Iowa football: Know your 2019 opponents, Miami RedHawks

The Iowa football team will be facing the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks who will feature Michigan transfer Alex Malzone at quarterback.

The Iowa football team will be kicking off their 2019 season against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, who finished last season with a 6-6 record overall, but 6-2 in the MAC Eastern division. The two teams last met in 2016 with the #17 Hawkeyes winning 45-21 at Kinnick Stadium.

The RedHawks will have to replace quarterback Gus Ragland who completed 60.9 percent of his passes with 2,547 passing yards and 17 touchdowns compared to just 5 interceptions.

Quarterback Alex Malzone was a four-star recruit who committed to Michigan when Brady Hoke was still the head coach there. He got buried in the depth chart and ultimately chose to finish his collegiate career at Miami (Ohio), transferring to the team at the beginning of last season. Unfortunately, the RedHawks were already set at quarterback so Malzone attempted just four passes last season. He will be handed the reigns this season.

The RedHawks do not have anyone listed at the running back position just yet. It’s still pretty early, but they will for sure be without the services of leading rushing Alonzo Smith who was a senior last season. They will be returning running back Maurice Thomas who finished the 2018 season with 233 rushing yards on 61 carries. He was also extremely dangerous as a return man, racking up 667 yards on 25 tries and returned one for a touchdown.

The Iowa secondary will have to focus on redshirt junior wide receiver Jack Sorenson who had 53 receptions for 742 receiving yards. Senior receiver Luke Mayock is another guy the secondary will have their hands full with as he recorded 319 receiving yards on just 22 catches to go along with 3 touchdowns. The Miami RedHawks offense did not seem to utilize their tight ends much as both Andrew Homer and Nate Becker combined for just 385 yards on 29 catches.

On the defensive side of the ball, Nate Stanley and the Iowa offense will have to account for senior nose tackle Doug Costin who accounted for 6 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss last season. They will also need to be very aware of where defensive back Mike Brown is at all times. Brown was second on the team in total tackles last season (58) and also had 1 interception with 3 pass deflections.

The Iowa football team should be thankful that senior linebacker Brad Koenig has graduated because he accounted for 102 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, and 3 interceptions last season. The Miami defense will need to replace Koenig’s production somehow, but hopefully, they don’t figure that out until after the opening day matchup.

The Iowa football team and RedHawks will kick off the season on August 31st.