NASHVILLE, Tenn. − Luke Elkin arrived in Iowa City from Neenah, Wisconsin, with realistic expectations as a walk-on true freshman long snapper in 2021. He surprisingly didn’t make the travel roster for the Hawkeyes’ home opener against Indiana.

But that following week in practice, coaches told him to get ready. He figured it was just something they told freshmen. He was added to trip to Ames for Iowa’s top-10 showdown that week at Iowa State, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” in attendance.

After a bad first-quarter snap caused Caleb Shudak to miss a 50-yard field goal in that game, Elkin was tapped to replace sixth-year senior Austin Spiewak. Wearing No. 39 with no name on his jersey, Elkin snapped for Shudak’s first extra-point at Jack Trice Stadium. The snap was good. The kick was good.

And?

“Never come out since,” Elkin said recently, nearing the completion of a quietly impressive four-year Iowa career. “That’s been very, very fortunate for me, and something that’s been very exciting for my family, too, which has been awesome.”

Nobody thinks about the long snapper until something goes wrong. And for four years, Elkin has been on point, whether it’s been snapping to All-American punter Tory Taylor or for field goals, including game-winners each of the past two years against Nebraska.

This year, the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) added long snapper to its first team. And Elkin was honored as a first-team All-American, the best in the country at his craft. Iowa has long valued Elkin’s contributions, putting him on scholarship before his junior season.

One of the things that makes Elkin so good is that he played a ton of positions in high school. He’s athletic. He is very fast and can cover kicks. And for a program that values reliability, he’s as reliable as they come.

“I realized (in high school) that I might actually have a shot at this,” Elkin said. “It was just show up every day for practice with consistency.”

As always for Iowa, special teams could be a big advantage in Monday’s Music City Bowl matchup vs. Missouri. The Hawkeyes’ have a noticeable edge with kicker Drew Stevens (perfect 15-for-15 inside 50 yards) over Missouri’s Blake Craig (1-for-7 from 40-49 yards) and at punter with freshman Rhys Dakin.

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For 4 years, Luke Elkin found his role as an elite long snapper at Iowa

The Wisconsin native has been the most reliable Hawkeye since being thrown into the fire in a top-10 matchup as a true freshman in Week 2.

The guy snapping for them is a key part of their successes, too. And it all started in a heated Cy-Hawk game in 2021, which Iowa won, 27-17. Elkin has been a fixture ever since. Monday will mark his final game as a Hawkeye.

“For a kid to be thrown into that situation, in a hostile environment, in a rivalry game, I think it speaks volumes about him,” special-teams coordinator LeVar Woods said. “But what we saw in him was that he’s very calm, very relaxed. Didn’t get rattled by very much, and his product was very good. He was very accurate with his snaps. He’s a good player.”

A time of reflection for Quinn Schulte, Sebastian Castro

Iowa’s roster has to be trimmed from 128 this year to 105 by Aug. 1. That has meant a lot of tough conversations between coaches and players about where walk-ons and even scholarship guys stand in the program. There used to be spots for about 45 walk-ons at Iowa. Soon, there will be space for only 20.

“Awful. It’s been the hardest part of this month,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said recently. “It could have been so easily avoided if we stair-stepped it (incrementally).

“Nobody asked me for my opinion or filled me in on the details. I’m sure it was a financial decision, like everything we do. I would argue whatever the dollar amount was, keep it the same and spread it out on 120, 118 (players) instead of 105 and not have bloodletting. That’s the regrettable part in my mind.”

To that point, would Schulte have even made the original 105 as an undersized, walk-on safety out of Cedar Rapids Xavier High School in 2019?

Sebastian Castro explains why he didn’t opt out of the Music City Bowl

The sixth-year senior defensive back previews the Missouri matchup ahead of his final game as a Hawkeye.

“As a true freshman, it would have been hard,” Schulte said Friday. “I really didn’t know what was going on as a true freshman, but I’m confident in the next couple years I would have (made the 105). But I don’t know. We don’t know. I’m grateful that it didn’t happen and get to that point.”

Schulte said it’s been “disappointing” to see the process that has basically been the equivalent of roster cuts that has sent a lot of walk-ons to the NCAA transfer portal to seek new opportunities. Now, he’s here along with fellow sixth-year senior Sebastian Castro in Iowa’s secondary. They’re both getting set to play their final games as Hawkeyes.

“I’ve been here a long time, and I love being here,” said Castro, who didn’t opt out of the game because he said he felt he owed it to the program. “Grateful for everything. It changed my life, coming to this program, but it’s time to go. You know, I can’t be here forever.”

Brendan Sullivan on his health, Iowa’s revamped quarterbacks room

Sullivan is planning to stay at Iowa for his fifth-year senior season, and he gets a chance to cement his QB1 status entering the spring vs. Missouri.

Sully’s ready for redemption at QB1 for Iowa

Brendan Sullivan met with the Iowa media for about seven minutes Friday, his first interview since Nov. 5. The quarterback injured his ankle three nights later in a loss at UCLA and hasn’t returned to the field since.

Now, he’s feeling 100% and ready to go as the starter for Iowa against Missouri (1:30 p.m. Monday, ESPN).

“Anybody that’s played any sport competitively knows that it sucks watching your brothers go fight without you,” Sullivan said. “It was not fun being out, but (I) tried to work my butt off to get back.”

Sullivan proved to be a better quarterback option than the now-departed Cade McNamara, but made only two starts – finishing one, a 42-10 win against Wisconsin on Nov. 2. He committed three turnovers in that 20-17 loss to UCLA. Offensive coordinator Tim Lester noted that Sullivan was too quick to bail on his reads and scramble, and that’s what led to his ankle injury.

“It wasn’t fun. Obviously, a poor performance on my end,” Sullivan said. “Didn’t help getting hit a lot, too, which was partially my fault as well.”

What did he learn from that loss?

“Just not letting things spiral. A big thing with me is I get too hard on myself,” Sullivan said. “One bad play leads to another, which is not good at our position.”

4 quick hits from Friday’s practice …

• Safety Koen Entringer was a non-participant. He has been the top backup in Iowa’s secondary. If he’s out, that would change the Hawkeyes’ dime defense and perhaps elevate Zach Lutmer if there’s an injury to Castro, Schulte or Xavier Nwankpa.
• Center Logan Jones was suited up and snapping balls with his left hand, while his traditional right snapping hand remained in a cast after he broke it in a recent practice. There is no official word on Jones’ status, but it’s likely that Tyler Elsbury still gets the start.
• Woods said that two true freshmen have stood out during bowl preparations and could see action on special teams: defensive back Rashad Godfrey and running back Brevin Doll. “When you give them an opportunity, you can tell they’ve been paying attention throughout the whole year,” Woods said.
• True freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee made some nice catches with the second-team offense from quarterback Jackson Stratton. He looks to be ready to return to action for the first time since Oct. 26.

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Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.