IOWA CITY -- Despite returning eight of 11 starters from the 2023 season, Iowa's defense has taken a step back in 2024.
Through 14 games last year, Phil Parker's defense allowed 282.5 yards per game and 20 touchdowns. Through 10 games this season, the defense is allowing 320.2 yards per game and has conceded 21 touchdowns.
Last season, opposing offenses averaged 4.1 yards per play, this season it's 5.1. The third-down conversion rate for opponents has increased from 31.3% to 35.1%. Points per game for opponents has moved from 14.79 to 18.20.
The list goes on.
Typically one of the best defenses in the country under the Broyles Award winner Parker, the movement in the wrong direction wasn't expected this season, especially with the sheer volume of starters that returned from last season's top five defense in the country.
Parker says the expectations for his defense this season may have been unfair.
"Everybody thinks that you're going to be just as good as you were last year," he said when he spoke with the media on Tuesday. "And you guys don't understand that every day you go out there, it's a challenge, okay? You have to earn everything you get."
He was willing to name one culprit for the Hawkeyes' defensive struggles this year.
"I think the differences are explosive plays right now," Parker said. "The bigger chunk plays have been too much, and for whatever reason -- whether a guy's not in his gap, or whether a guy has lost leverage, didn't see the ball, or whatever it is -- that needs to be cleaned up."
In two of Iowa's losses on the road to Michigan State and UCLA, tackling also appeared to be a significant issue for the veteran-laden defense.
"It's all about angles, and the angles that you take. Are you taking the proper angles to [the ball carrier]?" Parker said. You could see sometimes we were probably a little bit anxious at the Michigan State game over running plays, and the guys cutting it back. Then it's going back to the basic fundamentals of football. It's obviously tackling the guy with the ball, but it's how you go about it, and how you leverage the ball."
Parker says that rule extends to the entire defense.
"We talk about it all the time, and we're coaching it all the time," Parker added. "Obviously, our guys are trying to work on that. Every day they go out there, anytime there's a play, it's a pursuit drill. That's what we do, you've got to run to the ball, making sure you're in the proper position. And you've got your feet up underneath here, you've got your eyes where they need to be and your body position where you need it to be."
In Friday night's game against the Bruins, the Iowa defense took a huge blow midway through the contest, as All-American linebacker Jay Higgins went down with an apparent hamstring injury. For the moment, it's unclear how long it will take for him to get back on the field.
"I don't know enough about the injury stuff," Parker said. "I bumped into Jay [on Tuesday], and he's seemed like he's ready to roll anyway. So, I can't tell the difference, and I don't really have any idea where he's at. I'm just making sure he has his time off and gets some free time to himself [during the bye week]. But I'm sure if he can go, he'll go. That's for sure."
With Higgins sidelined on Friday, Jaden Harrell, a redshirt junior out of Urbandale, stepped in at the mike linebacker spot. The snaps he saw against the Bruins were some of the first meaningful plays Harrell has seen on the defensive side of the ball in his tenure with the Hawkeyes.
"I thought he went in and did a pretty good job," Parker said. "There might have been one time he didn't set the front right, right away, but I'm sure that was nervousness. The ball's in the middle of the field, anybody could make that mistake, and I don't really think it was a mistake. I just think other guys have to adjust to it."
Overall, the leader of Iowa's defense was happy with what Harrell did on the field in Pasadena, finishing the game with two solo tackles and a QB hurry.
"I thought he did a really good job of going out there, got them in the right defenses, and in the right spot," Parker said. "I thought he played physical, and he did a good job for us to carry us through."
With the uncertainty surrounding Higgins' health and Iowa's defensive performances in the remaining two games this regular season, Parker turns back to the main things that have made his defenses successful in the past.
"I think that goes back to pursuing the ball and making sure everybody's doing it every play. You just don't know what play is gonna make that difference," he said. "Our standards are very high. So when you say, 'Hey, you dropped down a little bit,' Well, yeah, from what we expect. You know what I mean?"
Parker emphasized that it's understood in the locker room what those expectations are, and he's hoping he can lead the defense back to that standard over the rest of the season.
"We'll keep on striving and keep on pushing these guys to be the best they can be every day," he said. "I think that's what they're looking forward to, and we're looking forward to the next two games."
