Heading into their 99th ever meeting, questions swirled around the health of Mark Gronowski, after he exited the game late vs. Indiana two weeks ago. With an assist from the bye week, Gronowski got the nod to start and played through the majority of the game, where he put up 107 yards on 17 completions out of 24 attempts, and had a rushing touchdown. 

Kamari Moulton took the workhorse role tonight, and it came at the right time considering Iowa was without Jaziun Patterson and Terrell Washington Jr. It also came in handy as it gave the offense a better opportunity to sway away from leaning on a banged up Mark Gronowski to lead the charge. It’s in Iowa’s best interest to keep Gronowski as healthy as possible as the team is now entering the second half of the football season. 

Moulton had a triumphant showing, leading the ground game for the Hawkeyes with 96 yards and a touchdown, while also racking up 3 catches for 29 yards. Redshirt freshman Xavier Williams made his presence known, running for 55 yards and 2 touchdowns alongside Moulton, as Wisconsin struggled to find answers for the Iowa rushing attack. True freshman Nathan McNeil complemented the ground game with an admirable 9 carries for 40 yards. 

But the defensive side of the ball is where Iowa really shined this game. Wisconsin quarterback Hunter Simmons went 8/21 and was held to 82 yards. He threw two interceptions to, believe it or not, two defensive linemen for Iowa. One nearly resulted in six for the defense, when Aaron Graves jumped in front of a screen pass and picked it off where he ran it back before being caught at the 1-yard line. The Badgers are having clear offensive problems, only scoring 34 points in the last four weeks, dead last in the conference.

This game felt, in a good way, strange for Hawkeye fans. A community that has been so used to heavily lacking offensive play in this decade, the fans finally got to be on the other side of the stick for once. And what made this different was that it came against a typically competitive Big Ten opponent. No matter how uninspiring Wisconsin may have looked, lifting a trophy at the end of the night to get a dub against your rival is always a big win that is felt all season long. 

The Hawkeyes move to 4-2 on the season with a 2-1 conference record. Next week they play Penn State at home, who are in the midst of a total collapse. The hawks will have a chance to seize an opportunity and get another conference victory. 

The post Heartland Domination: All Iowa as the Hawkeyes shutout Wisconsin, 37-0 appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Bringin’ In Brazil:

It’s not uncommon for a WNBA team to host a national team in the preseason. In fact it happens quite a bit. Today’s game pit the Indiana Fever against the Brazilian Women’s National Team. Highly anticipated, but not a close match. In the 108-44 beatdown, the Fever slaughtered Brazil. But this game wasn’t played in Indianapolis, where the Fever normally reside. It was played in Iowa, the same state where Caitlin grew up, and in the same arena she knows so well. When Fever president Kelly Krauskopf called her with the idea months ago, she couldn’t wait to come back. 

“I did not expect it to happen this year,” Clark said during the pre-game press conference, “I was so excited, and I knew Iowa and Fever fans would be thrilled.”

Both fanbases certainly were. The WNBA rookie of the year in 2024 had 16 points, adding six rebounds and five assists to her scoresheet for the day. In typical Clark fashion, she wasn’t satisfied.

“I did alright,” Clark said in an interview with ESPN following the game. “We’ll clean up some stuff.”

If the shoes fit:

Caitlin packed three pairs of shoes for this trip. She made sure all of them had a little yellow. But the ones she slipped on this morning felt familiar. 

“They’re kind of like my magic shoes,” she said, smiling. “I’ve worn these for literally every big game of my career. There was no other option.”

In November of 2020, Nike released a Bruce Lee collaboration with the Kobe 5 Protros. Not only are they black and yellow, but the shoes also feature a small hint of Fever red. When they first dropped, sneakerheads snagged them for just under 200 dollars. Now? They resell for an average price of 582 big ones, not far off from the cost of admission for today’s game. 

“They were pretty hard to come by,” she said, laughing. 
Both the shoes, and the tickets. 

Woodn’t have it any other way:

A small piece of Carver’s wooden court will always belong to Caitlin. Just beside the infamous Mediacom logo, a black “22” marks the spot on the court, about 35 feet from the hoop. Beneath it, one name: Clark. It commemorates her record-breaking shot on Feb. 15, 2024, the night she became college basketball’s all-time leading scorer. That historic three-pointer against Michigan was one of many, but unforgettable.

Coming into this game, fans couldn’t help but think about it. And with 25 seconds left in the third quarter, it happened again–kind of. Catching an inbound from Bree Hall, Clark pushed up across the floor. In a near carbon copy of her iconic moment, she pulled up. Only this time, it was a single step farther out.

“36 feet…that’s far,” Clark said, smiling as laughter filled the media room. “I knew I was coming out, so I figured, why not?”

It wasn’t scripted. It rarely is. Knowing she’d be subbed out, Clark did what she always does. She let it fly.

As her coach Stephanie White put it, “Nobody tells Steph Curry not to take good shots.”

For one more look back:

Hats, jerseys, and shoes flail over the railing of Carver’s tunnel. Miniature hands dangle Sharpies, posters, and dreams—hoping to meet the sweaty fingers of Caitlin Clark. Fans press against the barrier, shrieking her name.

One parent holds a sign that reads, “Adults can have role models too.”

Even Brazil’s National Team, after a 64-point loss, waited their turn. When Clark asked if this was the biggest crowd they’d ever played in front of, a resounding “yes” echoed at center court. They posed for photos with her one by one, as if she were a golden monument. Above them, high in the rafters, hung the banner bearing the number she made iconic. No. 22. Still stitched in black and gold, still watching over the court she once ruled—and the one she returned to, if only for a day.

“I don’t know if it’ll be next year,” she said. “But I would love to come back.”

She’s not Iowa’s anymore. But she always will be.

The post Back Home: Caitlin Clark Returns to Carver appeared first on KRUI Radio.

As the 2021 season begins and a few NBA games have been played, it’s time to predict who will take home the NBA Season Awards! These awards include Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, 6th Man of the Year, and Most Improved Player of the Year.

Most Improved Player of the Year

Christian Wood, PF/C, Houston Rockets

Christian Wood is on his 6th NBA team in 5 years, but his days as a journeyman may be coming to a close in Houston. He signed a 3 year / $41 million contract with the Rockets this offseason after his breakout performance last season with the Detroit Pistons. A high-level rebounder who can score from all 3 levels, he is poised to be a strong running-mate with offensive superstar James Harden.

Honorable Mentions: DeAndre Ayton, Jaylen Brown, Michael Porter Jr.

6th Man of the Year

Lou Williams, G, Los Angeles Clippers

This prediction feels a bit lazy, but the 15-year veteran has proven to be one of the greatest 6th men of all time. In addition to winning the award 3 times already, he was a finalist for this award last year. The other finalists, Dennis Schröder and Montrezl Harrel, are both starters for the Los Angeles Lakers, whereas Williams has maintained his 6th man status for the Clips. There is no reason why Lou Williams can’t win 6MOTY for a 4th time.

Honorable Mentions: Danilo Gallinari, Jordan Clarkson, Goran Dragic

Rookie of the Year

James Wiseman, C, Golden State Warriors

#2 overall pick James Wiseman could not be in a better situation with the Warriors. Superstar Steph Curry will be the primary focus of the opponent’s defense, and Steve Kerr’s offensive system will give the former Memphis Tiger the space he needs to dominate inside. Still only 19, Wiseman should be a franchise building block as the Warriors look to return to contention next season when Klay Thompson returns from injury.

Honorable Mentions: Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Obi Toppin

Defensive Player of the Year

Ben Simmons, G, Philadelphia 76ers

Ben Simmons is one of the most divisive players in the NBA. His unusual size and skillset for an NBA point guard are the cause of endless debate, but one thing that cannot be disputed is his ability to defend. He is one of the most versatile defenders the league has ever seen, being able to defend the post with his 6’10 and 240 lb. frame, but also having the length (He has a 7′ wingspan) and the agility to keep up with guards on the perimeter. The 76ers star led the league in steals last season, and with the Sixers hiring the defensive-minded Doc Rivers as their new head coach, look out for Ben Simmons to be a defensive force this season.

Honorable Mentions: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Marcus Smart, Anthony Davis

Most Valuable Player

Luka Dončić, G, Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks have done it again, landing another European NBA star with the 21-year old Luka Doncic. After he averaged 29-9-9 for Dallas last season, all eyes are on Doncic to take the next step in his progression. He has it in him to average a 30 point triple double, if he can shoot at an efficient level and lead the revamped Mavericks to a top 3 seed in the West, it would be well within reason for “Wonder Boy” to bring the MVP trophy back to Dallas.

Honorable Mentions: Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, James Harden

The post 2021 Way-Too-Early NBA Awards Predictions appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Besides the point of the insanity of this game, if there is a play that needs to be analyzed the most in the winning one.

For those who haven’t seen the play, this will be crucial in seeing the field and following along with me.

https://youtu.be/xskiXon53kY?t=5m13s

First things first, let’s give some background knowledge of the spot Alabama is in. Freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa (for the sake of the readers and my typing let’s just call him Tua) just took a huge sack instead of throwing the ball down to his check down man for an easy gain. The mistake from Tua put Alabama in a 2nd down and 26 yards to go on the 41. Alabama needs to get back yards and hopefully get close enough to get a shot at the first down. Because of this offensive coordinator Brian Daboll calls for a play to do exactly this. The play is Gun Y Trips Weak Seattle

Okay okay, I don’t expect everyone to know exactly what this means so I’ll explain it to you. Gun is the basic formation, Gun is just a short way of saying Shotgun, which I hope people know what that means. Y Trips Weak is the formations package basically telling the players what way to lineup for the play. The Y in the package stands for the Y receiver, which in this case is the tight end position, so the package is calling for Trips on the strong side of the field with the Y receiver. For anyone who doesn’t know what the strong side of the field is, it is the side where Alabama has their tight end lineup. For this case, Alabama has tight end Irv Smith Jr on the right side of the field. That sets the right half of their formation as the strong side of the field, with the left side being the weak side of the field. The weak part of the call is telling the halfback where to lineup next to the QB. So, obviously halfback Najee Harris lineups on the weak side of the field next to Tua. Lastly, Seattle is the concept of the play, for this it’s the passing concept that Alabama wants run for their play. For Madden nerds including myself, Seattle is most otherwise known as Four Verticals.

Alright, now lets flip sides to the other side of the ball, and focus on Georgia plan for this play. Georgia since they’re riding high on a huge sack to drag Alabama down to their 41 in a 2nd and 26 position. Georgia runs a basic 3-4 defense, nothing too complex as head coach of the Bulldogs, Kirby Smart, has a mentality of just outplaying other teams with speed and athleticism. This is evident in the majority of their season where they love to run twists and blitz meanwhile having their secondary hold and cover the receivers 5-10 yards off the line, and hopefully long enough for their defensive line to get to the quarterback, basically not allowing short passes and betting on their pass rush to have an effect before long pass concepts can develop. This is very similar to the recently well spotlighted Jaguars defense, where they run this concept to perfection. Another example of this is the play right before the one we’re featuring. They run a basic 3-4 against Bama and although Tua on this play has number one receiver Calvin Ridley open on a deep comeback 15 yards downfield, Georgia gets to Tua and forces him to beat them in the breakdown of the pocket which causes him to never see Ridley and take the sack.

After this, they line up in the same sequence of Cover 2 Man in the 3-4 Eagle package. This means that Georgia will be in the 3-4 Eagle formation, this is telling the players where to lineup. In a basic 3-4 lineup there will be 3 defensive tackles, the one of in the middle is considered as the nose guard, with 4 linebackers. For the linebackers, there are 4 different positions for each backer but were just gonna focus the outer two as the middle two aren’t important to the play. The one that will sit on the strong side no matter what is called the Sam backer, he is the fast guy who is strong as pass rushing but can be expected to cover the Tight end or in this case the slot receiver. The guy on the weak side is called the Will backer, he will always sit on the weak side of the field. The Will is usually known for also being fast but being more reliable on sealing the edge preventing cutbacks and reverses. Also, he won’t have to rely on pass coverage very much so he’ll most likely be better suited for rushing the Quarterback.  The Eagle part of the call tells where for the linemen and linebackers to lineup, this is also known as the defensive front. There are three main ways for them to lineup. Eagle, Over, and Under. Eagle is just known as the base way to lineup in 3-4. You can tell which one the defense is in by the way of where the nose guard defensive tackle lineups. If the nose guard lines up on the head of the Center, that means it’s Eagle. If he lines up on the strong side of the Center, it is Over, and finally, if he lines up on the weak side of the Center it’s Under. The Cover 2 Man part is the coverage concept for the rest of the secondary to run. In this example it is Cover 2 Man meaning that there are only two safeties and they will both be running zones at the top of the field, meanwhile the Man is calling for man coverage on the receivers, meaning they will be covering the man instead of covering a zone of the field.

Alright, now on to the spotlight play. Alabama lines up in Gun Y Trips Weak and Georgia goes into their  3-4 Eagle. Because of the trips on the strong side, it forces the Sam backer to cover the slot receiver. Fortunately, Georgia had subbed their normal Sam backer for a defensive back making it a false nickel coverage, meanwhile still being in a 3-4 Eagle. This also forces the strong side middle linebacker to cover the tight end. Leaving the weak side middle linebacker on a spy since Tua is an athletic and mobile QB. This allows for a large opening in the middle of the field in front of the safeties. To attack this space, Alabama wants to run Seattle which will allow for both the tight end and Slot receiver to get into this zone which is the main concept of Seattle. The tight end is supposed to attack this space on the left hash being the throwing window for him, meanwhile, the slot will be attacking for the right to the middle of the hash markers with that being his throwing window. The picture will show this. Obviously, the slot receiver takes primary responsibility of being the main read for the quarterback as the tight end will drag down the middle backer allowing for the slot to be in a 1 on 1 with either the safety or sam backer depending on if the backer breaks off of him to cover the check down being ran by the running back, attacking the middle of the field. It is important to understand this concept as this is exactly how Alabama won the game on this play call.

As you can see in the picture, the safety on the left Dominick Sanders, is cheating out of position to his left. This is all because what we previously were talking about. In Cover 2 Man both of the safeties have to cover the top of the field not letting anyone behind them. Thus, it opens up the middle of the field 10-15 yards downfield. Since, Sanders is an intelligent player he cheats in on his left assuming that Alabama is about to attack this area, which he is correct on. Although, when the plays starts he goes back to his normal area, but he is constantly reading Tua’s eyes looking at where he is reading the field which keeps him cheating over to his left and playing more in the middle of the field. This entire time as Tua is looking on the right side of the field, specifically for his slot receiver as the play is designed for, and due to the cheating by Sanders at the beginning of the play. Tua knows that as long as he can freeze Sanders in middle of the field by looking him off, he’ll have his receiver on the streak open for the bomb over Sanders. 

Just like that, Tua looks Sanders over, checks to the left and lets it go to an open DeVonta Smith for the championship winning touchdown to end the game. It is all because of this cheating over to the middle of the field that allowed for Devonta Smith to get open since Georgia’s cornerback covering Smith let him go thinking that he would have Sanders for help. However, there was no Sanders even near to him.

In defense, if Sanders had stayed in position, Tua still had his slot receiver open in the middle of the field for at least a 15 yard gain meaning Alabama still would’ve gained major yardage on the play, but it would’ve caused Alabama to try and convert a 3rd down, which they were only 3-14 all game. It also would’ve given Georgia a chance to get a stop and force a field goal out of struggling and rattled kicker, Andy Pappanastos, who was only 2/4 and had previously missed the potential game winning kick by a far measure. I’m not saying Georgia would’ve won, I’m just saying that Alabama would have a much better chance at losing without Tagovailoa playing the Seattle call like a professional pianist, and if we can learn anything from this game,  anything can happen in the national championship.

The post Chalk Talk: How Bama beat the Bulldogs appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa was 0-2 in Big Ten play entering Saturday and had something to prove against an Illini team that had struggled just as much, if not more than the Hawkeyes. Iowa pulled out an impressive 45-16 win thanks to a strong second half along with a good showing from the defense.

The game looked to start off well for the Hawkeyes who forced a turnover on the first play of the game, but then quickly turned the ball over themselves.

On the next possession Illinois was able to march down the field, but unable to make the Hawkeyes fully pay having to settle for a field goal early, making the score 3-0.

The very next drive, Iowa was able to use both dimensions of its offense and capped the drive off with a 5-yard touchdown catch to Nick Easley, making it 7-3 Iowa.

Sophomore quarterback Nate Stanley and Easley have become quite the duo this season. They have hooked up for three touchdowns so far, tied for the most of any of Stanley’s targets.

“He’s really molded into a great leader and has really great composure in the huddle. He never gets too high or too low and he’s a guy we can depend on,” said Easley when talking about Stanley.

Later in the half Illinois was able to capitalize on an interception thrown by Stanley and used great field position to score a touchdown tying the game at 10-10 with 6:40 left in the half.

The defense was something that had been a little suspect when looking at the rush defense. The Hawkeyes allowed 204 yards rushing on the day, but continued with their “bend don’t break” mentality, only allowing one touchdown the whole game.

In one of Iowa’s next drives they were forced into a fourth and six and were looking like they’d have to punt, but riverboat coach Ferentz opted to fake the punt, which worked to perfection, I might add. Iowa faked it to Amani Hooker who ran for 18 yards converting the first down for Iowa.

“It’s a play we’ve had in our playbook, but it has to present itself. Amani and the offensive line did a great job executing the play and we were able to covert,” said coach Ferentz when talking about the play.

Iowa and Illinois battled it out for the rest of the half and went into the locker room at halftime with the Hawkeyes holding onto a slim 17-13 lead thanks to two touchdown passes from quarterback Nate Stanley. Then it was time for the second half, where the Hawkeyes were able to impose their will on both sides of the ball.

Coming out of the half Iowa and Illinois both struggled to get the ball rolling. Iowa went three and out on their first two possessions.

Iowa desperately needed a spark and got just what they needed in the form of Brandon Snyder. Snyder who had torn his ACL just six months ago came up with the play of the game when he took a Jeff George interception 89 yards to the house making the score 24-13 Iowa.

“I am so thankful for the people that help me get back because this moment is priceless,” said Snyder when talking about the people who supported him along the way.

Illinois wouldn’t go down without a fight coming back on the next drive and scoring a touchdown to make it 24-16 late in the third quarter.

Then the fourth quarter rolled around and it was time for Iowa to put the game to bed. Iowa scored a touchdown on the first drive of the fourth quarter and there was no looking back. Iowa scored two more times in the fourth quarter and Illinois had absolutely no answer.

A big part of the fourth quarter was Akrum Wadley who ended the game with 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns, one coming on the ground the other in the air.

Wadley gave a lot of the credit for his success to the lineman. “Our offensive line was really able to get their blocks off and that’s what helped open up so many good running lanes for us”

Illinois receiver Louis Dorsey, who finished with 3 receptions for 75 yards, was asked what cost Illinois the game. “Just little things. I felt like they were the better team and we just played bad today.”

The Illini are now 2-3 (0-2 Big Ten) and are headed to Rutgers next week looking for their first Big Ten win of the season.

As for Iowa, they are now 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in Big Ten play heading into a bye week. This will give the Hawkeyes some time to focus on areas of improvement until the next time they come out on the field.

Following Iowa’s bye week, they head up to Evanston to face another Illinois team in the Northwestern Wildcats (2-3, 0-2). The game time has yet to be decided.

The post Hawkeyes Strong Second Half Will Them Past Illini, Pick Up First Big Ten Win appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Recap of last weekend:

The Hawkeyes’ bats last weekend were again hot, as they swept UNLV at home after a 3-0 win on Friday, and two late scoring rallies on Saturday 6-5,and 7-6. They tallied up 16 runs total outscoring the Rebels 16-11 for the weekend. Pitching for Iowa still struggled, although they had a highlight as Friday’s win was the first time this season that they allowed no runs in a game.

Although the struggling bullpen has given up runs, it has mainly been the bats leading them to a 6-game win streak so far after going 2-1 against Purdue the weekend before and a win over Grand View (6-5) on March 28th. Riding high, Iowa was going into this week looking to make that 7.

Recap of this week:

Iowa was victorious, once again, over South Dakota St. on Tuesday with a final of 4-3 as their bats were the deciding force. The Hawkeyes found themselves down 3-2 after their first five innings, going into the seventh. However, that quickly changed after Mitchell Boe walked followed by a double by Mason McCoy that allowed for Jake Adams to tie the game off of a fielder’s choice ground out. Robert Neustrom then doubled to make it 4-3 which ended up being the final.

As mentioned previously Iowa’s pitching hasn’t been the best and that continued on Tuesday allowing for 5 hits and 3 runs. Meanwhile, the bullpen ended up saving the game by controlling the game with excellent relief pitching from Zach Daniels and Kyle Shimp.

“Zach Daniels and Kyle did a great job of settling the game down in the fifth,” Manager Rick Heller said about the relief pitchers. Thankfully, that wasn’t the only thing Heller was happy about. “We played hard, played good defense, and our focus was better than it was this past weekend.” For a team coming off of a series sweep, this is great news and something to look forward to.

Preview of this weekend:

The Hawkeyes will try to expand their win streak to 8+, as they take on Northwestern in Evanston this weekend, to continue Big Ten play. First game will be Friday April 7th at 3:30 P.M.

The post Iowa Baseball Builds Off A Great Weekend appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Weekend Summary:

The first game of the weekend against Hawaii featured the Iowa batters once again being on fire as they chalked up a season high 17 hits and 7 runs with 2 HRs. The final of this game wasn’t a real representation of how this game went as the score was 7-3 going into the final inning of the game until the Rainbow Warriors scored 3 runs in the ninth until the Hawkeyes could close the game out with the tying run at third. Besides for the 9th inning, Iowa’s pitching was a highlight with ace Nick Gallagher pitching a career best 8 innings allowing only 3 runs and 7 hits.

After an offensive game on the previous day, Iowa didn’t slow down on offense as the had a barnburner of a win over Oral Roberts. The game started with Iowa hopping ahead 3-0 in the top of the first inning after first baseman Jake Adams drove in three with a home run. Iowa proceeded to homer again from Matt Hoeg in fourth. However, with Iowa batting well and getting in runs, Oral Roberts was doing the same. Scoring 4 runs through 6, tightening the game up to 5-4 in the six. Iowa ended up extending the lead to 7-4 in the 8th, securing the victory. Iowa would finish with 10 hits during the game with 3 HRs and allowing only 7 hits. Overall a great win for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa did have a low point in the weekend. On Sunday against Minnesota both pitching and hitting for the Hawks struggled to be successful. Iowa was able to keep the game close at 4-3 with a first inning bomb from Robert Neustrom. That was the best Iowa would do from the plate as they only got 4 hits with a game hitting average of .138. The game however was sitting at 4-3 until the 8th inning where Minnesota knocked in two more runs to have the final of 6-3. Iowa gave up a total of 9 hits with 6 runs.

Key Player Spotlight:

Hottest Bat: Chris Whelan, Robert Neustrom, and Jake Adams

McCoy, Whelan, and Neustrom all were at the top of their game this week. Neustrom hitting a bomb of a home run on sunday extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Chris Whelan again was

hitting great at the lead off role in the lineup, hitting for .500 (6-12) over the weekend with 2 RBI’s and 4 runs scored. Moving him up to the front has looked to have been the best decision manager Rick Heller. Finally, Jake Adams added two more home runs to his season total leading the Hawkeyes with 4. Adams went .417 (5-12) over the weekend with 6 RBI’s and 2 runs.

Most Improved: Ben Norman

Freshman Ben Norman had a breakout weekend in Minneapolis. He went .500 (6-12) at the plate with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI’s. Going into the weekend he was batting (2-13) which was one of the lowest out of Iowa starters. Going from batting .154 to .320 in one weekend is quite the accomplishment.

Next Week Preview:
Iowa takes on Northern Illinois at home on Tuesday March 7th at Duane Banks Field. Then over the weekend they head down to Florida to take on Villanova, Bucknell, and a double header against Lehigh University.

The post Hawkeyes Heat Up in Minneapolis appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The game started off strong for the Hawkeyes as they began the game off with a bang. After a single by Iowa senior Mason McCoy, two wild pitches, and two walks, the Hawkeyes quickly found themselves with bases loaded for third baseman Matt Hoeg.

Hoeg promptly responded with a stand up triple knocking in all 3 men on base after barely squeezing the hit in the right field line. Allowing for the Hawks to get out ahead early.

After that, Iowa never gave up the momentum.

The very next inning, Iowa proceeded to score two more runs off of another bases loaded scenario. After a fielding error by Loras allowed McCoy to get on base and continue the inning, with Sophomore Robert Neustrom following with a single.

This time it was first baseman Jake Adam with a chance to bat in the runs. He singled to left field, allowing for Tyler Cropley to score. Then DH Austin Guzzo batted in another run letting the Hawks get a 5-0 lead at the end of the second.

However, the offense was not the only side playing well for Iowa. The Hawkeyes defense looked strong early with  Freshman Grant Judkins making his debut start for the Hawkeyes, giving up only one hit with four strike outs over his three innings pitched. He was helped by a great jumping catch from Adams to end the top of the second. Followed by Kyle Shimp pitching 3 K’s in his two innings pitched.

Going into tonight, Iowa manager Rick Heller wanted to get more guys experience, he ended up doing exactly that by having four relief pitchers finishing the game with an inning each. Combining for 8 strikeouts, and giving up only one run in the 7th. Also bringing in four pinch hitters in the final 3 innings.

Iowa would end up scoring three more runs to finish with a score of 8-1, making Iowa (2-2) on the season.

Iowa will head down to Hoover, Alabama over the weekend for the Hoover Classic. First facing Alabama State on Friday and Saturday, and ending off the weekend against Morehead State on Sunday.

Iowa’s next home game will be on March 7th, against Northern Illinois at Banks Field.

The post Hawkeyes Early Surge Powers Past Loras College appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Join KRUI as we interview Katie Lamberty, Executive Director of the University of Iowa’s ARH!

Associated Residence Halls (ARH) is the student governing body for the residence halls. It is an active organization whose mission is to serve as an advocate for student residents. Associated Residence Halls takes honor in focusing on a high quality living experience for residents through hall improvements, developmental programs, and events.ARH create policy and plan many social, fundraising, and school spirit events including Homecoming activities, Casino Nights, final exam care package programs, movie nights, Iowa Idol, and various leadership development activities. ARH also has the ability to create committees and policies crafted from what they find that residents would like to see in the halls and on campus.

The post Associated Residence Halls on KRUI News appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The last true “night game” happened in 2012 when Iowa welcomed the Penn State Nittany Lions into Kinnick, losing 34-14 and ultimately finishing with an overall record of 4-8 and 2-6 in the Big Ten.

Many ask why fans prefer night games over the earlier start. The opening kickoff to the 2012 Iowa/Penn State game has been engrained in my mind ever since that moment. 70,000 plus fans on their feet, going insane as AC/DC’s Back in Black poured through the Iowa City air will be something that will stick with me forever.

While the outcome of that game and season were both forgettable, you still can’t take away those brief moments in a special place like Kinnick Stadium. After that season, I wondered when, or if I’d ever get to experience that feeling again.

Flash forward to the 2014 season. The no. 14 Wisconsin Badgers came into Iowa City, expecting then-senior Melvin Gordon to bulldoze the Iowa Hawkeye defense. Gordon did just that scoring twice while rushing for 200 yards on 31 carries. The Badgers jumped out to 19-3 lead in the second half, leaving thousands of Hawkeye fans saying “Here we go again.”

However, this night was different.

The sun began to set to the west and the lights beamed onto the Kinnick Stadium turf. The dust of the electric atmosphere, the one I had witnessed two years prior, was starting to fall from the bricks of Kinnick. It was time for the Hawkeyes to play some football.

A seven play, 70-yard drive by the Hawkeyes led to a Kevonte Martin-Manley touchdown and an ensuing two-point conversion making the score 19-11 in the third quarter.

Iowa then made the score 19-17 on a Jake Rudock scramble in the fourth quarter. The Hawks ultimately ended up losing 26-24 to UW, but outscored the Badgers 21 to 10 in the second half.

While the team lost, they won the crowd that night. For a program that has been questioned, verbally abused and then some, it was a stepping point, even if it was for one-half of football.

This fall will be my last football season that I see as a student at the University of Iowa. I’ve witnessed this program go through hell and then some. It’s time to be excited about football in Iowa City. We can talk about the schedule, position battles and coaches until we’re blue in the face. The debate remains constant, but so does one other thing: Iowa isn’t backing down from anyone.

The Hawks will swarm their home field seven times in 2015. I’m ready for some more of that electric Kinnick Stadium atmosphere.

The post Hawkeye Football Under the Lights in 2015 appeared first on KRUI Radio.