On Iowa Live: Hawkeyes Football Season Preview Part 1

welcome to Union Station and on Iowa live thanks for coming out everybody I hope everybody had a good off seon but we are back for our 14th season Scott Doan from the athletic joins us again and we've got a new guest over here sweet Lou Montgomery joins us yeah [Laughter] Lou did you get that a lot when you played I did I did I sure did I and I thought it I thought they were booing me at first when I first heard it 880,000 people saying Lou it actually sounds like boo so I they got me corrected pretty quick Sky Lou is replacing Marvin mcnut who's coaching High School football down south Lou played at Iowa and was a star fullback he loves fullbacks you'll find that out from 88 to 92 on some of those great teams played in the Rose Bowl you had quite a career yeah I did I I was very fortunate to have a career in Iowa and played with some tremendous players to tell you guys like Nick Bell Matt Rogers was our quarterback Danon Hughes out at the right receiver position and defensively we had guys like mton Hanks Melvin Foster NFL Stars NFL Stars so I feel real fortunate to be a part of that class that came through and uh certainly to play for Coach fry you know what tells me a lot about you you were named the team captain your senior year and and that's that's special that means they respected you uh that that had to be a great time to do that right yeah it really was and and you know coach fry was very adamant about what he called Bell cows and I never knew what a Bell cow was but he he would come up with these funny sayings all the time and he says I want you to be my Bell cow and I was like Bell cow you know you just kind of you just kind of go with the flow right like and I had no clue what it was but uh certainly being named the team captain was an honor and certainly being a Hawkeye is is tremendous so I I feel really fortunate and blessed to have probably thought he was talking about Nick Bell cuz he was as big as a cow he was he was all right we'll talk some Iowa football now uh we talked a little bit in our newscast but uh coach fence suspended for the first game and and you talked about how that's a bigger deal than some people think yeah it really is I mean these these players are resilient they've gone through a lot they certainly know all the coaching staff um certainly having your head coach as that leader really makes a difference but you know I I think other coaches will step in I think they'll do a fantastic job of stepping in during during this time period when coach fence is away but there is a little bit of a disconnect but I don't think it's as big of a deal as people maybe maybe make it out to be Scott you broke this story uh were you surprised when you first heard of this news I mean he's had a squeaky he's been clean his whole career well yeah I mean I'm surprised he got the suspension but not surprised that they did what they did because it was kind of well known at that point which is the way things are going in the transfer portal I mean I you know there's a couple thoughts I have one I think this is going to have a galvanizing effect for the these players I mean this is a a team with tremendous leadership on both offensive line and the defense they're going to Rally around the flag and rally around Kirk fence and really um be strong in his defense and each other and it gives him a little bit of a chip on the shoulder a little bit of swagger to him I think that's going to be really helpful and two is you know the one thing I would caution Iowa against is don't slow down too in the portal I mean they they got caught but everybody else is doing it too it's like it's like I I drw up that's my question okay why is Iowa getting caught like in Colorado and some of these places where half the team are transfer portal guys why are they not getting caught because uh loose lip syn ship Scott yeah um Kade mcam came out and started talking about how John bunm contacted him and blah and that gets sent to the NCAA and they're looking to catch Speeders you know if you're going 80 on on 380 and somebody else is going 85 you can't tell the cop well he was going faster you got caught and that's kind of What's Happen what happened here and this is an evolving situation some of these rules might change as years go on and and and it probably not contacting before they hit the portal but that's that's impermissible contact but this is a this is a strong case by iow I will say this you compare cases in the Big 10 Michigan and others Iowa came out strong and and Kirk ference didn't try to blame anybody he owned it and I'll say this that um 16 other fan bases in the Big 10 rallied around Iowa last week and and I think too that if you're going to if you're going to put down any kind of restriction you want to get a team like Iowa particularly you mention use them as an example use it as an example and I think that was you know if they're going to use anything let's get Iowa CU like you said coach frence has been squeaky clean up to this point so may be just an example for everyone else to pay attention yeah all right let's switch to the quarterback Cade mcnamer listed number one on the depth chart today uh we talked about how long his rope is do you think that that he's got some time to prove himself or do you think that it'll be a a quick uh out if he doesn't play well I think he'll play pretty exclusively on Saturday I could see Brendon Sullivan getting some snaps if the outcome dictates that but I think they're going to let him go with this and and part of it is uh you know they want to shake off the rust and show confidence yeah but then the other part is they kind of without having Kirk there without having John budm there who's the wide receivers coach they kind of need to have all the trains run on the time they have a new offensive coordinator he's a guy that can kind of stabilize the offense and he and he wants to get do a better job than last year I mean completed 51% before his injury so I think they're going to give him a shot you know we'll we'll probably re-evaluated though after the Iowa State because Brendan Sullivan has had a good spring but at the same time he probably is not as far up up to speed as Kate is with this offense more more so with his mental probably ability I mean Brennan is uh you know he came in June you know and Kade didn't start being able to work out until June so but but Cade was able to grasp it in the meetings in the spring uh Brenan is probably slightly better fit for this offense but I think uh you know they they've put a lot of equity into Kade mcem so they're going to let him go with this uh Lou uh you saw Kade play in the few times that he did play uh and he proved in Michigan how explosive he can be what do you think of Kate Mack yeah I think he's a great quarterback I mean I really think that he's a guy that can open up this offense particularly we don't we don't really know how this offense is going to function against someone other than their own players that they've been competing against so I I think Kate's got to open it up I think like you said he he's there's a huge investment that they've made in him in terms of just developing him and when he went down with that injury you could see the drop off a bit in talent and it really changed that Dynamic of that offense so it'll be interesting to see how he bounces back from this and can he truly step up to the level that we hoped for uh and regain that uh throughout the rest of the season so we'll see how it develops yeah as coach fren said they're in a much better place at quarterback because of Brendan than they were last year so it's nice to have a a proven winner as a backup let's talk a little bit about Tim Lester's offense Scott and what you expect to see Saturday I expect to see a lot of motion I mean this is a team that Iowa didn't use a lot of motion one of the LA wor worst one of the least used motion offenses in the in the country the last couple of years now he incorporates a lot of that and I think this is really good for what they do offensively which is a lot of Zone running now that instead of being able to to to try to cut block people they could use the motion to create some kind of issues on the defense of the second and third levels and that offensive line to move I I think it's going to be things that'll there'll be subtle changes for the fans but I think people who really watch it will say wow this is completely different yeah I I I'd agree and I think too I want to see the physicality of this offensive line I want to see these guys start pushing the defense backwards opening up some creases for these talented running backs and they we'll get to that to be able to run through some gaping holes and really see what this offense can do and I think this is what I'm hoping we'll we'll get from this Iowa offense uh Caleb Brown we didn't mention him also suspended for the first game ARG arguably their best receiver that makes a difference too yeah it does for sure and I mean he came on strong late last year we see the talent he's built for this offense because there's going to be some short passes the great running with the ball after catch exactly so uh that's going to be a challenge would have loved have seen him get out there and work against Illinois State before he plays Iowa State but his own did a discretion cost him that first game all right let's talk a littleit about the tight ends and wide receivers that Kade will have to throw to I mean it all starts with one of the best tight ends in college football Luke Lee Luke Lee is the next in line and and when you look skill set he's every bit as good as all the others his predecessors who are now making millions in the NFL uh you know he's a little bit taller uh he's really athletic and he can catch the ball and now he can block to and at 25560 pound yeah 67 to be able to run down the seam and make that catch with your hands like that yes that is a talent Lou he's good yeah it really is and I think it provides another again another weapon for Iowa to really utilized and this is where I think he's really going to help help uh Kade out a lot of times because you he's easy to see you know you can look down the field you got a big tall tight end there and again this speaks to the to what the quality of our tight end University tight end U is is what we're being able to develop year after year after year and and I think we got another one right in line and that's Kaden weijian right there that we saw from Williamsburg Iowa he's going to get the start at wide receiver and uh he's pretty talented and he could break some big plays Scott yeah he can he's going to be a really important piece here I think he's going to do a lot of the motioning and which means he's going to get some jet sweeps he's going to get some swing passes which Iowa really has not done much of in the past you know get the ball out on the perimeter to your players in in space and let them do something I think that's really Built Well for for Kaden Wen and then I like some of the other receivers yeah they got two two other new starters that you might not know about right I mean Jared Bell look looks like he's going to be a guy longterm ree vandery a true freshman makes the depth chart really big athletic guy and then don't sleep on Jacob Bell or Jacob uh I'm sorry Gil yeah and uh because he's come he comes from Northwestern he's already a graduate in three years they like him and he is tough you talk the offensive lineman he's their favorite player because he will block somebody 15 to 20 yards down the field and really that's what they they they've me they've missed a big Target and that's what they've got to get back to having some big targets with the smaller guys yeah get the ball to your guys in space and then have somebody who could win one-on-one mat matchups outside if you can bring that up a little bit that this offense be so much better all right let's move to running back Kamari Molton listed number one on the depth chart today obviously the sea Williams has been injured uh Caleb Johnson also on that depth chart so they got three backs right there that we just mentioned that can all play yeah these guys can shake and bake and I love watching these running backs when they get out in space you know you got three different types of looks that you're going to get from each one of these running backs and I think when they get out in the open particularly oneon-one you're going to see a lot of shaking and baking from these guys uh they're tough they run low they get their pads down and uh you know again I love I love watching the running back position I personally like to see them use the fullback a lot more just personally but they don't ever use the fullback anymore more right Hayden large Hayden large you got to like the name Hayden large full right it's perfect for an Iowa pullback but but you know Kamari Molton is a guy that everybody really needs to keep eyes on I mean last year I looked at him the first time and I thought he looks like an AA point guard you know he's like 510 170 and looks like he's 16 years old like he doesn't shaved yet then he puts on 30 pounds see you can see it all waist down and the thing I love about him is his quickness in the whole the burst and his foot movement he's going to be I mean there's a reason why he's number one because he's he he went past three other guys they were great players they were very good players and he's got the skill set that's probably a separator Yeah Tim Lester thinks that maybe he fits pretty good in his offense too oh yeah and you look at all of them I mean you know Caleb Johnson long physical reminds me of Larry Johnson he played 20 years ago at Penn State and lesea Williams I mean he's just a hammer you know great just inside Zone yeah nice to have three guys that they can rotate into their quality players it all comes down to the offensive line and what I noticed watching them especially in the kids day much bigger much more physical Scott they are healthy and you could tell that they this is the point that they need to get Iowa always for offensive line get to this maturation point they're veteran they have 151 career starts last year you've got Mason Richmond playing with a broken leg you've got um Logan Jones on a high ankle spring they're trying their best this offense the scheme will allow them to to do what they do Conor Colby I think could be in that all American C uh discussion but while The Season's ending yeah you remember back when coach ference first started they had the young small offensive lineman and what happened to them when they became seniors that group with Robert Gallery this kind of reminds me a little bit of that they had three tight ends yeah you know that all became offensive lineman all earned All American honors not saying they're all going to be in that category but Scott I think this is going to be the best offensive line we've seen since maybe the 16 season so you like offensive lineman too right if you like fullbacks you like offensive Lin yeah well you know you got to love your lineman I mean those guys are in the trenches they're they make our jobs a lot easier and there's not a lineman that I've met that I didn't love okay so you rushed for over a thousand yards at Iowa all big 10 honorable mention so you got to carry the ball and you got to block would you like better well I actually ironically I actually like blocking a lot better when you see when you're you when you're you hit a guy and you see him just back eyes roll in the back of their head and then you then on Sundays when you watch the film you're sitting there and you're like watch this rewind it watch this SN bubbles I can see you know so it it's fun I I you know it was uh you know being a running back and I can speak a lot about that just because um not only because I played it but because I know what it's like I know what it's like to be able to block I know it's like to be able to run and catch the ball out of Back Field and these young men I think they have all three of those tremendous characteristics it'll be interesting to see how they played this season all right when we come back we'll talk some defense on I Willi