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Big Ten football is back. Media days in Chicago are underway, and there are different talking points across the league, including with the Hawkeyes.
Kirk Ferentz is back once again to lead the black and gold. Ferentz said he is happy with the team’s energy level so far.
The quarterback battle is still not settled, but it’s not the biggest question mark for this team.
“Our biggest concern, our biggest focus would be the defensive line. Seven of our top eight guys from a year ago are gone so anxious to see how that goes. We saw a lot of growth in the spring and expect to see more in August. The one thing I can see is us probably rotating players on a more frequent basis than maybe we have the past couple years. I don’t envision anyone playing 500 snaps this season, but we will let it all shape out,” Ferentz said. “Then probably the biggest significant portion of our football team that is going to bear a watch is our special teams phase. Point there being we lost every specialist that we had. Ya know, we lost our place kicker who certainly had a great career in Drew Stevens who did an unbelievable job. We lost our deep snapper. We have a new punter contention there, and a battle going there for that position, and then Kaden Wetjen is the best return guy I’ve ever been around in my career. He graduated, too, so some of the advantages we’ve gained through special teams over the last couple years we are going to ride the train a little bit this year and exhibit some patience, ya know, because typically the specialists there’s going to be a little bit of an up and down factor there, so at least that has been my experience.”
Iowa is picked eighth in the Big Ten media poll.
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