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First-round QB? Iowa defense didn’t allow Josh Allen to confirm NFL draft hype
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Phil Parker had one big goal on Saturday.
He knew that Wyoming had the ability to throw the ball all over the place. Cowboys quarterback Josh Allen got first-round NFL draft hype all offseason. That wasn’t lost on Parker or the Hawkeyes, who had to face Allen in their first game without Desmond King.
With that in mind, all Parker wanted to see was Wyoming not have more than two plays of 25-plus yards.
Parker got his wish. Wyoming had zero.
The Hawkeyes delivered the performance Parker was hoping for, and as a result, they cruised to a 24-3 victory. When Allen’s draft film is broken down, he won’t want the Iowa game on there. But inevitably, it will be.
After all, he couldn’t handle pressure, he overthrew receivers and he couldn’t get anything rolling. Allen finished the day with just 174 receiving yards, zero touchdown passes and two interceptions.
It was ugly, and it was all thanks to Iowa.
For all the attention paid to Allen’s arm, the Iowa defense did everything and more to minimize it. Even early on, it was evident that Allen was just going to take what the Iowa defense was giving him. Allen might’ve completed 11 of his first 14 passes, but they were for just 64 yards.
And quickly, Allen saw the speed the Hawkeyes had on the outside. A big Jake Gervase (one of three first-time starters on defense) pass breakup on the Cowboys’ first third down of the game showed that Allen’s NFL arm wasn’t going to be an issue.
But it was more than Allen’s arm that the Hawkeyes had to take into account.
Last year, Allen was one of just six FBS quarterbacks with 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards. He’s mobile. Iowa saw that on a play that looked like a sure-fire sack. Somehow, someway, Allen made an Aaron Rodgers-like slip out of it and found space. The play should’ve been the first of many highlight-reel plays from Allen in 2017.
It was. Until Josey Jewell tracked him down for the sack.
The two got to know each other quite well. Jewell finished with 14 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks a pass breakup and a likely B1G Defensive Player of the Week honor. He was every bit the All-American many expected him to be.
Allen, on the other hand, will have to show more than what he did against Iowa to become the first-rounder he was expected to be.
In Allen’s defense, he didn’t have a ton of help. On a perfect step-up in the pocket, Allen delivered a dime to a streaking receiver in the end zone…only to watch him bobble it and not come down with the catch in bounds.
That, however, was the only real time that Allen threatened to do serious damage downfield against Iowa. It was all about the Hawkeye defense. A.J. Epenesa got his first career sack, Joshua Jackson read Allen and nearly returned an interception to the house and even Brady Reiff hauled in a big-man interception.
No wonder Allen couldn’t do anything but give Iowa props.
A frustrated Josh Allen says Iowa defense is best he'll face all year.
— Chad Leistikow🆑 (@ChadLeistikow) September 2, 2017
In Allen’s defense, the Cowboys’ struggles weren’t all on him. The Wyoming front did little to create running room and managed just 59 yards on 30 carries.
The Iowa defense will face teams that have more balance. They’ll see teams with better playmakers on the outside. They also won’t have several months to prepare for an offense.
But this was a major early test for Iowa to pass. After last year’s North Dakota State debacle, no Iowa home game should be considered a gimme, much less when a future NFL quarterback is on the other sideline.
Iowa made their defensive coordinator happy.
And surely, the Hawkeyes made Allen thankful he won’t see defenses that good for the rest of the season.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.