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The Morning After: What Do We Have?

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The Morning After: What Do We Have?


What do we have with this team, exactly? Does anyone know?

This is an Iowa team that, rightly, can hammer teams on the ground. They are indisputably better in that arena than what we’ve seen at Iowa in four years. We’ve seen Iowa struggle on the ground against teams at Troy’s level in the past. Not this year. Iowa has a good line when it comes to the ground game. They have a great stable of backs, highlighted by Kaleb Johnson (man crush levels are HIGH with that guy).

They can get after the quarterback in pass situations. They’re good up the middle. They can stop the run.

Iowa has what looks like a kicker that has returned to form. They have a punter with a big leg. He’s not Tory Taylor (yet), but he’s got the ability. They have a top-level return man.

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But the quarterback play has been…shaky. Pass protection has broken down more than once. The defense gives up big plays. That’s consecutive weeks they’ve been burned. It’s made worse by the fact that they give up those plays right after Iowa scores. The special teams had a blow up. This was a 3-point game in the 4th quarter against Troy.

We’ve seen Iowa show their superiority for maybe 4 quarters of play scattered over three games. Their best stretch of play offensively was a game in which Kirk Ferentz was at home with a grandson making eggs. He gets back and the governor is re-inserted. That should rightly be a huge caution flag for everyone.

What is this team?

Whatever they are, they better figure it out quickly. The numbers look good overall. They had nearly 300 yards rushing Saturday. The offense still has struggles, but they’re better than they’ve been since about 2020. They have a professional play caller now, a guy that seems to start slow in the scripted portion of the game but that’s by design to feel an opponent out and set things up later in the game (Brian Ferentz, by contrast, would nail the script then still have 9 or 10 drives to figure out and he had no idea how to do that). They’ve shown they can get it done on the ground. But they are shaky in areas, and some of them are uncharacteristic of recent Iowa vintage.

League play starts next week. Do you feel comfortable about any of that through 3 games? I know I don’t.

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Other Thoughts:

– My viewing experience for this game was again a bit choppy. I had another kid’s birthday party to attend – the dad has booze on hand at all times; a good friend indeed – so I got my first experience with Gary Dolphin and Pat Angerer on radio on the way there. I have to say – better than I thought it would be! Angerer’s still feeling his way through this so there’s some dead time that Ed Podolak would’ve filled, but without Ed it’s made Dolphin have to step up more to support a new guy in Pat. It might be the best thing that’s happened to Gary. It felt a little sharper from Dolph than I remember. He’s always struggled with basketball, but football? He’s ok. Angerer brings some younger fan energy to this – at one point on Kaden Wetjen’s kick return to start the second half, Angerer kept yelling “COME ON WETJEN!” It was great. Better than I thought it’d be.

– Cade. I don’t know. I just don’t know on him. There’s a new package for Brendan Sullivan inside the 20. That’s good for the team…but it’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of Cade and where he is right now. And to get the ball after Devonte Ross’s punt return with 1:00 left in the half and one timeout and sit on the ball…that won’t cut it, guys. It just won’t cut it. It’s poor clock management, and it’s made worse by the message it sends. You can’t get it done against Troy, with a 6th-year player under center? If you don’t trust him in that situation, when will you trust him?

– Special Teams breakdown on the punt. Everyone got sucked into the middle. That was as easy a return as I can remember.

– The big TDs allowed – is some of that inexperience for a player like TJ Hall? He hasn’t played a ton despite being a third-year player. Iowa gave up 253 yards of offense to Troy, and 125 of that came on two long plays. 128 yards allowed on everything else. The defense was good overall, but the two long plays make it look worse than it was.

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– Kaleb Johnson will be on the list of finalists for the Doak Walker award. He’ll be in the final 3. 479 yards and 6 touchdowns through three games (really 2 1/2) will do that. Enjoy this season with Kaleb while you can – a year from now, he’ll be in the National Football League. I honestly can’t wait to see what he does up there.

– Good to see Jaz Patterson and Kaleb Brown back in the army. Cade’s best throw may have been the 18-yarder to Brown to keep the drive that ended in Patterson’s touchdown alive.

Also – did we know Cade is a laces out guy? I didn’t! I’d never noticed this before!

– The offense is more fun to watch. Truly, it is! I like having a professional play caller in the chair. As painful as some of it’s been, I actually want the defense getting off the field so I can see what this offense will call. It’s variety we haven’t seen in years. They are using a second quarterback, and in one instance, they called stuff out of pistol for him! I find that side interesting again.

– That said – Kirk’s back. The interest in that side can evaporate immediately with him back.

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Vote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)

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Vote: Who Should be Iowa’s High School Athlete of the Week? (4/19/2026)


Here are the candidates for High School on SI’s Iowa high school athlete of the week for April 13-18. Read through the nominees and cast your vote.

Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. PT on Sunday, April 26. The winner will be announced in the following week’s poll. Here are this week’s nominees:

Taylor Roose, Pella boys track and field

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Roose competed in three events at the Norwalk Invitational, winning all three in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump.

Daxon Kiesau, Urbandale boys track and field

Kiesau swept the throwing events at the Norwalk Invitational, taking first place in the shot put and the discus.

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Alex Burger, Southeast Valley boys track and field

Competing at home, Burger dominated, earning four gold medals. He won the 400-meter hurdles and the long jump while running on the winning 4×200-meter relay and shuttle hurdle relay.

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Kolby Hodnefield, Clear Lake boys track and field

Hodenfield, a defending state champion, broke the meet, venue and school record in the 200 and the 400 at the Clear Lake Invitational. He added victories as part of the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Both relays also set meet records.

Easton Moon, North Polk boys tennis

Moon has started off his senior season on the courts unbeaten, winning all four matches while dropping just one game in 44 played.

Ava Lohrbach, Gilbert girls golf

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One of the top golfers in the state, Lohrbach has had a hot start, firing a 35 in her nine-hole debut and a 72 for her 18-hole opener.

Nathan Manske, Algona boys golf

An elite quarterback and basketball player, Manske is showing his golfing skills this spring, coming out with a state-low 30 in a nine-hole event.

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Ella Hein, Tipton girls track and field

Hein set school records in the 400-meter run and long jump at the Tiger/Tigerette Relays while also locking in the Blue Standard and qualifying for the Drake Relays. She won the long jump (18-6) and was second in the 400.

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Maeve Bowen-Burt, Iowa City High girls track and field

The sophomore helped the Little Hawks land three Drake Relays events on the last night of qualifying, advancing in the 400 hurdles, along with the sprint medley and 4×400 relays.

About Our Athlete of the Week Voting

High School on SI voting polls are meant to be a fun, lighthearted way for fans to show support for their favorite athletes and teams. Our goal is to celebrate all of the players featured, regardless of the vote totals. Sometimes one athlete will receive a very large number of votes — even thousands — and that’s okay! The polls are open to everyone and are simply a way to build excitement and community around high school sports. Unless we specifically announce otherwise, there are no prizes or official awards for winning. The real purpose is to highlight the great performances of every athlete included in the poll.

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Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit

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Houston icon George Foreman laid to rest in Iowa, drawn by a peaceful 1988 visit


The late boxing great George Foreman lies buried in a cemetery in the northwestern corner of Iowa – a place he has no connection to outside of a lone visit to the region nearly 40 years ago.

Foreman died March 21, 2025, at the age of 76 in Houston and was buried in Logan Park Cemetery at Sioux City, Iowa, a month later, city officials confirmed. Foreman’s family returned Thursday to his burial site, holding a news conference with Sioux City Mayor Bob Scott to reveal Foreman’s burial place, marked by a large monument that bears an image of him as a teen following his Olympic gold medal boxing win.

The family explained in a statement released by Sioux City officials that he had visited the Iowa city in 1988, and often recalled the sense of peace he experienced there.

After traveling to the city on April 17 last year to bury Foreman, his family said they immediately understood the region’s appeal.

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“Our father lived a life of purpose, faith and gratitude,” the family said in a statement released by Sioux City officials. “To see him laid to rest in a place that brought him peace means everything to us.”

Scott joined the family at Foreman’s monument that lies just a few miles north of the Missouri River in an upper Midwest city of nearly 87,000 people. The cemetery overlooks the scenic Loess Hills, created by windblown silt deposits that reach up to 200 feet high (about 61 meters) and line the river along the Iowa border for 200 miles (322 kilometers).

“Their story is a reminder of how one place can stay with someone for a lifetime,” Scott said.

A native Texan, Foreman rose to fame when he made the 1968 U.S. Olympic boxing team, winning gold in Mexico City. He became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1973 by defeating the great Joe Frazier, only to lose the title a year later to Muhammad Ali in the famous “Rumble in the Jungle.”

A full 20 years later in 1994, Foreman became the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at 45, defeating Michael Moorer in an epic upset.

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Foreman retired in 1997 with a 76-5 career record.

He then moved on to the next chapter in his life as a businessman, pitchman and occasional actor, becoming known to a new generation as the face of the George Foreman Grill. The simple cooking machine sold more than 100 million units and brought him more wealth than boxing.

A biographical movie based on Foreman’s life was released in 2023.

Copyright © 2026 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.



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GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall

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GOP governor candidate Zach Lahn pitches Iowa-first platform at Dubuque town hall


DUBUQUE, Iowa (KCRG) — About 50 Iowans braved the threat of severe storms to hear from Republican candidate for governor Zach Lahn at his town hall in Dubuque Friday night.

Lahn, a farmer and businessman, said his campaign is about solving the long-term systemic issues facing Iowans.

One priority is addressing what Lahn calls a cancer crisis in Iowa, as the state has the second-highest cancer rate in the country. Solving the crisis means ensuring Iowans have access to clean, nitrate-free drinking water, working with farmers to reduce agricultural runoff.

“Iowans are just ready for something that they should be able to count on, like clean drinking water,” Lahn said. “We have ways to clean up the drinking water in Iowa that isn’t on the backs of farmers, but is working alongside with them because they’re drinking the water too, and they want to do what’s right.”

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Lahn also wants to stop Iowa’s “brain drain,” as more of Iowa’s college graduates left the state for opportunities elsewhere.

“Don’t leave! Give me some time! I’m going to fight to keep you here,” Lahn said. “I was one of these kids. I thought I had to leave the state to find something better. We have to prioritize Iowa’s incentive dollars to make sure they’re going to grow Iowa businesses that are going to be here for the long haul, so our kids have places to work.”

Running a distinct campaign feels challenging this election, as Lahn is one of five GOP candidates who want to be Iowa’s next governor, facing U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, former Department of Administrative Services Director Adam Steen, state Rep. Eddie Andrews and former state Rep. Brad Sherman.

Iowa Auditor Rob Sand is the only Democrat running for the state’s top office.

Lahn said he stands out by promising Iowa will be for Iowans, pledging to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain and tax out-of-state landowners and data centers at higher rates to lower property taxes.

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“It always goes back to follow the money, so when it comes to not being a weak-kneed Republican today, I believe the paramount piece of that is answering only to the citizens of Iowa, not to special interests to pad their bottom line, but what’s best for the people of Iowa,” Lahn said.

Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.



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