Iowa Football: Hawkeyes posts depth chart ahead of Colorado State game

The Iowa Hawkeyes enter the week in the top 5 for the second straight street and for the second straight week they are expected to face an unranked opponent at Kinnick Stadium. Iowa enter the week on a 9-game winning streak and come off another multi-scorecard victory in Week 3.

The Hawkeyes are over 30 points for the second time this season against Kent State and for the third time in as many games, the Iowa defense has added points on the board. Iowa D have now scored 23 points this season and as many touchdowns as the three opposing attacks they’ve faced combined. The Hawkeyes are ranked 4th nationally in scoring defense while Tory Taylor is in the top 10 in the country for punters at nearly 50 yards per punt.

The Iowa offensive, however, continues to struggle. The average of 30 points per game is reinforced by the nearly 8 points per game brought by the defense, but still ranks 63rd nationally. Iowa’s 298 yards per game are ahead of only Kansas and Colorado among P5 schools nationwide.

So it is clear that there is a discrepancy between the three phases of the game, but in the wake of such a winning streak and another resounding victory, would Kirk Ferentz and his team make any changes to the table? depth ?

We found out on Monday when the Hawkeyes released their Week 4 game scores, including a new depth chart.

Image via HawkeyeSports.com

In short: no. There have been no notable changes in the past week.

Defense

Defense is what defense will be. There is no need to make any major changes to the rotation given the performance of this group. Don’t expect to see any changes on this side of the ball unless we start to see injuries. So far Iowa has been lucky on this front (** hits on a lot in wood **).

The only exception to this rule was defensive end Ethan Hurkett, who lost on Saturday. He wasn’t listed on both depths before, so no changes for him this week. We’ll have an update on Hurkett and any other injuries when he becomes available to the press on Tuesday.

The offense

The offensive side of the ball is where most Iowa fans wring their hands. However, the offensive line seemed to improve in week three. This is probably due in part to the return of RS senior Kyler Schott. Shooter is still listed as a backup RG going into week four. Look for him to increase his workload this week and potentially find his way back into the starting lineup for the Iowa Week 5 game in Maryland.

The only other place where there really seems to be fan criticism is in QB. Spencer Petras was a lightning rod, as is almost always the starting QB from Iowa. But Petras completed 69 percent of his passes on Saturday and is yet to return the ball in 2021. His last interception came six games ago in a 2020 win over Nebraska.

There’s hardly any world in which Kirk Ferentz or any other rational head coach plans to put his starter on the heels of those types of numbers while also leading a 9-game winning streak and a nationwide top-5 ranking. Petras has his warts and they could cost Iowa a game this year, but putting him on the bench isn’t something an American coach would consider from a distance at this point.

And so, no changes as we enter week four of the 2021 season. Hopefully Hawkeye fans can say the same at the start of week five.