| SPECIAL TEAMS | |||
| The sure thing | |||
| Punter Ryan Donahue overcame early struggles to earn honorable mention All-Big Ten honors last season. He has a very strong leg and improving control. | |||
| The question | |||
| Who will take over kickoff duties from Austin Signor, who left Iowa and transferred to Eastern Illinois? It could be Daniel Murray, Trent Mossbrucker or even Donahue. | |||
| The wildcard | |||
| With the departure of Signor, Mossbrucker will have a chance to compete for the kicking job as a true freshman. He showed a strong leg and good accuracy in high school. | |||
| Final analysis | |||
| Donahue will be as good as there is in the Big Ten, and the kicking game should be improved. The Hawkeyes need to find an explosive return man, though. Sophomore Derrell Johnson-Koulianos could be it. | |||
| Depth chart | |||
| Place-kicker | |||
| Player | Yr. | Ht. | Wt. |
| Daniel Murray | So. | 5-10 | 185 |
| Trent Mossbrucker | Fr. | 6-0 | 190 |
| Punter | |||
| Ryan Donahue | So. | 6-3 | 180 |
| Eric Guthrie | Fr. | 6-6 | 205 |
| Long snapper | |||
| Andrew Schulze | So. | 6-6 | 255 |
| Kick return | |||
| Derrell Johnson-Koulianos | So. | 6-1 | 205 |
| Jordan Bernstine | So. | 5-11 | 203 |
| Punt return | |||
| Andy Brodell | Sr. | 6-3 | 202 |
| Colin Sandeman | So. | 6-1 | 200 |
| Others to watch: PR Tyler Sash, Fr., 6-1, 210 | |||
| Inside the numbers | |||
| Here is how Iowa’s special teams stats ranked in the Big Ten last season: | |||
| Stat | Rank | ||
| Field goal | 10-16 | 10 | |
| PAT | 24-28 | 11 | |
| Net punt | 39.4 | 2 | |
| Punt return | 10.6 | T3 | |
| Kick coverage | 17.3 | 5 | |
| Kick return | 20 | 7 | |
| Position breakdowns | |||
| Today: Special teams | |||
| Sunday: Defensive backs | |||
| Monday: Linebackers | |||
| Tuesday: Defensive line | |||
| Wednesday: Offensive line | |||
| Thursday: Receivers/Ends | |||
| Friday: Running backs | |||
| Saturday: Quarterbacks | |||
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Special teams at a glance
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