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Iowa football: Hawkeyes rushing attack not loved by analysts

By Andrew Wade

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 01: Mekhi Sargent #10 of the Iowa Hawkeyes rushes during the 2019 Outback Bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Raymond James Stadium on January 1, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 01: Mekhi Sargent #10 of the Iowa Hawkeyes rushes during the 2019 Outback Bowl against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Raymond James Stadium on January 1, 2019 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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Last season was rough for the Iowa football team’s rushing attack. Heading into 2019, analysts still aren’t high on the Hawkeyes trio of backs.

Recently, Athlon Sports put out a top-60 running backs in college football ranking, and there were no Iowa football players on the list. I guess this shouldn’t be surprising considering the Hawkeye’s relatively atrocious ground attack last season.

The Hawkeyes started the season with what appeared to be a solid foundation with Ivory Kelly-Martin leading the way as the speed back and Toren Young coming in later in games as the power back to wear teams down. However, injuries and ineffectiveness quickly turned that on its head.

By the end of the season, it was neither of these guys who ultimately led the team in rushing. It was junior college transfer Mekhi Sargent, but even he didn’t have a groundbreaking year with the Iowa football team.

In 159 carries, he ran for 749 yards, good for a 4.7 yard per carry average.

However, despite a ho-hum season in 2018, I expect Mekhi Sargent to have a much better year this year behind arguably the nations best offensive line so when I saw this article I cautiously scanned the bottom of the list for Sargent.

It wasn’t until I looked in the “honorable mention” section that I saw Sargent’s name.

He was listed behind these other Big Ten backs:

  1. Jonathon Taylor (1) – Wisconsin
  2. JK Dobbins (8) – Ohio State
  3. Reggie Corbin (18) – Illinois
  4. Anthony McFarland (19) – Maryland
  5. Minnesota’s backs (29) – Minnesota
  6. Ricky Slade (31) – Penn State
  7. Stevie Scott (34) – Indiana
  8. Isaiah Bowser (52) – Northwestern
  9. Maurice Washington (60) – Nebraska

The only other Big Ten schools to not have a running back make the list were Purdue (gone is DJ Knox), Michigan (gone is Karon Higdon), Michigan State (gone is LJ Scott), and Rutgers (nobody good plays at Rutgers).

So again, do I disagree with these rankings? At this time, no, not at all. Mekhi Sargent and the other Iowa football running backs didn’t do enough to make the list. Last season’s performances appropriately put them in the bottom half of Division 1 running backs.

However, I think after this season and heading into 2020, we will be talking about Mekhi Sargent as a top-30 running back in the nation. Advanced analytics love Sargent’s skillset and although he is neither the biggest and strongest nor is he the fastest, he is deceptive and good at making people miss. Last season, despite starting two future UDFA signings, the Iowa football team’s interior offensive line was subpar in the run-blocking department, and Sargent still put together an okay season.

Imagine what he can do with a stronger and older tackle pairing of Alaric Jackson and Tristan Wirfs along with an infusion of new talent in the interior.

2019 home games ranked worst to first. dark. Next

I believe Sargent will go over 1,000 yards and we should expect him to get a bit more respect this time around next year.

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