The Hawkeye Report

Bruins Doomed By Self Inflicted Wounds

The Iowa Hawkeyes traveled to southern California to take on the UCLA Bruins and the home crowd was not happy with what they saw.  Coach Gruden has been at his wits end as starting QB Brett Hundley has been throwing the ball to the other team at a staggering rate.  Unfortunately for him that trend continued as UCLA QB's threw 8 picks total (6 by Brett Hundley).



Things turned rocky early for the Bruins as Hundley threw picks on each of the first three drives and the Hawkeyes took full advantage turning them into points as they built a 21-0 halftime lead.  With starting QB Jake Rudock out with an injury, Coach Steel Pitt turned to redshirt Freshmen QB Nic Shimonek to lead the team.  With a young QB behind center, Coach Steel Pitt leaned heavily on the running game and a stout defense pull threw.  He did let the youngster throw and Shimonek gave the Coach reason to believe as UCLA scored a TD late in the third to pull to within 14 points, but the young signal caller quickly ended any comeback attempts with his first throw of the next drive when he connected on a 75 yard TD pass to WR Jacob Hillyer.



CB Sean Drape would then get a pick 6 to extend the Hawkeyes lead to 35-7 entering the fourth.  The Hawkeyes went on for the comfortable 38-14 victory despite being outgained by UCLA.  Next up for Iowa is the annual battle with Iowa State for the Cy-Hawk Trophy.

FINAL SCORE

Iowa Hawkeyes 38
UCLA Bruins 14

Zeigler's Big Day Nets Player Of The Week Honors


Jonathan Zeigler shown here intercepting QB Brett Hundley for one of his two picks on the day.

CB Jonathan Zeigler was one of the big catches for Coach Steel Pitt and his staff during the recruiting process as he persuaded the North Dakota native to attend Iowa over Missouri.  A highly rated Athlete in High School, Zeigler joined the Hawkeyes and asked to play CB for the Iowa defense.  Zeigler was good enough to earn the #3 CB spot which is not technically a starter but in this day and age of spread offenses is just as good and he sees just as much of the field as the two guys ahead of him on the depth chart.  In just his second game on the collegiate level the true freshmen is already making his mark as his 6 Tackle, 2INT performance against UCLA in Week 3 has earned him the Big Ten and National Defensive Player Of The Week Honors.

Nice pickup in the recruiting field. That freshman DE I stole from Ani is starting at LE for Nebraska and is already a "star" player on the field showing a nasty swim move to get by linemen. These two might battle for Conference Freshman of the Year!

Hawkeyes Claim Cy-Hawk Trophy



The Iowa Hawkeyes entered the game vs Iowa State 3-0 and #3 in the country, but as usual the case in rivalry games those records don't matter.  The Cyclones, playing at home, were determined to knock off the Hawkeyes and for 3 quarters they hung tough.  Iowa, led by redshirt freshmen QB Nic Shimonek due to Jake Rudock's injury, once again employed a run heavy offense to move the ball.  Shimonek was effective and accurate early in the game but his first real mistake came in the third quarter when an ill-advised pass landed in the hands of a Cyclones defender.  Iowa State turned that turnover into a TD and tied the game at 17 midway through the third quarter.  From that point on, however, Coach Steel Pitt and his staff put the ball in the hands of senior RB Damon Bullock who carried the Hawkeyes to victory by rushing for 2 second half TD's and chewing up the clock late.


RB Damon Bullock finished with 175 yards rushing and 3TD's

The Hawkeyes earned the Cy-Hawk Trophy for the second straight season with a 34-24 victory.  The Hawkeyes return home next week to open Big Ten play versus Michigan State.

FINAL SCORE

Iowa Hawkeyes 34
Iowa State Cyclones 24