The Break Down: Iowa

Mean Green Nation

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IOWA SCOUTING REPORT

OFFENSE: Pro Style, Some 3 WR sets

DEFENSE: 4-3 Over

INSIDE THE MATCH-UPS

IOWA PASS OFFENSE VS. NORTH TEXAS PASS DEFENSE

Iowa
Iowa passed the ball 40 times last week against a Pitt. Part of the reason Iowa threw it so much was because Pitt was really good against the run. The other part was the Iowa coaching staff really trusts QB C.J Beathard. Beathard is playing really good football right now. His main target VandeBerg is a slot WR who reminds me a lot of Jordan Shipley from Texas. Greg Davis uses VandeBerg in a lot of similar ways. Iowa will also run a lot of WR and RB screens. So look for RB Jordan Canzeri to get plenty of targets.
North Texas
It was the big play that killed NT last week against Rice. The secondary gave up 373 yards passing against an average Rice passing attack. Chad Davis and Zac Whitfield were both abused vertically in the passing game. For North Texas it was the old deep ball menace that struck again. This week the secondary faces a better QB and better passing attack. Losing Cedric Fernandes will hurt the secondary tremendously. Freshman Aston Preston will see a lot playing time this week.
EDGE: Iowa

IOWA RUN OFFENSE VS. NORTH TEXAS RUN DEFENSE

Iowa
The bread and butter of the Hawkeye offense is their physical run game. They feature two backs, Jordan Canzeri and LeShun Daniels. Canzeri has emerged as the Hawkeyes lead back with 4 TDs. Iowa loves the outside zone running attack. The other threat that Iowa has in the running game is QB Beathard. Beathard is more than capable of hurting the Mean Green Defense with his legs. Iowa won’t call many designed QB runs, because Beathard took a beating against Pitt last week. Beathard will most likely be using his legs in unscheduled situations.
North Texas
North Texas did a decent job at defending the Rice rushing attack, but they still gave up close to 200 yards. Fred Scott and Blake Bean have done a pretty nice job making plays on the defense end. North Texas needs more push from their DL and more penetration from Austin Orr and Sir Calvin Wallace against Iowa. Highlighted it a bunch already, but the zone rushing attack for Iowa will give North Texas a ton of problems.
EDGE: Iowa

IOWA OFFENSIVE LINE VS. NORTH TEXAS DEFENSIVE LINE

Iowa
Kirk Ferentz always puts together a good offensive line at Iowa. This year is no different. This group does a great job with their stretch and lead outside zone running plays. The Hawkeyes OL and their blocking scheme is really a tough match-up for North Texas.
North Texas
North Texas strength is in the pass rush ability. J. Roberts has 2.5 sacks on the year and is getting pretty good pressure on the QB. Freshman R. Young has flashed his ability to move the pile and make plays. For North Texas this week they need to be sure they get constant pressure on Beathard, and they need to ensure they keep him contained. On the run stopping end Iowa should be able to push the North Texas DL around.
EDGE: Iowa

NORTH TEXAS PASS OFFENSE VS. IOWA PASS DEFENSE

Iowa
Iowa has a pretty experienced secondary, but they are vulnerable. Iowa is giving up about 223 yards passing a game. The Hawkeyes have also given up 27 1st downs on passing plays compared to only 13 from running plays. North Texas has to exploit this weakness if they are to have a chance. Desmond King has 3 INTs on the year and is probably Iowa’s best coverage corner.
North Texas
The North Texas pass offense improved last week from the SMU game. McNulty managed to put in a solid effort, but issues and doubt still remains. McNulty targets Carlos Harris too much. Harris does get open, but McNulty stares him down too often. The ball needs to be spread around to more players. Chris Loving and Marcus Smith had nice games last week. NT maybe able to take advantage of an Iowa pass defense that can be vulnerable to slot WR’s. This unit will have its hands full this week because they will be relied on heavily to move the Mean Green offense.
EDGE: Iowa

NORTH TEXAS RUN OFFENSE VS. IOWA RUN DEFENSE

Iowa
Iowa is very stout at stopping the run. The Hawkeyes are only giving up 1.87 yards per carry. Iowa held Pitt to just 55 yards rushing last week. Pitt had been averaging around 226 yards a game. The Hawkeye 4-3 over defense is pretty basic, but Iowa does a good job winning battles at the line of scrimmage. They are also very fundamentally sound when it comes to filling the run lanes. Iowa is a really good swarming defense.
North Texas
The North Texas run offense came to life against Rice last week. North Texas ran for 175 yards against a Rice defense that had been pretty stingy against the run. Jimmerson had some good runs. Ivery came in and provided a spark. Ivery fumbled in the 2nd quarter after a big run. He rarely saw the field after that. One reason the run game improved was NT’s OL finally opened up some holes. The run game faces a stiff challenge this week. Hopefully North Texas gets star RB J. Wilson back this week, because they need him.
EDGE: Iowa

NORTH TEXAS OFFENSIVE LINE VS. IOWA DEFENSIVE LINE

Iowa
Iowa’s DL is very talented. They are led by DE Drew Ott, who has been battling an injury. Ott is great pass rusher. Iowa also has another talented pass rushing DE on the other side of Ott in Nate Meier. Meier is leading Iowa in sacks. Meier had 2 sacks last week against Pitt. Iowa’s pass rush along with their ability to shut down opponents run game will make life tough on the North Texas offense.
North Texas
The North Texas OL did a pretty good job last week opening up running lanes for the NT RB’s. The OL will have its hands full this week against a talented Iowa DL. The one area that North Texas continues to struggle with is pass protection. Any pass plays that are slow developing put the Mean Green OL in a spot of trouble.
EDGE: Iowa

IOWA SPECIAL TEAMS VS. NORTH TEXAS SPECIAL TEAMS

Iowa
Iowa will be the best special teams unit that North Texas has faced so far this year. Desmond is a decent return guy. The punter Dillon Kidd is hitting almost 50 yards per punt.
North Texas
The North Texas special teams hasn’t been as special as many had hoped it would be. Iowa has a punter that gets some good distance on his kicks. That should allow for Darvin Kidsy to have some room for returns. Punter Eric Keena has been the MVP of the team. Keena has done a tremendous job helping North Texas win the field position battle.
EDGE: Iowa

5 KEY PERSONNEL MATCH-UPS

NT WR Carlos Harris vs Iowa CB Desmond King

NT TE Marcus Smith/TE Chris Loving vs Iowa LB Ben Niemann

NT CB Chad Davis/CB Zac Whitfield vs Iowa WR Teavaun Smith

NT RT Chris Miles vs Iowa DE Nate Meier

NT QB Andrew McNulty vs Iowa QB C.J Beathard

GAME PLAN FOR VICTORY

How Iowa will Win

Iowa will win if they are able to control both lines of scrimmage establishing the run game on offense and stopping NT’s run game. CJ Beathard needs to avoid the numerous turnovers which North Texas needs. If Iowa is able run the ball they will be able to hit the deep play action passes all day long.

How North Texas will Win

North Texas will win if they are able to establish a running game. Establishing the running game will allow McNulty and his wide receivers more open room to work in. North Texas will also need lots of help from the defense. The Mean Green will need to stop or slow down the Iowa running game. If NT does that they should put Iowa in 3rd and long situations. NT will have to do a better job this week on 3rd downs too, but I believe in the Mean Green pass rush. The Mean Green defense will also need force a couple of turnover giving the offense shorter field to work with. Finally the special teams will need to be special. Big returns and punts that pin Iowa deep will help North Texas keep it close and give the Mean Green a slim shot at winning this game.