I got the offensive grades up yesterday (a B+ overall) and tonight is the defense. Much like the offense, the defense improved for the 3rd week in a row. They stuffed Arizona all day besides 3 long running plays...and basically only gave up 3 point (one TD was a pick-six, and the other was when Iowa was playing prevent defense after the game was already over).
The Defense
Defensive Line: A-
The defensive line was probably the most improved unit on the entire team. As a whole they were very disruptive and were consitently in the backfield pressuring the QB. They also did well against the run except on a couple of draw plays.
Adrian Clayborn was an absolute beast recording 6 tackles, 1 sack, 3 QB hurries, and a forced fumble. He completely worked #74 all day long and that one play that he ran down Grigsby from behind was just ridiculous. Klug had a nice game as well coming up with a big sack and 5 total tackles.
Linebackers: B+
The linebackers had a pretty good game. They definitely were able to stay in the box and make plays a little bit more in the previous weeks with Arizona's more "traditional" offense. Hunter's name was called a lot as he racked up a team high 7 tackles. Angerer also had a good game. He was pretty good in coverage, and knocked down a pass on a zone blitz. The middle of the field was open for Arizona's receivers often however.
Secondary: A
The Wildcat passing game was almost non-existent. Arizona's QBs combined for only 105 yards on 10 of 26 passes. Again the safeties were excellent. Sash got his 7th pick in 5 games and recorded 5 tackles. Greenwood also had 5 tackles and was generally solid (minus the one long run in the 4th quarter where he totally missed the runner). Cato, coming off the bench, also had a huge tackle for loss on 1st and goal.
Shaun Prater came of suspension and earned the starting spot opposite of Spievey. He looked very sharp, especially considering it was his first game. He had 3 tackles and I don't remember him getting beat at all. Spievey, of course, was excellent. He had a pass breakup on the goal line and had 4 total tackles.
Defense as a Whole: A-
Really the only thing the defense needs to work on is avoiding the occasional long running play. It seemed to be a combination of bad tackling and being surprised by draw plays that lead to the long runs. Other than that, the rush defense was good and the pass defense was excellent. Next week will be more of a test, but I think Iowa is up for the challenge.