Iowa Football Stock Report: Offense Trends Up and Down, Defense Soars

It's rare that stocks go up rapidly, but the Iowa Hawkeyes proved it can happen in a hurry with the 40-0 victory over Northern Illinois that they hung up in Week 1.

Iowa saw offensive firepower, a defense that stonewalled everything, and a special teams unit making big plays that it has become known for.

The good didn't come without the bad, though. While plenty went right, other stuff went wrong and is trending in the wrong direction.

Stock Up: Tony Diaz

The hype was already real around Tony Diaz, but today took it to another level. Iowa's high-profile transfer portal wide receiver showed out today with seven receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown, which came on Iowa's opening drive.

The day had the potential to be even more explosive if not for a couple of throws that were behind him or questionable drops. Diaz probably should have found the end zone at least one more time, but the effort today is still extremely promising.

Stock Down: Nathan McNeil

While Iowa rumbled for 289 yards on the ground at an average of 7.6 yards per carry, Nathan McNeil struggled to get going against Northern Illinois. The change-of-pace back managed just eight yards on seven carries.

Now, there is a caveat that he was getting most of his touches when Iowa had its backups in the game, and the Huskies knew the run was coming. It does taint things a bit, but it was a bit subpar for the explosive back.

Stock Up: Run Defense

There isn't much more to say about this defense than the fact that it allowed seven total rushing yards on 31 carries. That is an average of 0.2 yards.

To put it even clearer: Iowa allowed just 7.2 inches per carry. Not yards. They held a team to inches per carry.

Stock Down: Short-Yardage Situations

I am very concerned that Iowa is going to struggle to replace Mark Gronowski's short-yardage and goal-line running ability. It reared its head twice with two clunky trips inside the 10-yard line today. Those mishaps won't be forgiving when it happens against teams that will make you pay.

The injury to L.J. Phillips, who was caught in a pile and came up gimpy, only exacerbates my worry here. He was expected to be Iowa's short-yardage ace, and an injury could drastically change those plans.

Stock Up: Explosiveness

Iowa is not known for being explosive, yet today continued Tim Lester's efforts to change that narrative. Two of Iowa's early touchdown runs, before this game got out of hand, were runs of 50 yards and 37 yards by Kamari Moulton.

Even more impressive on the day was how consistently Iowa had chunk plays of at least 15 yards. Iowa had 13 plays on the day that went for 15 or more yards. Those singular plays can change drives and flip field position.

Add us as a preferred source on Google