Hawkeye Report Podcast

It's a clearly cloudy edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. We say that because those were the words used by Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz to discribe the state of his clarity regarding who will start at quarterback this weekend against Maryland. We open the pod breaking down what Ferentz said about the starting job. Right now it's Jackson Stratton. Could it still be Cade McNamara or is that off the table now?  We also break down the battle with the Terps. Who are the key players to watch for Maryland on offense and defense? What do their numbers suggest about their team next year and how they match-up with Iowa this Saturday. What do we think Iowa's game plan will look like on Saturday? After that we look at Iowa's bowl game options? Could they be headed to Tampa? Is the Mayo Bowl possible if they stumble down the stretch? What about the Pinstripe Bowl?  Then we take a deep dive into Iowa men's basketball team and discuss the games in Moline and Iowa City. What did we make of the fan support in Moline? We di

New podcast for the Iowa football bye week because there's still plenty to discuss. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo open the show talking Hawkeye football and look back at the tough road loss at UCLA. What went wrong? Why has Iowa struggled so much on the road this year? Why has the defense struggled to get stops and give up chunk and explosive plays? We ask a couple of larger questions about Iowa football. Do we now officially characterize this season as a disappointment with four losses? We also discuss the positive developments this season and highlight a few of them, including the offensive line and wide receiver Jacob Gill and the disappointments, which includes the Hawkeye defense this season.  Then we move over to Iowa basketball and discuss the 3-0 start to the season. What have we seen that has us encouraged early on this year? Why Iowa's shooting has been good, but we continue to be concerned about rebounding the basketball. Is there really a controversy at point guard? We defend Brock Harding. :)  Fin

Plenty to discuss this week on the Chuck Long Podcast. We start with the loss on Friday night to UCLA and what he saw. Iowa finally got off to a good start and then faltered in the second quarter and beyond.  Brendan Sullivan went down with an ankle injury and Jackson Stratton was in the game for the first time as a Hawkeye. How did he perform? The larger question is what does Iowa do moving forward at quarterback and what do they do this week during the bye week at the position? What happens if Cade McNamara is back, and he is working his way to a return according to Kirk Ferentz? Do you stick with Sullivan as the starter moving forward? How quick would the hook be if there is a struggle and turnovers? We then discuss Iowa's road woes this season. Why have they lost three straight game on the road? What is the reason for the struggle on defense where they have given up over 400 years in three straight games and over 200 rushing in a pair of those games. How much of a concern is that in their next game agains

Welcome to the latest edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast. Tom Kakert and Matt Randazzo take one final look back at the win over Wisconsin. How impressive was that victory? Was that the best performance by the Iowa offensive line this season?  We talk about the situation at quarterback this week and moving forward. It's Brendan Sullivan's job until it isn't and we discuss how the later part of 2021 Iowa football season tells you how Kirk Ferentz will likely handle this situation once Cade McNamara is healthy....and he's not yet cleared the concussion protocols.  Then we take a deep dive into the UCLA Football team. After a bit of a rocky start at 1-5, the Bruins have won two straight on the road in conference play. But, they haven't won at home so far this season. Who are the key players to watch? What do we think of their offense, led by Ethan Garbers? Should Iowa throw the football more this week against a defense that is giving up a lot of yards in the air?  We discuss Iowa's somewhat underwhelming start

It's a busy edition of the Chuck Long Podcast. We open the show looking back at Iowa's dominating performance in their win over Wisconsin. We start off discussing the offensive line play and how they mauled the Badgers up front on Saturday afternoon, rushing for 329 yards. But, it was also the defensive line that owned the line of scrimmage as well, limiting Wisconsin to 124 yards rushing.  We also discuss the play of Brendan Sullivan in his first start with the Hawkeyes. How did Chuck Long think he played? Were there any concerns with how he ran the team? Did his ability to run the football impacted what Iowa can do on offense? Should he continue to be the starter, even if Cade McNamara is back? We also dive into the whole idea of when McNamara is back and which player should be the starter.  Then we take a look at the possibility of Kaleb Johnson entering the Heisman Trophy race this season? Does he merit being part of it? How about the race for being the top running back in the country or the best offensiv

A lot of ground to cover this week on the podcast and much of it involves the quarterback position for the Iowa Football team. First, we take one final look back at the Northwestern game and what we saw there and the play of Brendan Sullivan.  Then we look at everything that has happened since the game on Saturday that includes a new depth chart that includes Sullivan as the starter and doesn't include Cade McNamara. We discuss McNamara suffering a concussion and how he will miss this week and will almost certainly be questionable for next week at UCLA as he goes through the protocols. Then there is a potential injury to Marco Lainez, who was listed as the starter, which would elevate Jackson Stratton as the Iowa backup quarterback this week. Who would be Iowa's third stringer this weekend? We have that news on the pod.  Then we preview the game against Wisconsin. What have we seen from the Badgers? Are they a decent team who has beaten bad teams and struggled when they step up in class? What have we seen thi

This week on the Chuck Long Podcast we review his weekend in Iowa City as the Grand Marshal of the homecoming parade before getting down to talking Iowa Football.  Of course we open with the change at the quarterback position. What did Chuck see from Cade McNamara before he threw the pick six and was he simply never the same after he took that big hit at the end of the first quarter?  Then we discuss what Chuck saw from quarterback Brendan Sullivan once he took over in the middle of the second quarter. What did Sullivan do well and how did he do throwing the football? How much of an impact did his mobility have on how Iowa was able to get their offense rolling in the third quarter?  We look at the new two deeps released on Monday that have Sullivan starting and McNamara not on it, assuming he is dealing with concussion symptoms. What will this week be like in terms of prep for Sullivan and how will it be different being at the top of the depth chart?  Also, we talk Iowa's peformance on defense and the great d

It's the recap and reaction version of the podcast. Tom Kakert flying solo in this one talking about the Hawkeyes convincing win over Northwestern on Saturday afternoon. Does Iowa have a full fledged quarterback controversy or was it already decided today in the win over the Wildcats? What did Kaleb Johnson say that should have cemented what Iowa does moving forward and what might Kirk Ferentz do? Then we talks about the Hawkeye special teams and a great day for punter Rhys Dakin and return man Kaden Wetjen, who finally took one to the house fo a score. Finally we wrap up the football side of things with a look at the Iowa defense. We knew they would rebound and they did on Saturday, holding the Wildcat offense in check.  Then we turn our attention to basketball and recap what we learned from the exhibition game against Minnesota Duluth. The three big man proven players, but it was an uneven performance by the point guard position. What were the highlights and concerns coming out of the game?  You can also ta

It's going to be a busy weekend of Hawkeye sports and the podcast previews all of it. We open the podcast by discussing the Kirk Ferentz presser from Tuesday and standing by Cade McNamara as the starting quarterback for the Hawkeyes. Also Kirk's comments about who makes those decisions...hint...it's not Kirk. We also talk about the Hawkeyes struggle with tackling and how they should bounce back this week.  We then preview the game against Northwestern. We detail that the Wildcats are headed to Iowa City with several key players who will be sidelined due to injuries. Is this a great bounce back spot for Iowa against a poor pass defense put out there by the Wildcats? Then we move to more global thoughts on Iowa football and how this team will finish up the season in the final five games of the year and is Iowa State's success influencing some of the Iowa fan frustration?  Finally we talk recruiting news, preview the Iowa men's hoops team playing an exhibition game on Friday night and we want to see from that ga

The Hawkeyes played poorly in East Lansing on Saturday night and we discuss it from all the angles on the Chuck Long Podcast. We open by looking at Iowa's struggles on defense and specifically tackling. What happened on that front to make them vulnerable in the run game and what can Phil Parker do at one of the two cornerback positions moving forward? Then we move over to the offensive side of the ball and the struggles of Cade McNamara throwing the ball on a consistent basis. What were the thoughts on the playcalling of Tim Lester and why was it a struggle to move to the ball in the first half. Should Iowa look to Brendan Sullivan as an option for a few series and see how that goes for the offense?  We look at Iowa facing Northwestern and give some thoughts on the Hawkeyes overall national stats, particularly on defense and what is concerning on that front. Plus we talk about the Wildcats this season and how they have performed. Could this be a game where Iowa throws the football more? After that we move on

It's a little later than we had hoped, but a lot of ground to cover in this post game podcast. We open with a look back at the Hawkeyes ugly road loss at Michigan State. What went so wrong on Saturday night in East Lansing? We start with the Iowa offense and their struggles in the first half with just 58 yards of total offense. Then they improved in the second half scoring 20 points. Iowa fans are calling for a change with Cade McNamara being benched? Will that happen? If not, why not?  The real surprise was Iowa's defense struggling to the level it did with tackling. What caused that struggle to happen? Why could they not get off the field at any point in the game? What could or should Iowa do at the other cornerback position after the struggles they experienced on Saturday? Then we look at one of the big news items of the week and that is Chris Doyle breaking his four year silence to speak for an interview. What did we think of the interview? What did we think of what the former Iowa strength and conditioni

This week on the podcast we open talking about the win over Washington. Once last look at the game and why it might be important to this team since they played the full sixty minutes and did so in all three phases of the game.  Then we move on to preview the contest against Michigan State. They have a very talented quarterback in Aidan Chiles, but he is also turnover prone so far this year. We discuss what we have seen from the Spartans on both sides of the ball. Why their rush defense might be a problem for them going up against Kaleb Johnson in this game.  We move on to talk more college football. There was a second half of the Big Ten projection this week that says Iowa finishes in a four way tie for first in the Big Ten regular season. How realistic is that result? We look at the ESPN FPI to see how difficult the remaining games are this year and rank them from toughest to easiest.  After that we move on to talk some college basketball. The Ken Pom rankings for this year are out and Iowa is ranked higher

This week on the Chuck Long Podcast, we open the show not talking Iowa football. If you are interested in helping kids in the Quad Cities at the Children's Therapy Center, please hit the link and buy a raffle ticket. You could win $5000! GiveButter.com/QrtgES Now on to Hawkeye Football. We have a lot to cover. Iowa beat Washington. We look back at the Iowa offense and their success. Starting with the recording setting running of Kaleb Johnson. Long discusses the ways that Tim Lester and Iowa and giving many different looks in their run game and how they get him the ball in the passing game. Speaking of the passing game, what about the play of Cade McNamara? What did he do well on Saturday? We also talk about the defense for the Hawkeyes, along with the great day for the Iowa special teams unit.  Then we move on to preview the game against Michigan State. What do we think of the Spartans and how concerning are their with exciting young quarterback Aidan Chiles, who also has issues with turning the football ove

Iowa came out and took care of business on Saturday afternoon at Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes rolled, particularly in the second half on their way to a 40-16 victory and it was also the 200th win at Iowa for Hawkeye head coach Kirk Ferentz. In our post game podcast we discuss the significance of the victory for Kirk Ferentz. It's #200 and that means a lot to him and his player. We talk about the players reaction and what they said about their head coach after the game.  We also get into the game and how this was their most complete game of the year. For the first time it was the full sixty minutes and not one half significantly better than the other. What did we see from the Iowa offense? In particular, the running of Kaleb Johnson, who seemingly can't be stopped even when you know he is running the football. We also look at the performance of Cade McNamara and what he did well in the game.  We also discuss the defense and special teams. We talk about the pass rush making an impact and making life tough for

(Please note, we had some audio issues at the end of the podcast. Sorry for the abrupt end to things) In this edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast, Tom Kakert and Kyle Huesmann discuss what we learned at Iowa women's basketball media day. It was a busy day talking with the Iowa women's players and head coach Jan Jensen about the upcoming season. We discuss the potential lineup for the Hawkeyes and how there might be a true freshman starter this season. We also look at the impact that Lucy Olsen is having on this team and how it might be impacted by Hannah Stuelke missing part of the summer and Syd Affolter missing time leading up to the start of the season.  We look at the freshman class and who might contribute. Who might be the backup point guard and how that answer could eventually change with a point guard getting healthy enough to play this season. We also discuss how the outside world of college basketball might be underestimating this Iowa team heading into the season.  Kyle also discusses the Iowa so

It was an unexpected busy day for those of us covering Iowa athletics. Before we dive into Iowa basketball media day news and notes, we open talking about the Hawkeye football team. More specifically, we discuss the departure of Kaleb Brown and Leshon Williams.  We dive into their performances last year and how we got to today where they followed the trend of players participating in less than four games and finding a new school by entering the portal. Were there hints that either were unhappy and looking to leave? Then we discusst the actual game in Columbus and how Iowa kept it close in the first half by creating a couple of turnovers and then delivering a class in how to let a close game turned into a blowout by three turnovers in the second quarter.  We look at the upcoming game against Washington. Is this a great spot for the Hawkeyes? What about the travel issue for teams either on the west coast traveling east or the east coast  traveling west. Finally we wrap up with a wide ranging and extended discus

Time to review the Hawkeyes last game and look ahead to this week with Chuck Long on the podcast. We open looking back at the loss to Ohio State. How did Iowa let the game get away from them in the second half with turnovers? We also discuss the decision by Kirk Ferentz to punt on 4th and 1 in the second quarter from midfield and if that was the right one.  We also dive into the play of Cade McNamara. He had three turnovers in the contest and has not thrown a touchdown pass against a power four opponent this season. What should Iowa do with the quarterback situation? Should they consider at move to Brendan Sullivan this week after he ran for 30 yards and led Iowa to a late score? Then we discuss the Hawkeyes struggles against ranked opponents the last few seasons? Is it because of the impact of NIL or are there other reasons why the Hawkeyes have had poor performances against ranked foes?  Before we pick the biggest games on a loaded college football schedule, we look at the Big Ten and how teams traveling mo

It's a jam packed edition of the Hawkeye Report Podcast.  First, if you aren't a subscriber to the Hawkeye Report website, we have a special 50% off this week running until Sunday. Just hit the link and enter the code HAWKS  https://www.on3.com/teams/iowa-hawkeyes/join/ We start the podcast discuss the breaking news of a new commitment. Iowa lands 2026 quarterback Cash Herrera from San Diego. What do we know about the three star prospect? We discuss his skill set and also the quarterback position moving forward. Will Iowa hit the portal after this season? Then we preview Iowa vs. Ohio State. It's a very talented Buckeye team that the Hawkeyes will be facing. We break it all down from both sides of the ball and discuss if there is a path for Iowa to pull an upset. Can Iowa move the ball against the Buckeyes? We look at what Michigan State did last week against Ohio State in the first half.  We move to hoops and discuss men's basketball recruiting and why Iowa has missed on some targets in the last two weeks. W

Coming off a bye week, we didn't have an actual game to discuss on the Chuck Long Podcast, so we caught up with a great former Hawkeye to talk about his career and what he thinks of this year's Iowa football team.  Joining us is former Iowa running back Tavian Banks. His name has been mentioned quite a bit recently with the hot start to the season by Kaleb Johnson. Back in 1997, Banks had an even hotter start to the season in the first four games before traveling to Ohio State. We look back at his hot start that season and his thoughts on Johnson, who has seen on a limited basis this fall.  We also talk to Banks about his current job with the Des Moines YMCA and what that is like on a daily basis. We also discuss Banks and his prep career and love of soccer as a kid, along with his recruiting process, and perhaps the best Iowa high school game ever against Iowa City High and Tim Dwight.  Then we pick several college football game, including Iowa vs Ohio State before wrapping up the podcast. 

A little bit of everything this week on the podcast. We open with Iowa football talk and close with men's hoops and a little bit of Caitlin Clark discussion.  First, the Iowa football talk opens the show. We take one final look back at the Hawkeyes win over the Gophers and how Iowa was scratching where it itched on Saturday night in Minneapolis. Those words came from Hawkeye offensive coordinator Tim Lester, who met with the media this week.  We move on to discuss what Lester said about Cade McNamara and how positive he was about his development, even on a day when he threw for just 62 yards. We also talk about Lester being overruled on taking deep shots last week and who might have done that, plus why fans need to continue to be patient with the offense. We also discuss Phil Parker talking about the Iowa defense and stats he rattled off to support his group. Finally we discuss Levar Woods and his comments about the top end length of Drew Stevens field goal range.  The we look at if we still feel good about I