Kaleb Johnson gives Iowa some much-needed star potential

Defense, kicking game, and playing with physicality. That is Iowa football under head coach Kirk Ferentz. The Hawkeyes have won a lot of games over the last two-plus decades with this core philosophy. However, a big key to making that work is being able to run the football.

That style of ball works best when the offense has a bell cow tailback it can rely on. Over the last seven years at Kentucky, we’ve seen Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Benny Snell Jr. carry the Wildcats to wins when the rest of the offense labored.

However, Iowa will have the bruising tailback in the meeting between the two programs at the Music City Bowl on Saturday afternoon.

Kaleb Johnson (6-0, 212) was a top-500 recruit out of Hamilton (Ohio) High in the Greater Cincinnati area in the class of 2022. The former California commit flipped his commitment after an official visit to Iowa in October and has come through for the Hawks when they desperately needed some offensive production.

Entering the season, Iowa was looking to replace tailback Tyler Goodson who rushed for 1,151 yards last season. That production was tough to replace in the first seven weeks of the season. But after an embarrassing 54-10 road loss to Ohio State, Iowa committed to getting their young true freshman some touches.

That paid off immediately.

After a strong performance (13 carries, 93 yards) in a 33-13 home win over Northwestern on Halloween weekend, Johnson was a star in a huge road win over Purdue rushing for 200 yards on 9.1 yards per attempt. Over the last month of the season, the young tailback rushed for 502 yards and three touchdowns on 6.2 yards per rush while averaging 16.2 carries per game.

FREAKY FAST TOUCHDOWN BY @Kj_Superman2 👀 🔥@HawkeyeFootball on go mode! pic.twitter.com/FGOuhHKmDz

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 5, 2022

Johnson enters the postseason with 762 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 5.4 yards per attempt. The young tailback has flashed some big-play burst with four rushes of 40-plus yards this season. The high three-star recruit has All-Big Ten potential and could be the much-needed star for this Iowa offense needs as it looks for better results with Michigan transfer Cade McNamara taking over in 2023.

With redshirt freshman Joe Labas set to make his first career start at quarterback on New Year’s Eve, don’t be surprised if Kaleb Johnson gets a heavy workload in the bowl game. Kentucky struggled to stop the run against Georgia and Louisville to close the year, and Iowa rushed for 173 yards on 5.8 yards per rush in Citrus Bowl against Brad White’s defense last season.

Johnson could be a future star that could have a big day in the Music City Bowl.