NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Iowa gets back on track

Susan Denk, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa –

IOWA CITY – Mark Weisman ran off the Kinnick Stadium field and up the tunnel to loud cheers.

He tried to suppress a smile as the chants reached his ears.

“Weisman for Heisman. Weisman for Heisman.”

While it might have a ring to it, Weisman shrugged off the praise.

“That’s just funny. It’s nothing right there,” Weisman said.

Weisman certainly was something Saturday.

The fullback – forced into service as a tailback because of injuries – ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns as the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated Northern Iowa 27-16.

It was a surprising performance to everyone in the stands, but not to a single Iowa player on the sidelines.

“It was good for him to finally get to show what he can do because we all know what he’s capable of doing,” said receiver Jordan Cotton.

“He’s one of those guys who is very football smart, but he’s one of those guys where he can tell you what the other eight guys are going to do on a given play. He picks up the scheme as a whole,” quarterback James Vandenberg said. “I’ve thought Mark was an awesome guy ever since he set foot on campus.”

Getting to the point of moving a fullback to tailback in an offense that had struggled through the first two games was not scripted in the Iowa playbook.

Damon Bullock left the game in the second quarter after his helmet collided with the knee of a defensive player. He had 13 carries for 77 yards.

True freshman Greg Garmon took over before hurting his arm on the next series. Garmon had three carries for 13 yards.

Weisman came in and immediately gained six yards. Then 11 on a pass from Vandenberg.

The Juggernaut – or Sherman Tank, depending on which teammate you ask – was just getting started.

He had already scored two touchdowns – one from fullback, one from tailback after Bullock’s injury – and added another on the first possession of the second half.

The Panthers were unable to stop the powerhouse, who ran right over them.

“I’m a fullback at heart. I definitely need to work on moves trying to get around them, but right now that’s my style of running,” Weisman said.

Vandenberg disagrees.

“What we have to tell him is there’s no reason to juke,” the senior signal caller said. “He’s got bad jukes but he does a great job of lowering his pads. When you get him with a head of steam, he’s a physical guy.”

“He’s just a hard-nosed football player,” said offensive lineman Brandon Scherff.

“He wore us down,” said UNI coach Mark Farley.

Weisman helped an anemic offense get on track. He alone scored three times as many touchdowns as the Hawkeyes as a team had scored in the previous two games.

Iowa was able to put together sustained drives and finish those drives, although there is obvious room for improvement before the Big Ten season begins.

The Hawkeyes scored three touchdowns in the red zone, but also settled for three field goals.

“There are a lot of things we’ll see (Sunday on film) that will help us take the next step,” said Vandenberg. “We’re not all the way where we want to be but we did a better job finishing drives.”

The defense continued its ability to adjust after allowing big plays throughout the first half.

The Panthers easily sliced through the defense on their initial drive, moving 83 yards in eight plays.

David Johnson ran for 27 yards on the drive after compiling just 23 yards combined in the first two games. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen exhibited no nerves in the hostile environment, completing passes of 30 and 23 yards on UNI’s opening salvo.

“When he was in there he was effective,” Farley said of Johnson, who also took direct snaps in the Wildcat formation. “He changed the course of the game when he was in there.”

Johnson finished with 16 carries for 77 yards.

The Hawkeyes did not allow a touchdown after that opening drive, and gave up only a field goal in the second half.

That, though, will not be the standout memory of the game.

That would be Weisman, an unknown to Iowa fans. Just another fullback who was set to get a few carries, but mostly just block.

Vandenberg offered an introduction of the Air Force transfer to Hawkeyes fans.

“He’s from somewhere in Illinois. He’s friends with like my third cousin. He’s from Air Force. He’s got too much muscle on his body to even know what to do with. He’s fast when you get him in the open field. Just extremely dependable,” said Vandenberg.

“I know that we offered him a walk-on out of school and he tried out Air Force and said he couldn’t make the bed well enough and used to get it flipped every morning. He only took that for a semester before he switched to us.”

He is the consummate team player – deferring questions about dreaming of a game like this, talking instead of getting a win as a team and the huge holes opened for him by the line.

“You could drive a truck through the hole there,” he said of one of his touchdown runs.

Weisman walked up the tunnel with “Weisman for Heisman” chants in his ears. Another memento of his breakout game was hiding under his helmet, a black left eye, a souvenir given to him in the fourth quarter on a drive deep into UNI territory.

“That was not scripted, I can assure you,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said of the breakout performance, made possible because of misfortune. “We thought he might play a little bit but we did not foresee the circumstances. But he runs tough. He’s done a great job.

“It’s one thing to do it in practice, but to go out and do it in a game where guys are trying to nail you. He really did a great job and it’s a credit to him.”

NI Iowa

First downs 16 25

Rushes-yards 24-94 43-201

Passing 245 228

Comp-Att-Int 20-33-1 18-28-0

Return Yards 0 14

Punts-Avg. 3-58.3 2-25.5

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-0

Penalties-Yards 7-65 3-40

Time of Possession 25:01 34:59

N. Iowa 10 3 3 0 – 16

Iowa 7 10 7 3 – 27

First Quarter

NI-D.Johnson 1 run (Sievertsen kick), 10:36.

Iowa-Weisman 1 run (Meyer kick), 5:25.

NI-FG Sievertsen 49, 2:13.

Second Quarter

Iowa-Weisman 1 run (Meyer kick), 11:09.

NI-FG Sievertsen 22, 7:24.

Iowa-FG Meyer 24, 2:46.

Third Quarter

Iowa-Weisman 2 run (Meyer kick), 13:10.

NI-FG Sievertsen 25, 2:47.

Fourth Quarter

Iowa-FG Meyer 19, 12:22.

A-70,585.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING-N. Iowa, D.Johnson 16-77, Anderson 5-13, Vereen 1-4, Kollmorgen 2-0. Iowa, Weisman 24-113, Bullock 13-77, Garmon 3-13, Rogers 1-2, Team 1-(minus 2), Vandenberg 1-(minus 2).

PASSING-N. Iowa, Kollmorgen 20-33-1-245. Iowa, Vandenberg 18-28-0-228.

RECEIVING-N. Iowa, D.Johnson 6-77, Owens 5-51, Sinkfield 3-39, Anderson 3-29, LeMaster 2-46, Wright 1-3. Iowa, Martin-Manley 5-101, K.Davis 5-54, Weisman 3-33, Fiedorowicz 3-27, Cotton 1-8, Bullock 1-5.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Watercooler

Need help with your website?
Call your local professional,
Breakthrough Web Design:
515-897-1144
or go to
BreakthroughWebDesign.com

Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x