SB Nation - Bruce Davis

Spaulding Roundup: ATV Aces It & More Notes On Our Frontlines

Nestor — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:20:22 -0000

Well it's kind of tough to pivot back to football after my previous post. But I have in pretty good authority is that is exactly what EZ would do (and I know he was reading this blog religiously every am especially during those brutal Dorrell years). We will start with someone who has reminded all of us what Bruin student athletes are all about: ATV. I guess I thought ATV was done with blogging this past week since school was winding down but I was wrong. He has one more update from his 2009 summer with the following note on how did in that Romanian class he took. He aced it:

Today I found out I received an A in the class. That means all the five hour days every day for six weeks paid off. I am done with my foreign language requirement now and have just nine more classes until I have earned my BA from UCLA

What else did you expect right? Well while his chances of success on the football field is pretty good as well this year, there is one game in which he has been coming out on the losing end. Apparently his girlfiend has been running laps around him in pool. You will have to read the full details here.

Moving on let's talk about ATV's team-mates on both sides of the line. More after the jump.

We will pick up where we left off yesterday: the OL. Al Balderas from the OC Register posted few interesting comments from our OL about why they are expecting a better season this year:

"We were pretty light up front last year as a whole, so that created mismatches for us," lineman Nick Ekbatani said in an e-mail. "I don’t believe that will be a problem for us this season. Guys have worked hard and coach Linn has done a tremendous job helping us get stronger.

"It was as if there was a new culture created this offseason in the weight room and on the field. I know these gains will allow us to create some mismatches this year, as opposed to being mismatched."

That’s not all.

Sophomore Jeff Baca and senior Micah Kia gained experience from last season, and redshirt sophomore (and transfer from Colorado) Kai Maiava should compete for a starting spot on the O-line.

"I thought guys like (redshirt juniors) Jake Dean and Brandon Bennett showed some noticeable improvement (at spring camp), Ekbatani added.

Well I know everyone is feeling optimistic. So am I. When the new depth chart comes out we will have to match up the weights from this past spring with August. We will probably see some gains. However, I am still going to remain a bit skeptical because I feel like I have read this kind of feel good off-season story every year. My biggest question right now around this unit is toughness and it will be interesting to see how they come out in the first few games.

It seems like Coach Todd Howard is striking the same note with regards to cautious optimis while talking about his students - linemen from other side of the ball. He gave a very interesting interview to Robert Kuwada from Bruin Report Online (formerly the UCLA beat writer for the OC Register) sounding off about this year's DL. Since the article is not behind a subscription firewall here is an excerpt on Howard's cautious optimism:

"I’m always optimistic and I always think the new group is going to do better than the group previously, though that remains to be seen."

That does remain to be seen, but, for the record, Howard believes this defensive line can be very good, the ends just as productive as Bruce Davis and Justin Hickman were in his first year in Westwood when they tied for fourth in the nation in sacks and earned All-American honors.

"The guys that I have this year I think have a chance to be as good as those two guys," Howard said, of Bosworth and sophomore Datone Jones.

"I think both of them will have a shot at double-digit sacks. If they can stay healthy throughout the 12 games and hopefully a bowl game, they will get double-digit sacks. You’ve got Datone, who is bigger than Hickman and faster the Hickman. He’s a sophomore, so that’s the only thing – you have to see if it clicks for him, but he’s working hard.

"Then you have Korey Boz, who is every bit as fast as Bruce Davis was. He’s stronger than Bruce Davis. He might not be as flexible as Bruce Davis, but that was something I told him at the end of the spring that he needed to work on. I felt like had he not had a few misses here and there, he would have had double-digit sacks last year …as it was, he had 7 ½.

"I think a guy like Brian Price should get seven or eight inside. And Jerzy (Siewierski) has a better finesse game than Brigham Harwell, and he might be the best athlete of all them."

You can read rest of the interview with Howard here.

It is going to be a treat to see these guys go up against each other for few weeks starting next Monday. While I am going to wait for now to get completely optimistic about this coming soon, I am looking forward to reading about the competiton that is going to take place in Spaulding. It is going to be fierce for the first time in a very long time in Westwood.

GO BRUINS.

Assume the Position 2009: Linebacker

Hawkeye State — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:48:00 -0000

It's about that time again. For the next three months, BHGP will be previewing this year's Iowa Hawkeyes, position-by-position. Naturally, as the earth revolves around the sun, things will change. Therefore, we're starting with the position where we are most certain, and ending with the position of which we are least certain. To date:

1. Quarterback
2. Offensive Tackle
3. Safety

Tonight: Linebacker

Pat Angerer employs the rarely-used Scorpion Spear "Get Over Here" technique

The three positions covered so far were all quite different than linebacker. Quarterback, the tackles, and the safeties are manned by returning starters with no serious competition from below. While all three starting linebackers return from last year, two have legitimate, somewhat-proven players beneath them (it was three, of course, before this happened). We even have our first serious position battle to discuss. While those other positions have entrenched starters, they do not have nearly the depth of the linebacking corps. What I'm saying is, we have a lot to discuss.

The Starters

MLB: Pat Angerer (#43, 6'1", 235, Senior) - When it's finally written, The Epic Saga of Pat Angerer will be positively Dickensian: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness. It's fairly safe to say that no player on the current Hawkeyes has faced more adversity over the course of his time in Iowa City, and it's painfully obvious that nobody has overcome adversity more effectively.

It was virtually unreported at the time, but Angerer was THISCLOSE to quitting football and leaving Iowa after the 2007 season. He had just faced a neverending string of injuries, illnesses, and bad luck. He moved from the weakside to the middle, then sat on the sideline and fought mono while Jacody Coleman, a true freshman, fought for playing time with Mike Klinkenborg. Any reasonable human would have looked at the depth chart, seen that they were stuck behind a younger player, cut their losses, and went home.

Pat Angerer, it turns out, is not a reasonable human being.

Despite recording just one tackle in his sophomore season (and that being on special teams), Angerer chipped away at Coleman's lead during the spring. Even though he was still officially listed as the backup, Angerer started the spring game and did not go unnoticed. By week 2 of the regular season, he was the starter and never let up. He finished with 107 tackles, 6 TFLs, 1 sack, and 5 interceptions. Angerer is even more important this season, without Kroul and Unusual Punishment anchoring the middle of the line. I would expect a slight uptick solely for that fact, and another all-Big Ten campaign for arguably the best middle linebacker in the conference. Not bad for a guy who just about gave it up.

OLB: A.J. Edds (#49, 6'4", 245, Senior) - Something funny happened in 2008 to the best coverage linebacker in Iowa history: Everybody avoided him. His tackle totals fell 25%, from 80 to 59, while his other statistics remained steady (though he did record the first two sacks of his career). In a list of possible reasons for this slight downtick in production (better play from the front four against the run; opposing offenses focusing on attacking the safeties rather than the linebackers; Angerer sucking the wind out of the room), any actual diminution in effort or ability should be at the very end. The fact is that - especially early - teams avoided Edds like the plague, and for good reason. He is the only linebacker on the team (and the most effective I saw in the conference last season) who can successfully cover most slot receivers in man-to-man (not that it's really necessary in Iowa's defense, but it's there nonetheless) and still shirk blocks from tight ends like they weren't there. A linebacker with Edds' size, agility, and technique should be playing on Sundays. If his production returns to 2007 levels, he just might.

The Steel Cage Match

WLB: Jeremiha Hunter (#42, 6'2", 235, Junior) and Jeff Tarpinian (#33, 6'3", 235, Junior) - One year later, it's the same position battle, only in reverse. Tarpinian, a former high school option quarterback who added about 50 pounds (mostly in hair), entered last fall as the prohibitive favorite to start on the weakside. He then suffered a hamstring injury in August camp and didn't see the field until Northwestern in week 5. By that point, Hunter had established himself as the starter, and the competition was effectively over.

Jeremiha Hunter, a highly-sought recruit from Pennsylvania when he graduated high school in 2006, finished the campaign second on the team in tackles (80), including 5 tackles for loss, and threw in an interception and fumble recovery for good measure. He showed good instincts for a first-time starter (effectively a first-time weakside linebacker; Hunter entered the year with only 10 tackles, all on special teams or as Edds' backup at OLB), and improved as the season progressed. If it weren't for Angerer's miracle season, Hunter would have gotten a lot more publicity.

Instead, he gets to fight for his place on the team. The oft-injured Jeff Tarpinian is back to 100% and is probably sick of playing special teams. Tarp recorded only 17 tackles last year, mostly in garbage time or on kick/punt return defense. If he doesn't win the WLB spot, he might be the prime candidate for a move to middle linebacker, especially given the fact that Angerer is a senior and Hunter will block Tarpinian from the top line unti the day he graduates. He has the love of the coaching staff, who routinely talk up his ability and heart. If they can find him a place to play - a big if - they won't think twice about using him.

Should See the Field

Tyler Nielsen (#45, 6'4", 232, Sophomore) - Nielsen won the job backing up A.J. Edds as a redshirt freshman; given his size and agility, he'll be the heir apparent to the OLB crown, and should be ready to take the throne in 2010. Nielsen spent last year primarily on special teams, recording 12 tackles and impressing the masses at times. There's no denying his ability; one more year of seasoning and we should have a peaceful transition on the strong side.

Troy Johnson (#48, 6'2", 235, Junior) - On the other hand we have Johnson, a redshirt junior without a home. He's technically the co-second string OLB, but has almost certainly been left behind Nielsen's steady rise. He has the build to play in the middle, but he might not have the staff support to supplant Tarpinian, should he make the move over. It's not to say he's a bad linebacker; that pass breakup against Iowa State was crucial, and there were some flashes of brilliance in his limited playing time last year. It's just that he's a victim of depth, the sixth wheel on a depth chart that really only needs five. We nicknamed him Montressor last year; looks like he's still in the wine cellar.

Bruce Davis (#57, 5'11", 230, Sophomore) - You may remember Bruce as the guy who recovered the squib kick to seal the PSU win. Much like Warren Holloway, he's now had his moment.