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Iowa Football 2018: 5 bold predictions for November

By Quinn Douglas

STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 27: Nate Stanley #4 of the Iowa Hawkeyes directs the offence against the Penn State Nittany Lions on October 27, 2018 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 27: Nate Stanley #4 of the Iowa Hawkeyes directs the offence against the Penn State Nittany Lions on October 27, 2018 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
(Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

1. Toren Young emerges

Coming into November, Iowa has three running backs that all have made significant contributions to the offense and all have utilized their respective skill sets. Ivory Kelly-Martin has been slated as the starter most of the year, but has only rushed for 293 yards due to injuries. Mekhi Sargent, a JUCO transfer from Iowa Western, has surprised everybody with his contributions, rushing for 388 yards and four touchdowns. But the leader of the group has been Toren Young, leading the team with 421 yards and three touchdowns.

All three backs can hurt you at any time, but this end of the season march looks to call for a heavy dose of Toren Young. Young is the classic, ground and pound running back you rely on when you reach the month of November in the Big Ten. He is Kirk Ferentz’s type of running back, reminding some of the previous backs such as Shonn Greene and Albert Young.

Young is a running back that gets better as the game goes on, he’s able to take punishing hits as well as dishing them out himself. His sheer power, along with his great downhill speed, has him poised to make some noise in Iowa’s last four games, especially against tougher rush defenses such as Northwestern and Purdue and share the load against lackluster defenses such as Illinois and Nebraska to end the regular season. Young will emerge as the bellcow running back for the conclusion of 2018.

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