Camp Curiousities

Things I Want to Hear From Camp

It is almost upon us—the beginning of fall camp. The beginning of camp means the beginning of the season. The beginning of season means 12 Saturdays of Iowa football. Iowa football means pure happiness. Ok, you get my point.

I am very curious to hear what Coach Ferentz has to say at Media Day this Friday. Typically, Coach Ferentz will announce any changes to the depth chart, NCAA Clearinghouse casualties, and any new information that has happened since Big Ten Media Day, which I think will be minimal.

Camp brings an opportunity for the football team to spend close to three weeks of quality time eating, breathing, sleeping, and living football together as a team. It also gives several players the opportunity to win a starting job outright and it gives each unit of the team the chance to work toward the ultimate goal of working in unison on the field.

I am anxious to see how the following developments and position battles play out over the course of the next month leading up to the opener against Northern Iowa on September 5th.

· Backup Quarterback. Although it appears as though James Vandenberg has the upper hand coming out of spring practice, I certainly think John Wienke will be given every chance to earn the co-backup spot with Vandenberg. Say what you will about the Jake Christensen era at Iowa, but it was certainly comforting knowing that he had been under center when the bullets were flying. I would really like one or both of the current backups to make significant strides in their game in order to provide that same level of comfort this year.

· Corner Pocket. Amari Speivey is going to be 1st Team All Big Ten this year, mark my words. The biggest question is who will start at the other corner. I really hope that Jordan Bernstine receives the number of reps in camp that he needs in order to solidify himself as a starter. He obviously has a ton of natural athletic ability and showed some flashes of good tackling technique during spot duty in nickel situations last year. Shaun Prater and Willie Lowe are also in the mix, although Prater will have somewhat of an uphill battle to fight following his two game suspension for a DUI arrest.

· Stuck in the Middle With You. Ask me what player from last year’s team I wish could return? Mitch King? No. Matt Kroul? No. Andy Brodell? No. Rob Bruggeman was, in my opinion, the most important player from last year’s team. A common theme of successful Coach Ferentz teams are a solid, veteran center. Bruce Nelson called the shots in 2002. Brian Ferentz in 2004 and Rob Bruggeman last year. Mike Elgin was one heck of center as well. With Julian Vandervelde’s injury, I do not know who will come out of this race. Perhaps it will be Josh Koeppel, like Bruggeman, a walk-on from Iowa City. I also think that James Ferentz will make a strong case to receive playing time. If, and that is a big if, we can find a solid center, there is no doubt that our offensive line is one of the best in the Big Ten and maybe top five in the country.

· Two of Us. Because all of the national pundits and observers talk about it, I guess I will too. Who is going to replace the King and Kroul duo? Will Ballard and Clayborn be moving in at all? Mike Daniels, Karl Klug and Broderick Binns are all going to platoon and do a fine job. Obviously, their success will determine much of the team’s success. Strong defensive line play is a hallmark of Norm Parker’s best defenses and this year’s line has the possibility to shape up to be a pretty solid group. The more space and gaps that the defensive tackles eat up means more room for Angerer, Hunter, and Edds to go hunting for running backs and quarterbacks.

· Return to Sender. Despite Coach Ferentz’s comments about Jewel Hampton returning kicks this year, I truly hope that Brandon Wegher and others impressive the coaching staff enough to earn the job so that Hampton does not have to return kicks. It would be a shame to have Hampton injured during kick return duty.

Well that is it for now. My next post will be during the next week or so after Media Day and following a week or so of practice.

Go Hawks!