As you will likely see with other sites, the last day of the year is time to reflect on what happened that year. For fans of the Iowa football team, there were a lot of good things that happened in 2018, but there were also some bad things and some real ugly things too.
Here’s our good, bad and ugly.
Good:
- Amani Hooker emerges as a versatile defensive weapon and allows Kirk Ferentz to begin playing a hybrid 4-2-5 defense.
- Three players are named All-Americans (Hooker, Fant, and Hockenson)
- AJ Epenesa bursts on to the scene in a big way, leading the Big Ten in sacks and receiving All-Big Ten honors
- The Hawkeyes clean up with three Big Ten individual awards and a plethora of All-Big Ten players
- Brandon Smith finally shows in a game the types of catches he has been making in practice
- Ihmir Smith-Marsette becomes a vital asset in the return game, arguably the best since Tim Dwight
- Kirk Ferentz continues to evolve.