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Iowa football: Five observations from win over Northwestern

By Andrew Wade

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 26: Ihmir Smith-Marsette #6 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs the ball after a catch in the game against the Northwestern Wildcats during the third quarter at Ryan Field on October 26, 2019 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 26: Ihmir Smith-Marsette #6 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs the ball after a catch in the game against the Northwestern Wildcats during the third quarter at Ryan Field on October 26, 2019 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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AMES, IA – SEPTEMBER 14: Place kicker Keith Duncan #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates with teammate long snapper Jackson Subbert #50 of the Iowa Hawkeyes after kicking a field goal in the second half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa Hawkeyes won 18-17 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images)
AMES, IA – SEPTEMBER 14: Place kicker Keith Duncan #3 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates with teammate long snapper Jackson Subbert #50 of the Iowa Hawkeyes after kicking a field goal in the second half of play at Jack Trice Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Ames, Iowa. The Iowa Hawkeyes won 18-17 over the Iowa State Cyclones. (Photo by David Purdy/Getty Images) /

What is going on with special teams?

I don’t understand why more people aren’t talking about the Iowa football team’s special teams right now. Keith Duncan has been a revelation, especially considering the Hawkeye offense has struggled to turn red zone opportunities into touchdowns, but the rest of the unit has been incredibly inconsistent.

A week after Michael Sleep-Dalton had a fantastic game against Purdue, he struggled to flip the field for the Hawkeyes against Northwestern.

He ended up averaging 41.8 yards per punt on six punts, but there were two punts in the middle of the first half that went for 33 yards and 38 yards and when given an opportunity to coffin-corner the punt, he booted it to the 16. Again, it wasn’t all bad as he had several nice punts in terms of distance, but the consistency still isn’t there.

In addition to Sleep-Dalton, Caleb Shudak kicked a kickoff out of bounds and Keith Duncan missed a field goal early in the first.

Weather conditions were subpar at best, especially in the second half, but it certainly wasn’t the best day for Levar Wood’s special teams unit.

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