Iowa football: Top three performances from Week 3 against the Panthers
By Andrew Wade
Nick Easley
Last season, Easley was an unknown walk-on wide receiver from Iowa Western Community College. This year, he is the Iowa football team’s number one wide receiver after a great 2017 season where he led the team in catches and yards.
The first games of 2018, however, were not to kind to Nick Easley. Not a lot of targets were going his way, and when they did, they weren’t accurate. As we noted in an article earlier, the Hawkeyes did a great job of getting the ball to Easley in 2017 on screen passes, but those were missing in the first two weeks.
Some have speculated this is due to some injuries Easley may have been dealing with.
Different looking Easley this week. Looking healthier.
— Marc Morehouse (@marcmorehouse) September 15, 2018
Kirk Ferentz said as much in his Saturday night press conference.
Either way, Easley appeared to be healthy and good to go in the game against UNI and Brian Ferentz was continually dialing up play calls with Easley as the number one option.
He finished the game with ten receptions for 103 yards and one touchdowns. He even got involved in the rushing game as he had one carry for nine yards. What he did was a rarity in the Iowa football program as noted by a twitter user.
Nick Easley is the first Hawkeye with 10+ receptions since Keenam Davis had 10 against Pittsburgh in 2011.
— Matt Benson (@mbenson6) September 16, 2018
As the Hawkeyes begin their Big Ten Conference schedule, it will be critical to keep their leading wide receiver and senior leader involved.