Lukas Van Ness

OVERVIEW

Summary: With a nudge from his mom, Van Ness added to his original sport, Hockey, by ALSO playing football through high school, winning a state championship for Barrington High(Ill) in 2019-20, with a pile of impressive statistics including most penalties. It was the hockey in him, right? Nasty sport, that. After redshirting at Iowa in 2020, He was a star off the bench the last two years, technically with 27 games and no starts, although he made Freshman All-American in 2021 and Second Team Al-Big Ten last season when he led team with 11 tackles for loss and two blocked punts in one game. Unusual resumé for an unusual player.

FRANKLY:  Plays with the ferocity of a wild animal and succeeds despite eschewing the technical aspects of the game. He beats or beats up his unfortunate opponent. He will need to refine his game to be consistently successful in the NFL. So go ahead, draft him. Refine him. Good luck with that. 

STATS

 

HISTORY — from college profile

Hawk Item: Tied Iowa single game record with two blocked punts vs. Iowa State . . . spent majority of 2022 spring practice moving from tackle to end position.

2022 Honors: Academic All-Big Ten for second year . . . Coaches Appreciation Award, special teams . . . Team Hustle Award, defense . . . second-team All-Big Ten by league coaches and media, Associated Press and Phil Steele . . . named Big Ten Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his play vs. Iowa State . . . preseason third-team All-Big Ten by Athlon Sports . . . 2022: Listed as second team left defensive tackle following spring practice . . . saw action in 7-3 opening win over South Dakota State as defense allowed just 120 yards total offense . . . one assisted tackle vs. SDSU, a shared tackle for loss . . . saw action in 10-7 loss to Iowa State . . . recorded one assisted tackle and one solo tackle vs. ISU, with one tackle for loss . . . tied single-game school record with two blocked punts vs. ISU . . . saw action in 27-0 win over Nevada as defense allowed just 151 yards total offense . . . career-best eight tackles vs. Nevada, including three solo tackles and five assists . . . totals included 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 QB sacks . . . saw action in 27-10 win at Rutgers as defense allowed just 61 net rushing yards . . . recorded three tackles at Rutgers, including two solo stops and one assist, along with a shared QB sack and a solo QB pressure . . . saw action in 27-14 loss to #4 Michigan, recording one assisted tackle and one QB pressure . . . saw action in 9-6 loss at Illinois . . . three tackles at Illinois, including one solo stop and two assists, with one tackle for loss and two QB pressures . . . saw action in 54-10 loss at #2 Ohio State four tackles at OSU, including two solo tackles and two assists . . . saw action in 33-13 win over Northwestern as defense allowed just 18 net rushing yards and 177 yards total offense . . . four tackles vs. Northwestern, including two solo tackles and two assists, with 1.5 tackles for loss and one QB sack . . . saw action in 24-3 win at Purdue as offense allowed just 87 net rushing yards and 255 yards total offense . . . four tackles at Purdue., including three solo tackles and one assist, with 1.5 QB sacks . . . saw action in 24-10 win over Wisconsin as defense allowed just 51 net rushing yards and 227 yards total offense . . . one solo tackle vs. Wisconsin, a solo QB sack . . . saw action in 13-10 win at Minnesota, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 24-17 loss to Nebraska . . . two tackles vs. Nebraska, including one solo tackle and one assist . . . saw action in 21-0 Music City Bowl win over Kentucky as defense allowed just 68 net rushing yards and 185 yards total offense . . . four tackles vs. Kentucky, including two solo tackles and two assists, with 1.5 tackles for loss and a shared QB sack.

2021 Honors: Academic All-Big Ten . . . Freshman All-America by Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Maxwell Football Club . . . Shawn Alexander Freshman of the Year Watch List . . . 2021: Saw action in 34-6 win over #17 Indiana as defense allowed just 77 net rushing yards and 233 yards total offense . . . one solo tackle vs. Indiana for Iowa’s only QB sack in the game . . . saw action in 27-17 win at #9 Iowa State as defense allowed just 87 net rushing yards . . . recorded one pass break-up and one QB pressure at ISU . . . saw action in 30-7 win over Kent State as defense allowed just 79 net rushing yards and 264 yards total offense . . . career-best seven tackles vs. Kent State, including one solo stop and six assists . . . combined with Zach VanValkenburg for a safety for the first points of the game . . . totals included 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks . . . saw action in 24-14 win over Colorado State as defense allowed 95 net rushing yards and 250 yards total offense . . . three tackles vs. CSU, including two solo stops and one assist, including one QB sack . . . saw action in 51-14 win at Maryland as defense allowed just 97 net rushing yards and 271 yards total offense, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 23-20 win over #4 Penn State, recording one assisted tackle . . . saw action in 24-7 loss to Purdue . . . two tackles vs. Purdue, including one solo stop and one assist, with one tackle for loss and one QB pressure . . . saw action in 27-7 loss at Wisconsin, but had no statistics . . . saw action in 17-12 win at Northwestern as defense allowed just 93 net rushing yards . . . two solo tackles at Northwestern, including a solo sack . . . saw action in 27-22 win over Minnesota . . . one solo tackle and one assisted tackle vs. Minnesota . . . saw action in 33-23 win over Illinois, recording one solo tackle as defense allowed just 64 net rushing yards . . . saw action in 28-21 win at Nebraska . . . six tackles at Nebraska, including five solo tackles and one assist, with QB sack resulting in team safety, his second of the season . . saw action in 42-3 loss to #2 Michigan . . . three tackles vs. Michigan, including one solo tackle and two assists, to go with one QB pressure . . . saw action in 20-17 Citrus Bowl loss to #22 Kentucky . . . four tackles vs. Kentucky, including two solo tackles and two assists, with one sack.

2020: Redshirted . . . did not see any game action.

High School Honors: Named MSL Conference Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference as a senior…named first-team all-state by Champaign News Gazette…first-team all-area as a senior by Daily Herald and Pioneer Press…Career: Two-year football letterman, helping prep team advance to state playoffs as a junior and senior…team captain as a senior…recorded 67 tackles as a senior, with 17 quarterback pressures, eight tackles for loss, five sacks, one forced fumble, and one blocked punt…also earned three letters in hockey.

PERSONAL

Born 7/6/01…business major…member of National Honor Society…earned academic all-state recognition…parents are Leanna and Jason Van Ness…high school coach was Joe Sanche

2022

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
9.5	4.0	33.0	0.0	0.0	6.0	16.0

2021

defensive
TFL	QB HUR	TOT	TD	PD	SACKS	SOLO
8.5	3.0	33.0	0.0	1.0	7.0	17.0