By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
THE NEVERENDING STORY: First there was Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor, who leads the Big Ten in rushing. Then came Penn State's Saquon Barkley, a top Heisman Trophy candidate. Next was Maryland's Ty Johnson, who is his conference's sixth leading rusher. Now, on Saturday at Ryan Field, comes Iowa's Akrum Wadley, who rests a slot behind the Terp in the rushing standings. "They're all Big Ten backs," 'Cat defensive tackle Jordan Thompson says when asked if this quartet shares characteristics. "They're all good. They all know the game. When we're going against backs like that, we know we have to bring our best."
Is it more fun going against backs like that, who come right at him, instead of an offense that features run-pass option?
"Yeah, it is. They know what we're doing. We know what they're doing. It's just a matter of who's going to win their one-on-ones. That's the fun part of football. Winning those one-on-ones."
THE UNHERALDED ENGINES: The offensive line, and even Pat Fitzgerald, has said that the 'Cats will go as it goes. "When we say that," the guard Tommy Doles explains, "if we sustain drives, the defense is going to be more fresh. If we can get the run game going, it's going to open up things for the pass. So a lot of that we like to believe comes back to what we're doing. The offensive line isn't going to be the flashiest unit taking credit. But internally, when we score a touchdown, we're going to believe we played a big part in that."
Now it turns out that there's a parallel feeling in the room of the D line as well. "Most definitely," says Thompson. "(D line) Coach (Marty) Long says that a lot. He says the team will go where you go. As a D line we think we're the meat and potatoes of the defense. When we're up, the defense is up, and even the offense feeds off of that. It's kind of like a domino effect. It starts in the D line room. We have to bring it every opportunity."
Do they feel they're the toughest guys on the planet?
"Yeah. We have to. It's part of the job. You have to take the mindset of, if you can't do it, no one else will. That's why it's so hard. We're in the middle of the season. Everyone's tired. Everybody's beat up a little, and you've just got to put your head down and grind. But it's hard. It hard."
And a D tackle doesn't get any applause.
"Not really. It's kind of an unsung hero position. But the guys who play the position, they know when you've had a good play or you've done what you're supposed to do. So it's good in the room. People there know. But maybe not everyone else."
So what keeps him going in a job so hard and unappreciated?
"Just look to your right and left and see the guys you're next to," Jordan Thompson finally says. "You see them going through it. When I'm tired, I look over at Lanny (Tyler Lancaster, another D tackle) and he's taking a lot more double teams than me. That pushes me to fight for him. When I look outside and see Gaz (D end Joe Gaziano) or on the other side, Sam (Miller), Fred (Wyatt), I just see the D line working. It makes you keep going. You don't want to let those guys down."
YES, BUT: His dad Mark was a running back for the Chicago Bears and so it is no surprise that 'Cat superback Cam Green says, "Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be like him. So growing up there was an image I saw in my everyday life where I got to see him, how he played. I got to understand the knowledge he had of football. He always explained to me different sides of football that I never understood. He would really teach me more than show me."
But, no, he never felt pressured to match his dad's accomplishments. "Not really," he says, and then here's comes an unexpected twist.
"I," he says now, "was actually always challenging my sister (Haley) because she was such a good athlete. I was trying to get out of her shadow rather than his shadow."
QUICKLY NOTED: The Hawkeyes are 4-2 overall, 1-2 in conference and coming off a bye week. Their coach, Kirk Ferentz, is in his 19th season at the school, which makes him the longest-tenured active coach in the nation. "He's the longest-tenured coach in the country for a reason," Fitzgerald says of him. "There's consistency. There's toughness. There's physicality. There's playmakers across the board in all three phases. We need to show up and play a week better. We improved last week. My hope is we'll do it again this week.". . . Fitzgerald is 6-5 against Ferentz since taking over the 'Cats. . . . Speaking of their running back Wadley, whom he'll be facing for the fourth time, he says, "I think he's a great player. This is a running back league. Every week you've got to show up and you're playing against a great back. This is four weeks in a row that we've seen great backs and it's not going to stop next week. It's a heck of a league right now with running backs.". . . Despite that high praise, the Hawkeyes are averaging just 3.7 yards-per-carry while opponents are averaging 4.5. "Quite frankly, right now what we'd like to do is reverse them (those stats)," Ferentz said at his most-recent weekly presser. . . . At it he was also asked about his pursuit of Cats' Clayton Thorson and Justin Jackson. "He stood out in our minds as a top prospect, tremendous young man, tremendous family. So check all the boxes," he said of the quarterback. "Unfortunately, we came up short." And Jackson? "Yeah, we tried. That's another swing and miss. That's two strikes right there.". . . The Hawkeye quarterback is the 6-foot-5, 235-pound sophomore Nate Stanley, who has thrown for 15 touchdowns and been picked only twice. Overall he's 97-of-168 (57.7percent) for 1,290 yards (25 ypg). . . . They have a stud at linebacker in the 6-foot-2, 236-pound senior Joey Jewell. A preseason All American, he leads the Big Ten in tackles with 70.
AND FINALLY, this observation from Jordan Thompson, when asked the worst thing that has ever happened to him in the mosh pit that follows a tackle: "No one's bitten me or tried to poke my eyes out. But I try to stay up. Being at the bottom of the pile is the worst place you can be."