The Hawkeyes ultimately responded the call and will leave Champaign with a 30-14 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini this afternoon.

Jake Rudock had a nice game after struggling last weekend against Minnesota completing 14 of his 21 attempted passes for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns. His counterpart, CJ Beathard came in about midway through the fourth quarter and threw an outstanding touchdown pass to Damond Powell in the corner of the end zone to give Iowa the eventual 30-14 final score.

Offensively, the Hawkeyes put forth their best effort of the season in total offense, as well as rushing yards. Iowa amassed 587 yards of total offense, with 304 of those yards coming on the ground.

Coach Kirk Ferentz was proud of his team after getting a season saving victory.

“We just needed to win today,” Ferentz said in his press conference. “The yardage is not that important.”

Mark Weisman had the best game of his senior season to this point with 134 yards on 23 carries. After the game, Weisman talked about the success of the running back corps as a whole.

“Seeing that 300-yard rushing number was really cool,” Weisman said. “We just took it one play at a time, not looking forward or looking back.” “It is a credit to the guys up front for doing all the dirty work,” he added.

Another senior who stepped up big for Iowa was tight end Ray Hamilton. Hamilton is not known as a pass catching tight end, but for more of a blocking tight end. He ended up catch four passes for twenty yards, but the big kicker was the two touchdowns that he hauled in from quarterback Jake Rudock. Those were the first touchdowns as an Iowa Hawkeye for Hamilton.

He talked about the collective effort of the tight end group, which also saw fellow tight end Jake Duzey catch 3 passes for 110 yards including a 53-yard connection from Rudock to the junior tight end.

“I have gotten a hard time in the past about not having any touchdowns,” Hamilton said when asked how if his teammates have given him some playful jabs throughout his time at Iowa. “We just continue to work together as a group, and we are happy for each other,” he added when asked about his teammate Jake Duzey and the day he had. We just have to keep swinging and keep the foot on the gas pedal, nothing else matters.”

Despite the success of the offense, Iowa struggled in the first half finding the end zone and converting on fourth down. Iowa was among one of the best teams in the country converting on fourth downs, but went 0 for 3 on fourth down conversions Saturday afternoon.

Defensively, it was a bounce back game for a unit that was blown of Minneapolis to the tune of 51 points. The Hawkeye defense only allowed 235 yards of total offense to the Fighting Illini.

The defense got the first points on the board for Iowa after Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone, which resulted in a safety and an early 2-0 lead for Iowa.

John Lowdermilk and Nate Meier led the Iowa defense with seven tackles apiece, Greg Mabin and Jordan Lomax each had six tackles, and Josey Jewell and Quinton Alston tallied five tackles. The defense desperately needed this game to get back some confidence leading up to the last two games of the season.

Iowa still somewhat controls their destiny in the Big Ten West. With Minnesota’s loss to Ohio State earlier today, the winner of the Nebraska-Wisconsin game will take over sole possession of first place in the division. That sets up well for Iowa, as Wisconsin and Nebraska are the two remaining teams on Iowa’s schedule.

“We have some things we need to work on,” Ferentz said about preparation for the next two weeks. “We’re playing two excellent opponents.”

Minnesota plays Nebraska and Wisconsin the two weeks of the season, so if Iowa wins out and Minnesota loses at least one of those games the Hawkeyes would be heading to Indianapolis the first weekend of December to play in the Big Ten title game presumably against Ohio State.

The start time for the game at Kinnick Stadium between Iowa and Wisconsin has yet to be announced. We will have the game on 89.7 KRUI. Jeremy Meyer and Blake Jorgenson will have the call next Saturday, so be sure to listen to the battle between the Hawkeyes and Badgers next Saturday.

The post Weisman, Hamilton lead Hawkeyes past Fighting Illini appeared first on KRUI Radio.

In 2013, C.J. Fiedorowicz entered his senior year as the number one tight end for the Hawkeyes. His size and strength gave Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock a solid target in the passing game. Rudock and Fiedorowicz connected 30 times, for 299 yards, and a team high six touchdown receptions. Fiedorowicz was selected by the Houston Texans in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

During Iowa’s 2014 media day there were questions about the loss of a player such as Fiedorowicz and its impact. However, Ferentz didn’t hesitate when talking about his current group of tight ends.

“I think we lose an outstanding player in C.J., but I think we have four guys that can absorb that a little bit,” Ferentz said.

With a spot at tight end to fill, senior tight end Ray Hamilton is listed as the number one tight end on the depth chart coming into early August.

“Ray Hamilton is a guy, in my opinion, that is probably better than we think he maybe is,” Ferentz said. “He has done some really good things and I think we’ve seen him grow since last spring.”

Hamilton, a native of Strongsville, Ohio saw action in all 13 games of 2013 for the Hawkeyes. Three of those appearances for the Hawkeyes were as a starter. Hamilton collected eight receptions for 95 yards. With the focus how to filling the spot at tight end, Hamilton reflected on transitioning to the starting spot left by a playmaker in Fiedorowicz.

“There will be more opportunities for myself and for other guys. Whoever’s number is called at that time you got to go out and make a big play,” Hamilton said.

Ferentz stated the desire to use multiple tight ends, possibly three in a formation this season.

“It might be more committee work than one individual, that’s something we like to do and have available if possible,” Ferentz said.

The committee would also include junior Jake Duzey, junior Henry Krieger Coble, and sophomore George Kittle. Talent wise, many look towards Duzey as a promising target at the tight end position. Duzey was able to display his athleticism last year against Ohio State where he hauled in six receptions for 138 yards and notched his first career touchdown. Hamilton echoed the amount of talent within the group of Iowa tight ends.

“We have a lot of talent in our group and guys who can do a lot of different things. When the competition is higher you’re getting the best out of everybody. If everyone keeps pushing forward and keeps pushing each other we’ll have a hell of group,” Hamilton said.

With Iowa’s 2014 media day over and practice getting started, the work has been set forth for another group of promising tight ends at Iowa.

“It’s just put your head down, get to work, and good things will come,” Hamilton concluded.

Hamilton and the Iowa Hawkeyes will have until August 30 to answer any questions in practice as the UNI Panthers will make the trip down I-380 to Iowa City in what looks to be another hard fought instate clash.

The post With Old Shoes to Fill: It’s Time to Work appeared first on KRUI Radio.