Iowa football: Five observations from loss to Penn State

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IOWA CITY, IOWA- OCTOBER 12: Quarterback Sean Clifford #14 and cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields #5 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrate after their match-up against the Iowa Hawkeyes, on October 12, 2019 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

Special team woes are hurting Iowa

For another week, the special teams unit has hurt the Iowa football team.

Earlier this week, Kirk Ferentz said he wasn’t worried about the punting game. Kirk, you worried now?

Michael Sleep-Dalton is giving me flashbacks to last year on way too consistent of a basis and in the past three games, his punting average has dropped from 46.4 yards per punt to 41.4 yards per punt.

To be fair, some of the shorter punts and more rugby-style punting that took place last night were quite possibly a ploy to slow down Penn State’s KJ Hamler and not let him burn the Iowa football team.

But you can’t tell me punting it 11 yards after the first series stalled out was part of the game plan too?

This is unacceptable.

And to add to it, Keith Duncan missed another field goal, and it was a crucial miss considering the Iowa football team lost by just five points.

Meanwhile, the Hawks are starting to become regulars inside their own 20 as the opposing team is consistently putting Nate Stanley and the Iowa football team’s offense deep in their own territory with their strong special teams play.

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