IOWA CITY — Yes, Shaun Prater has heard all about how it's going to be different for him and the rest of the Iowa secondary.
Defensive linemen Adrian Clayborn, Christian Ballard and Karl Klug — all NFL draft picks, Clayborn in the first round — are gone. It's going to be so much harder for Prater — an All-Big Ten selection and All-America candidate — to do his thing now, the theory goes. Without the run-stoppers and pass rushers up front, Iowa opponents will be better able to avoid being one-dimensional and, when they choose to pass, their quarterbacks have more time to do so.
But Prater isn't sweating it.
"People come and go in college," the senior from Omaha Central said. "Adrian, Ballard, Klug and a bunch of other guys are gone, and now others have to step up. There was a point in time when no one really knew who Adrian was, and then he proved himself. This year, someone will prove himself."
Senior end Broderick Binns, who started 13 games as a sophomore and five last year, is a good starting point. Another is tackle Mike Daniels, who started eight times last season.
Beyond that? Someone will step up, Prater insists.
End Lebron Daniel? Tackle Dominic Alvis? Experienced but injury-prone veterans? Untested but talented youngsters?
Maybe all of the above.
"We're going to be a little different, certainly," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "We are more apt to play six to eight guys during the course of a game, whereas the last couple of years we settled in on four or five."
With a nearly new defensive front and a linebacker group that is still young despite some unexpected on-the-job training last season, maybe the Hawkeyes will lean more heavily on the secondary, or at least make changes to cover up potential new weaknesses.
Not so, Prater said.
"We'll still run the same defense, no matter who is in," Prater said. "We're still going to have the same concept. Our role is just to get the job done, week in and week out."
That defense, for the secondary, means a mixture of zone and man-to-man, Prater said.
"Everybody looks at Iowa and thinks we only play zone," Prater said. "But to the weak side, we'll play (zone). To the field, we'll play a defense that is basically man. It's based on personnel and formations, and then we make adjustments from there."
Iowa's left cornerback (he'll cover the slot when the Hawkeyes are in nickel or dime defenses) considered leaving for the NFL after last season, when he was projected to be drafted after the third round.
But he returned to Iowa for a multitude of reasons, including winning a championship, increasing his draft stock and avoiding getting caught in the NFL lockout.
"I didn't want my college career to end just winning the Insight Bowl," Prater said. "I came to college to win a championship."
Prater is one of only five returning starters from a defense that ranked second in the Big Ten and seventh nationally by allowing only 17.0 points per game, ranked second and sixth in rushing defense (101.5 yards per game) and third and 25th in total defense (332.1 yards per game).
The Hawkeyes were seventh in the Big Ten and 84th in the country in passing defense (230.5 yards per game), as some teams had to air it out to move the ball.
Another returning starter is fellow cornerback Micah Hyde, though Iowa has experimented with moving the versatile junior to safety, where All-Big Ten picks Tyler Sash (first team) and Brett Greenwood (second team) departed — Sash a year early as a sixth-round draft pick.
"I think we have the potential to have a good group back there," Ferentz said. "We just have to get settled in and figure out how the pieces fit."
A linebacker group decimated by injuries last year had James Morris starting the final six games as a true freshman. Senior Tyler Nielsen, a first-time starter last season, started only the first eight games before going down with an injury. The weakside linebacker spot appears open.
Someone will step up there, too, Prater said. Someone always does.
"Our job as college football players is to step up and try to win no matter who is on the field," he said.
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