rated a 3 star prospect by Rivals.com will be playing defensive end at the next level.
Hoch joins other 3 star athletes Austin Gray, Mike Hardy, James Morris, and Louis Trinca-Pasat as future defensive players for UI. Additionally, The Hawkeyes have added Jim Poggi and Anthony Ferguson to their defensive commitments. 6 foot 7 Austin Vier has committed as an “athlete” and will challenge for a spot at either quarterback or tightend.
With seven players already committed on the defensive side of the ball, Ferentz and his staff will look for offensive players for the class of 2010, most notably Cedar Rapids’ running back Andre Dawson and all-everything Iowa City High quarterback A. J Derby, the son of former Hawkeye linebacker John Derby.
For comparison’s sake, little sister iowa state has four commitments at this time, none of which are ranked. Nebraska has five fairly highly ranked commits.
The September 19th home football game against the Arizona Wildcats will be a 2:30 kickoff and televised on ABC, as per an announcement from the Big Ten today.
At this point, Iowa’s regular season schedule looks like this:
9/5 Northern Iowa 11:00 AM kickoff, Big Ten Network
9/12 @ Iowa State 11:00 AM Kickoff, Fox Sports
9/19 Arizona 2:30 PM Kickoff, ABC
9/26 @ Penn State 7:00 PM Kickoff, ABC/ESPN
10/3 Arkansas State ?
10/10 Michigan 7:00 PM Kickoff, ABC/ESPN
10/17 @ Wisconsin 11:00 AM Kickoff, ?
10/24 @ Michigan State 6:00 PM Kickoff, Big Ten Network
10/31 Indiana ?
11/7 Northwestern ?
11/14 @ Ohio State ?
11/21 Minnesota ?
Kickoffs for the last four games and the Arkansas State game will be announced after the season begins.
I love the later kickoff time for the Arizona game. Nothing at all wrong with 3.5 more hours of tailgating!
Here’s a little video from the last time Arizona visited Kinnick Stadium in 1996, a game Iowa won 21-20.
72 more days until Football Season!
After enrolling early for the Spring semester, freshman tight end Anthony Schiavone has decided to leave the University of Iowa according to Hawkeyereport.com‘s Blair Sanderson.
Schiavone, a native of Connecticut, graduated from high school a semester early to participate in Iowa’s spring practices.
I can’t imagine moving half way across the country to start college when my friends were still in high school, so I can empathize with the kid a bit.
Schiavone was not expected to compete for a starting spot this fall, so damage is minimal. The Hawkeyes still have 8 tight ends on campus, not including incoming freshman.
Senior-to-be Tony Moeaki and junior-to-be Allen Reisner are the expected starters at tight end heading into Fall camp.
Barring injury, senior-to-be Tony Moeaki will start at tight end this fall. (Jonathan D. Woods/The Cedar Rapids Gazette)
It seems that any news regarding the game of college football or college football players during the off season is usually bad news, and the latest bit of news from the Iowa Football team continues that trend.
Kyle Calloway, who has started 25 straight games for Iowa on the offensive line has been charged with OWI, for driving his mo-ped while intoxicated.
5th year senior Kyle Calloway will miss Iowa's opener against UNI
The fifth year senior will miss Iowa’s opener against the Northern Iowa Panthers.
This incident will undoubtedly add to the criticism some Hawkeye fans have increasingly engaged in regarding the Iowa City Police Department and its supposed targeting of football players.
As far as I’m concerned, I wonder how these guys keep finding themselves in these situations. You’d think there would be some jersey chaser willing to provide rides for drunk football players. Or even one of the guys on the 100+ man team?
Apologies to the two people who actually read this. Finals happened and then I went to New York City (where I saw A-Rod [A-Roid, to fans in my section of Yankees Stadium] jack this 2 run homer in the bottom of the 11th to beat Minnesota) and then to San Francisco to see my sister get her MFA from St. Mary’s. I won’t keep away this long again, thanks in part to the fact that I am now so broke that any trips for the immediate future will be impossible, but mostly because this blog has now become a class project for me, and I will actually have deadlines to meet.
It being June, there are only a few Hawkeye Football related news items that I can think of…
The Iowa State away game will kickoff at 11:00 AM on Fox Sports. Other games with confirmed kickoff times are @ Penn State (7:00 PM), Michigan (7:00 PM), and @ Michigan State (6:00PM). All times are central.
Junior-to-be middle linebacker Jacody Coleman flirted with the idea of transferring before ultimately deciding to redshirt this season, in order to get some separation between him and senior-to-be starter Pat Angerer. Coleman will have two full years to play and most likely start in 2010 and 2011.
Jacody Coleman will redshirt in 2009
Lastly, redshirt-freshman- to-be wide receiver Shane Prater has decided to transfer to Iowa Western in Council Bluffs for the 2009 season. His twin brother, Shaun Prater, played as a true freshman at cornerback and was expected to challenge Jordan Bernstine for a starting spot before being cited for OWI this Spring. Shaun Prater will face a multiple game suspension this fall, but will most likely play a prominent role in the 2009 defensive backfield after serving his suspension.
Keep checking back, Hawk Fans, as I will post pics of Iowa’s new Field Turf in the next few days!
Here’s another batch of pictures from Saturday’s scrimmage in Iowa City. Just click on the picture below!
Sophomore Receiver Marvin McNutt
– Bill Delehant
Darkhorse 