Quick Recap of UNI Game
By Ross
The Cyclones avoided disaster yesterday, escaping with a one point victory over Northern Iowa. Here are a few notes on the game:
The Good
– Kirby Van Der Kamp was excellent. Van Der Kamp punted 5 times for 256 yards (average of 51.2). UNI constantly started in bad field position due to Kirby’s punting.
– I thought the whole secondary played pretty good last night. Even though Ter’Ran Benton was banged up a little last night, Rennie threw for 181 yards but 80 of them came on the TD pass late in the 4th. Leonard Johnson broke up multiple passes and Jacques Washington was solid all night.
– Jake Knott battled through pain and racked up 15 total tackles. What’s new?
– Aaron Horne lead the team with 7 catches for 69 yards.
The Bad
– The offensive line was horrible. I know that Kelechi Osemele was injured and didn’t play most of the game and Hayworth Hicks didn’t play due to suspension. However, the line shouldn’t be dominated by the UNI Panthers. Steele Jantz was running around for his life most of the night. The Panthers put pressure on Jantz with only a 3-man rush. The line will need to improve a lot if we are going to beat Iowa.
– Darius Reynolds broke his toe two weeks ago and was a game-time decision. He played but wasn’t productive at all. “Money” dropped a couple passes, responsible for an interception, and I can’t remember if he had 1 or 2 personal fouls. Reynolds is supposed to be our best receiver and will need to be better against the Hawks.
– Besides Jantz, the running game wasn’t much. James White ran for 32 yards, that is more than Woody and Johnson combined. I put a lot of blame on the offensive line but our top two running backs should have more than 30 combined yards.