Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz hopes kicker Kyle Schlicher will be available next weekend when the Hawkeyes play their first road game at Syracuse. Schlicher missed Saturday’s season opening victory over Montana with a muscle strain. Red shirt freshman Austin Signor filled in and made both his field goal attempts and was perfect on PAT’s in Iowa’s 41-7 victory over Montana.
Ferentz says Schlicher may’ve been able to play Saturday, but they weren’t comfortable having him out there after he missed some practices. He says some extra rest may allow Schlicher to return to the field this Saturday.
Syracuse was 1-10 a year ago but Ferentz expects to face a vastly improved team that is led by former NFL assistant coach Greg Robinson. Ferentz says Syracuse’s record is misleading as they had several players drafted. He says the new staff should have the team executing better than last year.
Ferentz was impressed with Montana and says the Hawkeyes were tested. He says his team will be better next week and they have to clean some things up. Ferentz says they have some things to adjust in the offense and kicking game.
Quarterback Drew Tate completed 18 of 25 passes for 223 yards and three touchdowns as he opened his senior season with a good outing. The Hawkeyes used their running backs in the slot several times and Tate says you can expect to see more of the same. He says they have a lot of experienced running backs and they want to use them, so they put them in the slot. Tate says the running backs can help the young receivers learn. Syracuse lost its season opener at Wake Forest 20-10.