Iowa is taking a deliberate path with freshman quarterback Tradon Bessinger, and Kirk Ferentz made it clear the Hawkeyes want him learning the routine now, not later.
Bessinger, a four-star freshman, traveled with Iowa to Minnesota as part of that process. Ferentz pointed to the expanded travel limit as part of what made that possible.
"Yeah, he's a beneficiary of the new rule. Our rosters are squeezed down where we're the few, the proud, the free anymore.
"With our practices out there, our scout teams are basically decimated in the new world, but the good thing in the new world, you can travel 80 instead of whatever it was, 74, so we get a little room there," explained Kirk Ferentz.
Ferentz said the goal was to give Bessinger a feel for the full Big Ten game-day experience.
"He's going to be a player in the future. We wanted to get him used to just being in the game routine and traveling, all those types of things.
"That's a positive, that 74 to 80 because it allows us to travel more guys than we used to, although I'm not a big fan in taking people that are going to be spectators. It's not a field trip either, but for him it was valuable, and we'll keep doing that," Ferentz said of Tradon Bessinger's development.
That kind of move says plenty about how Iowa views Bessinger. The Hawkeyes are not a program known for rushing freshmen onto the field, and this is another sign they want him acclimated before they ever ask him to handle snaps under center.
It does not guarantee Bessinger will play this season, but it does show Iowa sees real future value in him.
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