Let's Use Vine To Take Another Look At Iowa's Defense Versus Minnesota

WHAT WE THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN LAST YEAR. Just too a little longer to get in place. This is Phil Parker's defense. Iowa's used Cover-1, Cover-2, Cover-3, Cover-4 and press-man coverage this year. The blitzes are more frequent and part of the reason Iowa has the 7th ranked total defense in the country. The word was that Iowa was an easy prep week because you knew what they'd do both offensively and defensively. They're not an easy prep anymore if they're going to blitz and do so from all three linebacker positions and from the corners like we saw against Minnesota. Perhaps Jim Reid's influence is helping here too. Iowa's defense is playing at a high level and three senior linebackers are where it all begins.

INSTEAD OF NITPICKING SOME PLAYS. This week, let's just enjoy the play of Iowa's leader on defense, James Morris. He's had his share of injuries while at Iowa, and for now (knock on wood), he's healthy and playing at an extremely high level. His work against Minnesota - eight tackles, a sack and interception - earned him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. He's at 31 tackles on the season and has two interceptions against rivals at key points in the game. He hasn't had a perfect season. Nobody does. We've picked out a couple mistakes in previous Vine posts (NIU punt fake, ISU 4th down TD). So today, let's just watch these: