Depth charts: Projected starters for No. 20 Iowa vs. Illinois
Danny LawhonIowa's football season gained a jolt of new life with last Saturday's rousing, 23-19 victory over Minnesota.
Now, with the Big Ten Conference's upper-tier bowl picture in a state of chaos, it's incumbent on the Hawkeyes to take care of business in their final two regular-season games.
First up is the Kinnick Stadium finale against Illinois (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten), winners of four straight games and technically still alive in the Big Ten West race (win out, and then have Northwestern beat Minnesota, Purdue beat Wisconsin and Wisconsin beat Minnesota).
Let's get right to it. Here are the projected starters for the 11 a.m., Big Ten Network-televised contest.
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OFFENSE
Quarterback: No. 4, Nate Stanley (6-foot-4, 243 pounds, senior)
Running back: No. 15, Tyler Goodson (5-10, 190, freshman)
Tight end: No. 39, Nate Wieting (6-4, 250, sr.)
Fullback: No. 36, Brady Ross (6-0, 246, sr.)
Wide receiver: No. 3, Tyrone Tracy Jr. (5-11, 200, fr.)
Wide receiver: No. 6, Ihmir Smith-Marsette (6-1, 183, junior)
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Left tackle: No. 77, Alaric Jackson (6-6, 320, jr.)
Left guard: No. 68, Landan Paulsen (6-5, 305, sr.)
Center: No. 65, Tyler Linderbaum (6-3, 286, fr.)
Right guard: No. 64, Kyler Schott (6-2, 290, sophomore)
Right tackle: No. 74, Tristan Wirfs (6-5, 322, jr.)
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DEFENSE
Defensive end: No. 57, Chauncey Golston (6-5, 270, jr.)
Defensive end: No. 94, A.J. Epenesa (6-6, 280, jr.)
Defensive tackle: No. 95, Cedrick Lattimore (6-3, 295, sr.)
Defensive tackle: No. 91, Brady Reiff (6-3, 277, sr.)
Weak-side linebacker: No. 32, Djimon Colbert (6-1, 235, soph.)
Middle linebacker: No. 34, Kristian Welch (6-3, 239, sr.)
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Leo/Cash: No. 49, Nick Niemann (6-4, 235, jr.)
Strong safety: No. 9, Geno Stone (5-10, 210, jr.)
Free safety: No. 28, Jack Koerner (6-0, 204, soph.)
Cornerback: No. 33, Riley Moss (6-1, 191, soph.)
Cornerback: No. 8, Matt Hankins (6-0, 185, jr.)
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SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker: No. 3, Keith Duncan (5-10, 180, jr.)
Punter: No. 22, Michael Sleep-Dalton (6-0, 212, sr.)
Kickoff returns: No. 6, Ihmir Smith-Marsette (6-1, 183, jr.)
Punt returns: No. 19, Max Cooper (6-0, 188, jr.)
ILLINOIS' MOST RECENT STARTERS
[Editor's note: Illinois does not provide weekly depth charts. As such, listed are the starters for the Illini's Nov. 9 game against Michigan State.]
OFFENSE
Quarterback: No. 18, Brandon Peters (6-5, 220, jr.)
Running back: No. 2, Reggie Corbin (5-10, 200, jr.)
Tight end: No. 10, Justice Williams (6-3, 225, sr.)
Wide receiver: No. 9, Josh Imatorbhebhe (6-2, 215, jr.)
Wide receiver: No. 86, Donny Navarro (5-11, 185, soph.)
Wide receiver: No. 8, Casey Washington (6-2, 190, fr.)
Left tackle: No. 79, Vederian Lowe (6-6, 320, soph.)
Left guard: No. 55, Kendrick Green (6-4, 310, soph.)
Center: No. 65, Doug Kramer (6-2, 300, jr.)
Right guard: No. 74, Richie Petitbon (6-4, 305, sr.)
Right tackle: No. 63, Alex Palczewski (6-6, 300, jr.)
DEFENSE
Defensive end: No. 52, Ayo Shogbonyo (6-2, 240, jr.)
Defensive end: No. 92, Isaiah Gay (6-3, 240, jr.)
Defensive tackle: No. 55, Jamal Milan (6-3, 305, sr.)
Defensive tackle: No. 95, Kenyon Jackson (6-0, 290, sr.)
Linebacker: No. 9, Dele Harding (6-1, 230, jr.)
Linebacker: No. 5, Milo Eifler (6-2, 225, jr.)
Linebacker: No. 45, Khalan Tolson (6-0, 220, soph.)
Safety: No. 30, Sydney Brown (6-0, 210, soph.)
Safety: No. 7, Stanley Green (5-11, 190, sr.)
Cornerback: No. 8, Nate Hobbs (6-0, 190, jr.)
Cornerback: No. 6, Tony Adams (6-0, 200, jr.)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker: No. 17, James McCourt (6-1, 210, jr.)
Punter: No. 14, Blake Hayes (6-6, 230, jr.)
Kickoff returns: No. 25, Dre Brown (5-11, 210, jr.)
Punt returns: No. 84, Jordan Holmes 96-0, 185, soph.)