Defense, kicking game, and playing with physicality. That is Iowa football under head coach Kirk Ferentz. The Hawkeyes have won a lot of games over the last two-plus decades with this core philosophy. However, a big key to making that work is being able to run the football.
That style of ball works best when the offense has a bell cow tailback it can rely on. Over the last seven years at Kentucky, we’ve seen Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Benny Snell Jr. carry the Wildcats to wins when the rest of the offense labored.