One of the most hotly contested competitions in the lead-up to Iowa’s season opener against Illinois State has been at cornerback.
Graduate cornerback Jermari Harris was penciled in as a returning starter for the Hawkeyes given his 18 career starts and 12 starts in the 2023 season. Harris, a 6-foot-1, 189 pound cornerback, has registered 78 tackles, 17 passes defensed, five interceptions and 2.5 tackles for loss during his Iowa career.
Iowa still had a battle to sort out opposite Harris, though.
On Monday, junior TJ Hall was listed as the starting cornerback opposite Harris, winning the opening-day nod over sophomores Deshaun Lee and John Nestor.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz met with the media on Tuesday to preview the Hawkeyes’ season opener versus Illinois State and discussed why Hall earned the starting job.
Kirk Ferentz on why TJ Hall was named Iowa’s second starting CB:
“Probably just a little bit of consistency. And it’s gone back and forth.” pic.twitter.com/ZbCzdR71q4
— Hawkeyes Wire (@HawkeyesWire) August 27, 2024
“Probably just a little bit of consistency, and it’s gone back and forth. It’s a little bit like the running back position. Difference is most of those guys have been available, the four corners have been competing and practicing. So, probably a little consistency thing, but it’s still really close,” Ferentz said.
That’s in line with what Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker said last week about the cornerback position. Parker indicated that Iowa might play more bodies in its defensive backfield in 2024 and that the cornerback competition had been very tightly contested.
“Well, I think it’s really interesting. Jermari Harris has come back and the leadership that he’s brung and seeing TJ Hall grow and improve his standard of play. Nestor, he’s really doing a good…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/kirk-ferentz-comments-tj-hall-001550592.html
Author : Hawkeyes Wire
Publish date : 2024-08-28 00:15:50
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