The Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten) recently revealed their depth chart against Missouri (9-3, 5-3 SEC) in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl.

Iowa freshman wide receiver Reece Vander Zee wasn’t listed, but Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed that it’s not a cause for concern.

“I don’t know when we wrote that depth chart, it was probably last month. He’s fine. Practicing well. In fact, coming off the field last night, asked him how he felt. He feels great. He’ll be in the rotation,” Ferentz said last Friday.

This update is consistent with what Ferentz has said in the buildup to the bowl game versus the Tigers.

Ferentz said both Vander Zee and offensive tackle Gennings Dunker were tracking to play in the bowl game two weeks ago after Iowa’s bowl foe was revealed on Dec. 8.

“Yeah, both those guys are on track right now,” Ferentz said. “Not sure where they’re going to be this week, but I think we are a lot closer.

“Reece got to work—we worked a little bit on Friday—he was out there, so that looks really encouraging. Dunk’s probably a couple days away yet, but he’s doing really well, on a good path. Both those guys are eager to play.”

Vander Zee has caught 14 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns during the 2024 season. The 6-foot-4, 207 pound freshman hasn’t played since starting but then subsequently exiting the Northwestern contest and sporting a walking boot.

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Heading into the NFL offseason, the top question surrounding the Tennessee Titans will be about what they’re going to do at the quarterback position.

Will Levis and Mason Rudolph are clearly not clear-cut options long-term.

Outside of that question, the Titans will also need to figure out how to add more weapons for whoever their starting quarterback ends up being. Pursuing another quality wide reciever should be something that they try to do.

In the 2025 NFL Draft, there are ways for Tennessee to address both of those issues. Taking a look at wide receivers in the third or fourth round would make a lot of sense.

With that in mind, Justin Melo of Titan Sized has suggested a sleeper wide receiver out of Iowa State. In his recent five-round mock draft, Melo had the Titans taking Jayden Higgins in the fourth round.

“Are the Titans going to reunite Tee Higgins with Brian Callahan? Callahan’s offense will need an offseason addition to play “X” receiver next season. If Higgins proves to be too expensive, drafting a big-bodied weapon like Jayden Higgins offers an alternative route. Higgins does an outstanding job high-pointing the football at the catch point,” Melo wrote.

Higgins has put together an impressive 2024 season with the Cyclones. He has caught 87 passes for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns.

Standing in at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, Higgins would bring great size to the Tennessee wide receiver room. His size would make him a lethal threat, especially in red zone situations.

Throughout his entire college career, Higgins has racked up 227 receptions for 3,317 yards and 28 touchdowns. He has proven himself to be a more than capable playmaker.

Taking a flier on him in the fourth round would be a very wise investment. He may not pan out, but if he reaches his full potential he could end up developing into a starter.

He may be a sleeper and wouldn’t be a “flashy” addition, but Higgins has all of the makings of being a draft steal for a team like the Titans who could use a little more help at the position.

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SOUIX FALLS, S.D. — Iowa’s defense was smothering, and Utah did little to help itself on offense by starting the game shooting just 12.5% from the floor.

It was another first-half slow start against a Quad 1 opponent this season.

But unlike in previous Quad 1 games, where Utah allowed the opposing team run away with an early double-digit lead, the Runnin’ Utes fought back. And it was Mason Madsen, who earned his first start of the season, who provided the game-changing spark.

Madsen got a defensive rebound, and then hit a 3-pointer on the other end to open up three straight 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give Utah its first lead of the game.

From there, Utah found its offense to control a 4-point lead at the halftime break before building up the lead to 10 in the second half.

Iowa didn’t back down, though, and slowly chipped away at the lead before eventually pulling away for a 95-88 win at the Sanford Pentagon in the Utah’s final nonconference game of the season.

Madsen finished with 24 points, including going 6-of-11 from 3-point range, six rebounds and four assists, but it wasn’t enough to contend with Iowa’s offensive attack late. Lawson Lovering added 25 points, four rebounds and two assists in the loss.

Iowa forward Payton Sandfort led the charge in the second half and contributed a team-high 24 points and seven rebounds, while four other Iowa players finished in double-digit scoring.

Utah opened up the game shooting just 1-of-8 from the field as Iowa took an early 9-2 lead that was also helped by a defense that forced the Utes into late-shot situations and poor looks. Little by little, Utah found a way to get back into the game, largely by Madsen’s hot shooting and Lovering’s strong post play.

Less than two minutes into the second half, Ezra Ausar hit two free throws to give the Utes a team-high 11-point lead. Over the next five minutes, Iowa slowly chipped away at Utah’s lead and made it a 4-point game with 14:13 left to play.

Utah made only 2 points over the next three minutes as Iowa cut the lead to a single possession before Drew Thelwell hit a 3-pointer with 10:47 left for the go-ahead score. Once Iowa reclaimed the lead, there was little Utah could do over the final 10 minutes of game time to stop the Hawkeyes’ lead from growing.

Owen Freeman, the team’s leading scorer who averages 17.2 points per game, got into foul trouble and was forced to sit for much of the game — including picking up a fourth foul with just under 11 minutes to play — but finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists, while adding three blocks in just 19 minutes of play.

Thelwell and Josh Nix added 15 points apiece, and Brock Harding contributed 12 points to round out Iowa’s top scoring.

Utah closes out nonconference play with an 8-3 record, with all three losses coming against Quad 1 opponents. The Utes resume action on Dec. 31 in Waco, Texas, to start Big 12 play against Baylor.