The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

I missed a good bit over the last couple of weeks it seems like!

I was pumped to get back into the swing of things with the dynasty but as usual instead of just being happy with slow progress I wanted to see out the season and then get into a more slow-paced update schedule. I forgot just how much work it is but yes, I've been on one, weekends and everything lol.

Solid, albeit sloppy win in the bowl game. Although it's good to finish the year out with a win, I'm sure the end of the season was frustrating with the loss to Michigan State and then playing one of your non-conference opponents in a non-BCS bowl - maybe it's just me, but I would've liked to play someone new and fresh in the bowl, especially when you're shut out of the biggest ones.

There's something weird going on with Iowa, and that is we just seem to get shut out of BCS games and kicked to the Capital One Bowl if we're not in the BCS game. Oh well. It's pretty annoying admittedly. I was happy for the chance at revenge against Auburn, as they beat us in the regular season. So I didn't care where it was. I was determined to run up the score which seems funny now. They had a really, really tough D and the conditions sucked for offense. At the end I was just glad to hang on for the W.

NCAA's CPU playcalling remains baffling at the end of games, regardless of the game's year - good to see the OC's idiocy didn't cost USC. Great uniform matchup between USC and LSU... really wish we would've gotten that game in 2003.

It was a fun game to watch, I should really watch more games or see if I can get work done while they're on in the background. But yeah crazy call at the end, I was gonna be bummed for USC because they really outplayed LSU. If they played again I'd take LSU because their offense couldn't be that pathetic back to back I don't think.

Love love love your season overviews. So much depth to everything and the synopsis is great - provides the perfect overview of how the season went. Definitely agree that 12 wins is pretty impressive for a "down" year.

Thanks bro. I know how tough it can be to find time to read dynasties since just finding the time for any updates at all is rare for me, so I wanted to give people something they could look at and not feel obliged to click every page, but yet quickly find an interesting game. It's as much for me as anyone else. I'm the absent minded type and forget unimportant things pretty quickly so sometimes I need a primer on old games etc.

Iowa's athletics website says the sack record is 42, so good call using that mark. Hoping that Khayman Chia reaches that numbers because of his name alone.

Joe wasn't kidding about this recruiting class - it is LOADED. Feel like you did well avoiding bust as well outside of Hernandez, which doesn't matter all that much with signing of Hayden Polk. Fitting that only Ohio State put together a better class - love the wrinkles you've added about Urban Meyer and the rivalry that's becoming.

Urban is my example for why it isn't necessarily cheese to have a consistent winning team, and comparing and contrasting his record compared to mine (in a freaking video game!) makes me feel like there is some element of realism to this. His record as a college coach is astonishing. Even now, with the run Iowa has been on, we're still not all that great against Top 25 teams, in conference championship games, etc. Home wins and bowl game wins are a strong suit. But Urban beats them all.

I didn't realize Harkless had that low of an overall, and completely forgot you had Joshua Mack potentially waiting in the wings. Could you see Mack taking over the starting role this year? If so, does Harkless return to his package role or does he have any attributes that would allow him to help at another position?

The plan is actually Mack as the starter, yes. He improved, and the others didn't, and now there is a decent gap in talent because he's a little faster and more elusive than Harkless. He can absolutely run a lot of the read game as well and has way better AWR. However, I love the idea of Harkless in Heavy shotgun here and there, especially when Larry gets tired. He'll definitely still be involved.

Hark could probably (I don't have all the ratings in front of me) play linebacker at some schools however not at Iowa :-) I'm actually gonna look at see if he could help us as a fullback or something I don't think he can block at all.

Bro, thanks so much for checking in, I have been waiting to get the preseason updates and maybe my first week game in and then I'm going to hit the brakes, catch back up with everybody else, and not be so pell mell.

[Hellisan]

2023 Iowa Hawkeyes Offensive Preview


Rudy Geiland, Staff Writer

Mack the new QB as offense reboots

Harris Jr., Mack, and Lloyd are making headlines this Spring

Larry Lloyd has big goals for his final season at Iowa

Here we go. One shot for "Larry Legend," or "Feed me Larry," or any number of nicknames to have the season we all know he's capable. Say it with us: He just has to remain healthy.

"The difficult thing for Larry hasn't been that he's been hurt. Everybody gets hurt. It's that he's gotten hurt badly enough that he can't return, twice now. Not to tempt fate but that's very unlikely to happen three seasons in a row. He might get dinged up here or there but we think he'll be ready to go the distance this season. He's in as good a shape as he's ever been, and he looks more explosive than he ever has."

Larry Lloyd has played in just 15 of the 28 games in his career, but really he was injured less than halfway through one of those, so he has played in about half the games. That's not good enough for him.

"I'm looking for big things this year," said Lloyd. "I want to work hard and remain healthy. I think my luck holds out this year. The goal is to double my career numbers this season. That's it."

Reading between the lines, Lloyd is therefore looking for a 2,000 yard season as he has run for just over 2,000 yards in his career so far. If he can do it, the Hawks would have their best shot at lifting some serious hardware at the end of the year.



Mack named starting QB

Iowa QB Joshua Mack redshirted his freshman year after having his heart set on starting as a true freshman. He doesn't regret it.

"That's true, I definitely felt as though I was going to win the job as a true freshman. I'll always be confident in that way, try not to be cocky, but that's just me. I felt I was going to be the man right away. It wasn't to be, so we went to plan B and it worked out well. I was able to learn more from the sideline than I ever would have thought possible. I asked a lot of questions, they never got tired of me doing that and I worked hard to study the playbook and learn it as well as I can.," said Mack.

Coach J.D. Clark said Mack simply looked like the starter in spring practices and the spring game and that's what won him over .

"We knew he was a solid player and he performed admirably. There was a sense of normalcy there. He can run the offense and do everything we need him to do, so he's going to start the season for us there."

Anticipating the question, Clark was still every positive about the starter at the end of last year, Antwione Harkless..

"This doesn't mean that Hark doesn't get any shot this year. He's going to see the field. He's going to be ready to come in if we struggle. There's every chance he could play as much or more as he did last year, he just has to compete. And we've seen him do that before, to a high level."



Harris Jr. has been one of the surprises of camp

In addition to a new quarterback, the Hawkeyes will start with a new fullback. Nathan Richardson has been the starter for the entire time he has been at Iowa, however he will find himself starting on the bench this season.

Clark faces a new challenge this year to fill a certain position his offense requires, and that is chiallenging the defense with covering the short passing game.

Kenard Goodman was a great receiver out of the backfield and did a pretty good job of keeping teams honest or occasionally making the big play in the passing game. While the current group of running backs, led by Lloyd, has its strengths, catching the ball is not one of them. And while Richardson is fine at catching the ball, he wasn't doing enough with his chances in the end.

J.J. Harris, Jr. is getting a shot to do more than Richardson did. Harris has been seen lining up all over the offense so that Coach Clark can see what he can do. From running back to fullback to tight end, to H back, Harris has been doing it all.

"He has been a sparkplug for us this spring," confirmed Clark. "He's just a player with a litlte bit of extra zip, who can make things happen and we're going to need him to do that."

Clark cited the short area quickness and hands of Harris as the biggest factors for him gaining the role.

"He gets moving NOW," said Clark. "Not after a few steps. For a big guy (6'0", 261 lbs) that is a huge deal. In the blocking game he is getting through the line and peeling off for a block like we haven't seen anyone do. In the run game, he's quick an decisive, a real problem when the defense knows how bad Larry can hurt them with the long gainer."

Harris has noticeably quicker feet than Richardson and really gets into and out of his cuts a lot more quickly. Hopefully, he can stick at the position and bring the passing game threat the team needs.

2023 Offensive Preview

[Hellisan]

2023 Defensive Preview

The Hawkeyes will be elite on defense,
and Dillon will be a huge reason why

Dez Dillon fights through a Robert Dyches block in practice to make the stop

Dez Dillon, or more formally Desmond Dillon the third, hails from Perry, OK. Home of Ditch Witch construction equipment. And not much else. The population is just over 5,000 people, and Perry High School has just over 300 students. Because of that, the Perry High Maroons play at the 6th highest level of Oklahoma High School Football. Where they have won three straight championships. Because of Dez Dillon, who is slated to start at outside linebacker for the Hawkeyes.

Dillon is a freak of nature farm boy, a once in a lifetime natural talent standing 6'6", 242 and looking every bit the part of an NFL player despite being 18 years old. Despite the level he played at and his age, Dillon seems to be able to do it all. He has preternatural strength due to his work on the farm where he takes pride in helping run the family business. He has even gone out on his own to add to the family's stock of cattle.

"Growing up on a farm gave me the chance to have a great work ethic, and I have put that work into my game, for sure," said Dillon. "We might not live in a big city but I'll get on the internet and research anything I need to be a better player, and my coaching staff prepared me for every bit of what I'm facing now."

Dillon says despite his reputation as a tackler and his ability to play incredible coverage, his favorite thing is to rush the passer.

"I love to get after it," Dillon said. "Letting the quarterback know that not only am I going to have a huge impact on the game from the linebacker spot, he's also going to get to know me personally."

With that, Dillon chuckled. Which I found myself doing numerous times while watching practice. Not to hype the kid up too much, but he's just a menace. He moves like a much smaller man and covers so much ground it's ridiculous. He's had few problems in coverage and seems to really enjoy playing his way through tight areas to get to the ball as well. At times he has made short work of right tackle Alec Gehlhausen or other blockers when he has blitzed.

Having Dillon can only help a team that was already very talented.

The Hawkeyes have a defense that stacks up well against any defense in the country. The starting secondary is elite - They have multiple shutdown corners including big-play D.J. Halloway. The linebackers are just as good, with David Bryant and Brandon Butler providing excellent leadership for the youngster Dillon. And the defensive line, led by Khayman Chia, is talented and deep although there has to be a weak point to any team.

Just another few days before the Hawkeyes line it up against Colorado State at home.

2023 Defensive Preview

[Hellisan]

2023 - Around the Nation Preseason Edition


Around the Nation - Preseason Edition

[Careless Whisper]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

The pieces are definitely there for another natty if Lloyd stays healthy and Mack proves to be the real deal at QB. That defense is absolutely loaded - I'm calling Dillon snagging a Freshman All-America nod pretty easily, especially when he gets to play beside Bryant and Butler.

[Knickerbocker91]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Schedule looks pretty nice for Iowa to make another run this year

[OldHossRadbourn]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Hey yo.

We need this one back.

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

The itch is back, and much more importantly I have a little time so we'll see if we can get this rolling again. Where we left off is that I had no time but wanted to get my season started so I played two games without taking any notes or anything, so they will just be very quick, minimal reports on a couple of blowout games.

The pieces are definitely there for another natty if Lloyd stays healthy and Mack proves to be the real deal at QB. That defense is absolutely loaded - I'm calling Dillon snagging a Freshman All-America nod pretty easily, especially when he gets to play beside Bryant and Butler.

I hope you are right and Dillon plays like I'm expecting him to! Thanks bro!

Schedule looks pretty nice for Iowa to make another run this year

Not going to lie.... I screwed up the schedule. That's some Nick Saban soft OOC scheduling. I meant to add at least one challenge game in there and forgot that step before advancing. Needless to say, I agree with you

Hey yo.

We need this one back.

Thanks for not giving up on me! hahaha


Quick Note: When this dynasty was started, my daughter was 3 years old. As of the writing of this update, she is 12 and in the next room loudly talking manager mode FIFA to herself and berating her players, so I think I'll have to hide this ish from her or at least take a hard line stance on it when she finds it.

[Hellisan]

2023 - Week 1 - Colorado State @ #5 Iowa

[Hellisan]

2023 Recruiting Board

[Hellisan]

2023 - Week 2 - Maryland @ #4 Iowa

[Hellisan]

2023 - Week 3 - #3 Iowa @ Iowa State

[Hellisan]

Hawk Blog

Vessel declines a wardrobe change over pits
and other much more important topics of discussion

At halftime of Iowa's last game, #vesselpits began trending on Twitter. Someone had posted a close-up photo of Iowa wide receiver Nikolai "Nick" Vessel, arms outstretched, making an acrobatic catch.

It was immediately clear that Vessel's beefy, weird, eyebrow-shaped armpit hair was raising a stink on Twitter, with humorous references immediately made to the wide receiver's inherent "toxic masculinity" - again, apparently because he must stink with pits like that.

For his part, Vessel is having no part of the conversation.

"It cracked me up some of the comments that were being made, but you have to understand, armpit hair maintenance is not something I'm going to be getting into. I go au naturale, baby. And, I have to be slippery on the field, that's why I go with the tight sleeves and no t-shirt. Also, I have to let those beautiful babies breathe. So they're going to have to deal with it, especially if he throws the ball high like that I guess. Blame Mack."

Lloyd takes center stage in Heisman Race

Through three games, Larry Lloyd has 609 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns. That's an average of over 200 yards per game for those incapable of simple maths, and thanks to his five-touchdown outburst against Maryland, Lloyd is tied with Paul Bailey of Tennessee for #1 in the nation in touchdowns with 10 apiece, as mentioned above. Herbert McIntyre (Middle Tennessee) leads all receivers with 8 touchdowns and is third overall in skill position touchdowns behind the two running backs.

Thanks to Iowa's growing cachet in the world of college football, Lloyd has immediately ascended to the top of the Heisman contender list.

Lloyd literally would not comment when asked about it after Iowa's last game. A reporter brought it up, and Lloyd simply remained silent, nodding bemusedly until another question was posed.

You can't blame Lloyd for not wanting to jinx anything. Healthy for all three games so far this season, that puts Lloyd as participating in 18 of 31 games in his career, which would be disappointing for any player, let alone with Lloyd's talent.

Lloyd stated at the beginning of the year that he wanted to rush for 2,000 yards. But, while we're seriously jinxing his chances at remaining healthy at all, is there another goal he should potentially be looking at?

How about career rushing touchdowns at Iowa? LeShun Daniels owns the record for career rushing yardage (5,395 yards) and touchdowns (45) in Iowa history. A four-year starter, Daniels was defined by his consistency, putting him in opposition to Lloyd's history.

But I've gotta say it first: Lloyd is within striking distance of that touchdown record! With 10 touchdowns through three games, it makes sense that 12 should be within striking distance over the final nine regular-season games, and if he can notch 13 of those bad boys, he'll have the record. Something to keep an eye on as we watch Larry continue to rack up the accolades.

Polk has been as advertised so far
Harris Jr. continues to impress at fullback

Hayden Polk was discussed previously when I was going ape you-know-what over last year's recruiting class. And rightfully so. All Polk has done so far is lead the team in receiving with 224 yards on 17 receptions, including a pair of touchdowns in his last game to get him on the score sheet as well.

A player that has come out of nowhere this season to be the team's fourth leading receiver is J.J. Harris, Jr. Harris has been a nice change of pace to the displaced starter from previous seasons, Nathan Richardson. Richardson came highly recommended and has nice physical traits, but he has a certain stiffness on the field and doesn't accelerate anywhere near as advertised, or run routes like his reputation suggested he would.

Harris on the other hand shows athleticism on the field that has been a pleasant surprise, as he moves easily into open areas and plucks the ball out of the air easily (no drops). He has done well in both the passing game and the run game when opportunities present. His 9 receptions have gone for 71 yards, or 8 per play, and he has carried 6 times for 39yards, or 6.5 per carry, with a best of 18 yards.

Harris hasn't embarrassed himself as a blocker either. Altogether, this is one change that has made a nice difference in getting a chain mover like Harris into the mix.

Next Up: Texas Tech

Iowa have a schedule that's softer than a baby's bottom this year and that continues in week 5 (following a bye week) when Iowa travel down to Lubbock to face 1-1 Texas Tech.

"Blowout Alert," blurted USA Today's newspaper blurb about #3 Iowa's next opponent. But is that the case? Well, probably. The Red Raiders are presently 114th or worse in points per game, total offense, pass offense, total defense, pass defense, and turnover differential. They also don't have the size, strength, speed, and overall talent on paper that Iowa present.

Still, a trip to Texas is always fraught with worry.

Week 5 injury report:

CB Joe Gibson - Sustained an ankle injury in the last game and will miss approximately 5-8 weeks. Estimated to be back for week 11, more or less.

FB Nathan Richardson - In limited action, Richardson still sustained a minor concussion and will be out for approximately one week.

[dfsJunkie]

Re: Hawk Blog

The legacy of Larry Lloyd can go in so many directions... if he stays healthy, he can be in the record books no problem with that schedule..

[OldHossRadbourn]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Thanks for not giving up on me! hahaha


Quick Note: When this dynasty was started, my daughter was 3 years old. As of the writing of this update, she is 12 and in the next room loudly talking manager mode FIFA to herself and berating her players, so I think I'll have to hide this ish from her or at least take a hard line stance on it when she finds it.

Will never give up on a fellow MM'er!

...and now you've made me feel old.