[Herky] Vandeberg out/depth chart

[Brad Grupe]

Next man in?

Brad G

----- Original Message -----
From: Sue Bailey <minburnsb at gmail.com>
To: herky at lists.herky.net
Sent: Tue, 27 Sep 2016 12:23:46 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Herky] Vandeberg out/depth chart

According to a report, Iowa wide receiver Matt VandeBerg suffered a 
broken foot in practice on Monday and will undergo surgery Tuesday.

On Monday night, HawkeyeReport.com tweeted that VandeBerg suffered the 
injury during Monday’s practice. How much time VandeBerg will miss is 
uncertain. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz meets with the media Tuesday.If 
VandeBerg is ruled out for the season, it’s likely he will not be 
eligible for a medical hardship waiver. The senior from Brandon, S.D., 
has played in four games this season, that’s more than the 30 percent 
that the NCAA rule allows for a hardship waiver.

VandeBerg is Iowa’s leading receiver with 19 catches for 284 yards and 
three touchdowns. The 19 receptions are tied for third in the Big Ten. 
After VandeBerg, who led Iowa with 65 receptions last season, Iowa’s No. 
2 receiver is tight end George Kittle, who has 10 catches for 192 yards.

Iowa’s wide receiver group went into the season as a question mark. Now, 
second-year sophomore Jerminic Smith is the leader in the group. He has 
seven catches for 97 yards this season. Sophomore Ronald Nash and true 
freshman Devonte Young traveled with the team to Rutgers last week and 
might be in line for more looks in the passing game.

More on this Tuesday.

*B1G honor for Coluzzi*

Google “Ron Coluzzi trucked” and you’ll see a video of the Central 
Michigan punter getting drilled by a Purdue play.

Today’s Google will read Big Ten special teams player of the week.

In Iowa’s 14-7 victory at Rutgers last weekend, Coluzzi averaged 42.0 
yards on seven punts, with a long of 55 yards. Four of those were downed 
inside the Scarlet Knights’ 20-yard line, helping greatly in a game 
where field position was magnified. Coluzzi also recorded touchbacks on 
all three of his kickoffs and now leads the Big Ten lead with 18.

The weekly honor is the first for Coluzzi, a graduate transfer from 
Central Michigan.

Coluzzi is the second Hawkeye to earn B1G player of the week in 2016. 
Redshirt freshman defensive end Anthony Nelson was named freshman of the 
week following Iowa’s opening win over Miami (Ohio). Marshall Koehn was 
Iowa’s last special teams player of the week (Sept. 21, 2015).

Through four games, Coluzzi averages 43.2 yards on 20 punts, with 
opponents returning just two punts for no yards. He has five punts of 50 
yards or more and just one touchback. Coluzzi has recorded 18 touchbacks 
on 22 kickoffs.

Coluzzi’s best hangtime against Rutgers, according to Pro Football 
Focus, was 4.51 seconds.

Coluzzi graduated from Central Michigan with a degree in marketing and 
logistics. He used that “Coluzzi trucked” video clip during an 
internship last summer.

“I did an internship for Coyote Logistics (in Chicago, near his 
Naperville, Ill., hometown) last summer and I sold freight out of a 
brokerage,” he said. “I would send that video to some of my clients to 
get the ball rolling with whatever we were selling that day.

“It did work. I got a bunch of relationships with companies. People 
always joked about it over the phone.”

Running back Derrick Mitchell wasn’t listed on the depth chart released 
Monday by Iowa (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten). He suffered a leg injury and didn’t 
play against North Dakota State and didn’t make the trip to Rutgers last 
weekend. Going into this week’s matchup with Northwestern (1-3, 0-1) 11 
a.m. at Kinnick Stadium, Mitchell appears to be the only significant 
injury for Iowa.

Outside linebacker Ben Niemann did leave last week’s game near the end 
and was replaced by Kevin Ward. Niemann was available for postgame 
interviews and seemed fine.

Guard Sean Welsh (ankle) and center James Daniels (knee) returned to the 
lineup last week and helped turn around the Hawkeyes running game. Iowa 
had just 34 yards against NDSU (its lowest output in 36 games) and then 
churned out 193 against the Scarlet Knights.

Offensive personnel groups

11 (one back, one tight end, three WRs) — 5 rushes for 29 yards; 1 of 5 
passes for 5 yards

11 shotgun — 4 rushes for 7 yards; 8 of 10 for 129 yards and a TD

21 (running back, fullback, one TE, two WR) — 14 runs for 127 yards and 
TD; 1 of 3 for 6 yards

22 (two backs, two TEs) — 4 runs for 24 yards; 1 of 1 passing for 20 yards

12 (one back, two TEs) — 7 rushes for 9 yards; 1 of 2 for 12 yards passing

32 (three backs, two TEs) — Championship formation 2 kneels for minus-5

Let’s check some Pro Football Focus grades

Go to Pro Footbal Focus <https://www.profootballfocus.com/> and totally 
dig into that site. Learn about football. Get smarter. Win arguments. 
That’s the whole point of what they do and what I try to do (sometimes 
not as great as others).

Iowa’s run blockers ranked by PFF (starting O-line, fullbacks and TE):

1. G Boone Myers

2. G Sean Welsh

3. C James Daniels

4. FB Drake Kulick

5. TE George Kittle

6. FB Brady Ross

7. OT Cole Croston

8. OT Ike Boettger

Myers’ number was hugely positive. It might’ve been his best game as a 
Hawkeye. Graded Iowa’s highest by a large margin. Welsh was the only 
other positively graded, but Daniels was close. Their return to the 
lineup made a huge difference.

PFF’s top pass blocker this week

Myers, Daniels, Boettger and Welsh graded positively, with Welsh leading 
the way. Here’s something I didn’t consider, but PFF put two of Rutgers’ 
sacks on Beathard.

Best PFF overall grades for the offense this week

1. G Boone Myers

2. G Sean Welsh

3. C James Daniels

4. TE George Kittle

5. (tie) QB C.J. Beathard and RB LeShun Daniels

Myers was off-the-charts good. Welsh and Daniels were positive grades. 
Their impact was obvious. Kittle put up another solid week. Beathard and 
LeShun Daniels were neutral scores, but very close to positive grades. 
Tackles Boettger and Cole Croston and No. 2 TE Peter Pekar were negative 
grades. Rutgers fielded a couple of pretty good pass rushers.

Offensive factlets

— Here’s what it looks like when a defense is able to pressure a QB with 
its front four: PFF had Rutgers with just three blitzes, but also with 
11 pass plays pressure. Weird game for Beathard: He completed 2 of 2 
when blitzed, but hit just 10 of 21 on 28 dropbacks (yes, only 23 
passes, but scrambles are counted here). Beathard had his best game with 
his feet in his last nine games and was Iowa’s lone positive grade in 
running the ball.

— Last week, NDSU sold out to stop Iowa’s inside zone, holding the 
Hawkeyes to just seven rush attempts between the guards and center for 
17 yards. Total opposite this week. Hawkeyes had 12 inside rushes for 85 
yards, including nine for 74 yards on the left side.

— Kittle and Wadley had the best ratings in the receiving game. With the 
WR group trying to find maybe a few more contributors, the playbook on 
Wadley in the passing game has to be open.

Iowa’s run defenders ranked by PFF (starting D-line and linebackers)

1. LB Josey Jewell

2. DT Jaleel Johnson

3. FS Brandon Snyder

4. DE Matt Nelson

5. (tie) LB Bo Bower and CB Desmond King

6. (tie) DE Anthony Nelson and OLB Ben Niemann

Iowa gave up 193 rushing yards, but eight defenders finished with 
positive grades vs. the rush. Jewell’s number was terrific. He’s Iowa’s 
best interior player on either side of the ball. If you factor in 
volume, this makes more sense. RU rushed 18 times for 102 yards in the A 
gap.

Best PFF overall grades for the defense this week

1. CB Desmond King

2. LB Josey Jewell

3. FS Brandon Snyder

4. DT Jaleel Johnson

5. (tie) DE Anthony Nelson and DE Matt Nelson

King or Jewell for Iowa’s best overall player? King was immense in 
coverage last week, scoring his best PFF rating yet. PFF credited Matt 
Nelson with three sacks and Hesse with two. A week after posting Iowa’s 
lowest grade, Snyder is in the top three. He is a first-year starter and 
that’s the kind of trajectory you want to be on. No Hawkeyes posted a 
negative number. Remember, the defense allowed just seven points.

Defensive factlets

— PFF had Iowa with six blitzes and eight pressures. Anthony Nelson, 
Jewell and Niemann were credited with hurries.

— Iowa’s defense was hit with nine missed tackles, with Snyder having 
three. That’s why the head coach took a few seconds after a big 
fourth-down stop, in which Snyder had a hand on, to explain to the 
sophomore that seeing is tackling.

— Iowa’s raider package corners Manny Rugamba and Joshua Jackson were 
targeted twice with one going for a TD on Jackson. King was targeted 
twice with one catch for one yard. He also broke up two passes. Bower 
allowed just one completion for 4 yards in four targeted throws.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse at thegazette.com