Cover story: The designated hitter
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The Iowa defensive backfield doesn't have a united identity.
Senior Shaun Prater is the face of the group, the energetic one responsible for revving up the crowd.
Junior Micah Hyde is the one with the good hands, the one known for his interceptions and knack for being in the right place at the right time. Sophomore Tanner Miller, a state track champion in high school, is the lightning-quick one who cleans up broken coverage.
Senior Jordan Bernstine? He's the big one. The violent one. The one whose tackles drive unlucky opponents 10 feet into the ground.
"Bernstine is a hitter — he likes to do that," Hyde said and laughed. "He goes into practice every day we have pads on, and he likes to hit … I wouldn't be very happy going through [contact drills] with him and standing up and hitting each other, because he would win that battle."
The strong safety from Des Moines has been winning plenty of battles this season, most recently when he put on a tackling clinic against Michigan last week. He was everywhere, throwing his 5-11, 205-pound frame at receivers and running backs alike; he finished with 15 tackles, the most by an Iowa player since current Indianapolis Colt Pat Angerer had 16 against Minnesota on Nov. 21, 2009.
But perhaps the biggest battle was just getting on the field in the first place.
Bernstine came to Iowa City as a Parade All-American and four-star prospect from Des Moines' Lincoln High, where he led the Railsplitters to a 7-3 record his senior year with 91 tackles and five interceptions. He earned some playing time with the Hawkeyes as a true freshman and sophomore but had problems staying healthy after that; he was listed as Kirk Ferentz's first-team cornerback following spring practice in 2009 but broke his ankle and redshirted.
"The battle for the corner spot [that year] was between me and Bernstine," Prater said. "He ended up breaking his ankle, but who would have known? He would have won it maybe, or we both would have switched on and off."
Things didn't turn out that way, of course, and Bernstine's redshirt junior season was further truncated by injury — not to mention his preseason arrest for public intoxication.
So the Parade All-American — the No. 1 prep player in the state in 2007 — entered his senior year with 25 tackles and two kickoff returns to his name.
"I'd say I'm highly motivated right now," he said at the team's media day in August. "I'm ready to get out there and compete every day. I just have to do it on a consistent basis."
He first cracked Iowa's starting lineup on Sept. 17 against Pittsburgh and contributed 8 tackles, two for a loss.
Bernstine hasn't looked back; he has started every game since the win over Pitt, and he is third on the team in takedowns behind linebackers James Morris and Christian Kirksey. Bernstine's 7.5 tackle per game is the 11th-best mark in the Big Ten, second best among defensive backs.
Hyde said those numbers are a product of the long, strange road his teammate — who he affectionately referred to as "Bernie" — has endured.
"I honestly think he doesn't regret anything," the junior said. "I think it's the best thing to happen to him, because it's made him way hungry this season. I could see it in his eyes, coming into this season; he knew it was his last go-around, and he knew he had to prepare for this season. The past couple seasons he was hurt, and it just built up and built up.
"Finally, it's his time, and he's playing well."
His teammates say Bernstine isn't resting on his laurels. After all, if he wants to get to the next level of the game, he has to make up for the seasons in which he was a bit player. Wes Bunting, the director of college scouting for the National Football Post, said he hasn't yet seen any tape of arguably Iowa's best defensive player because he hasn't appeared in enough games to be on the national radar.
Prater said the 22-year-old is working harder than ever.
"He's the type of guy who will be in here two hours early, taking care of his body," Prater said. "He'll be watching film, he'll be asking coaches for more tips or something he can learn on, and he never, never brags about anything. He's the type of guy who's always focused on getting better."
That attitude has also turned him into the type of guy Ferentz said has been "critical" to Iowa's chances for success. The 13th-year head coach admitted he and his coaching staff weren't sure what they were going to get out of Bernstine on the field this year, but he has praised the Des Moines native on several occasions this fall.
"He has done a great job, and certainly, he's really having a good senior year, which is helping our football team," Ferentz said on Tuesday. "… I've got such tremendous respect [for Bernstine and the other seniors] — to make it through four or five years through the program really says a lot."
One thing Bernstine hasn't talked about yet, though, is what the future holds. The interdepartmental-studies major has three regular-season games left with the Black and Gold, probably a bowl game, and that's it.
For now, though, he seems content to go right along hitting people.
"He's still yelling on the field and getting the rest of the DBs hyped up and ready to practice," Hyde said, smiling. "… He always says, 'I would have smacked you right there.' I'm like, 'I would have shook you; it doesn't matter.' "
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