When you’re facing an undermanned Football Championship Subdivision opponent in the opening game of the season and you cruise to a 30-point win without really exerting yourself too much, you don’t learn a lot about your team. That was pretty much the case Saturday when the Hawkeyes defeated Eastern Illinois 37-7 at Kinnick Stadium.

But we probably learned a few things:

– The Hawkeyes have very good depth at several positions, most notably the defensive line and tight end. The only two sacks the defensive line collected were by guys who figure to come off the bench all season – Mike Daniels and Lebron Daniel. Daniels really looked good and may make it tough for Broderick Binns to get back in the starting lineup now that his one-game suspension is over. At tight end, junior Brad Herman has been off the radar screen since arriving on campus but he looked every bit as good as starter Allen Reisner.

– The offensive line is going to be adequate. Admittedly, Eastern Illinois is nothing like the defenses the Hawkeyes will face down the road but considering how many new guys Iowa were playing upfront, they looked pretty solid. That group should improve every week, especially after junior guard Adam Gettis gets back in there.

– For all the talk about how good James Vandenberg is, the Hawkeyes still seem very reliant on Ricky Stanzi at quarterback. After Stanzi “tweaked’’ his knee in the second quarter, he went back into the game and played far into the fourth quarter. It was good to see that he was OK. But it almost made you think they lack full confidence in Vandenberg.

– The freshman class may be even a little better than some of us suspected. The Hawkeyes used six true freshmen in the game, including a couple in the secondary that weren’t previously expected to play. After watching freshman cornerback B.J. Lowery in a public scrimmage a few weeks ago, I had a pretty good idea they would find a way to use him right away. He’s going to be a really good one.

– One of those freshmen, Mike Meyer, has a powerful leg and is going to help the Hawkeyes in field position battles this season. He had a touchback on the first kickoff of his career and averaged 65.5 yards per kickoff.

– The university apparently is deadly serious about cracking down on unruly behavior among tailgaters. One reader sent me an e-mail saying university police were even concerned about monitoring loud music in one parking lot. “They seemed to have their priorities sideways, much like the person who thinks 20 port-a-johns is enough for 10,000 people when there is a zero tolerance on public urination,’’ the reader wrote.

Projected starters – Wide receivers Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (6-1, 200, sr.) and Marvin McNutt (6-4, 215, jr.); tight end Allen Reisner (6-3, 248, sr.)

Top reserves – Colin Sandeman (6-1, 200, sr.), Keenan Davis (6-3, 215, so.), Brad Herman (6-5, 247, jr.), Paul Chaney (5-9, 170, sr.), Jordan Cotton (6-1, 185, fr.), Don Nordmann (6-6, 211, sr.)

Futures – C.J. Fiedorowicz (6-7, 250, fr.), Jonathan Gimm (6-3, 240, so.), Dakota Getz (6-4, 230, fr.), Zach Derby (6-3, 235, so.), Austin Vier (6-7, 228, fr.), Kevonte Martin-Manley (6-0, 190, fr.), Don Shumpert (6-3, 185, fr.), James Hurt (6-1, 200, so.), Steven Skaggs (6-3, 195, so.)

Iowa seldom has been as strong and as deep at the wide receiver positions as it is going into this season. Johnson-Koulianos, though listed as a co-starter with Sandeman on the preseason depth chart, is in position to break the school records for receptions and yards in a career. He has had 38, 44 and 45 catches in the first three years of his college career and needs only 31 more to become the all-time record-holder. McNutt probably has an even brighter future. In his first year as a receiver after making the switch from quarterback, he caught 34 passes for 674 yards and eight touchdowns and produced some of the biggest plays of the Hawkeyes’ season. DJK and McNutt combined for 1,424 yards receiving last season and have an excellent shot at topping the best mark ever by a pair of Hawkeye wideouts – 1,649 yards, by Clint Solomon and Ed Hinkel in 2004.

Sandeman is a solid third receiver and excellent punt returner, and Davis may be ready to fulfill his vast promise after a disappointing freshman season. Behind them are Chaney, who is coming off knee surgery, and Cotton, who caught the eye of the coaches with his energy and hustle in spring drills. And don’t be shocked if another receiver makes his presence felt. Martin-Manley appears to have the sort of game-breaking speed that the Hawkeyes have seldom had through the years.

Reisner isn’t the best tight end in Iowa history, but he’ll be a decent replacement for the departed Tony Moeaki. He has caught 25 passes in a reserve role the past two years and is a serviceable blocker. There are several players behind him with possibilities, but perhaps none more so than Fiedorowicz, who arrives rated by some as the top tight end prospect in the country. He has the size and skills to make an immediate impact.

Iowa may or may not have one of its best football teams ever next fall.

One thing that does seem certain: It will be one of the deepest teams it has had.

The Hawkeyes will be pretty well insulated against injuries at almost every position except pos-sibly the offensive line and safety. Everywhere else, there are pretty good players waiting in the wings in case the starter goes down.

A look at the Hawkeyes by position following spring drills:

Quarterback: Ricky Stanzi is going into his third season as the starter and should be less turn-over-prone. That was a major point of emphasis in the spring. James Vandenberg showed last sea-son that he can be a capable backup and you get the feeling southpaw John Wienke gained ground on Vandenberg in the spring. The coaches said he made a major step up and you could see it in the spring scrimmage. Wienke looked crisper and more accurate than Vandenberg that day.

Running back: If Jewel Hampton, Adam Robinson and Brandon Wegher all are healthy, this is going to be very interesting. Robinson may have a slight edge in some of the little things like pick-ing up the blitz, but the other two probably are more elusive and have a bigger upside. It’s almost guaranteed that one of them will get hurt anyway. If more than one gets hurt, I still think there is a chance freshman Marcus Coker could be a factor right away.

Fullback: Senior Brett Morse is solid and there’s not a ton of drop-off to junior Wade Leppert. This isn’t an every-down position anyway.

Wide receiver: Marvin McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos have a chance to be the Hawk-eyes’ best receiver tandem since … well, maybe ever. Colin Sandeman and Paul Chaney are pretty good, too. If Keenan Davis improves as much as the coaches hope and Jordan Cotton continues to progress and 6-foot-6 Don Nordmann is as good as he looked in the spring scrimmage, they’re loaded.

Tight end: Don’t be surprised if Allen Reisner duplicates the statistical numbers Tony Moeaki provided last year although he’s probably not going to be as good a blocker. Brad Herman and Jonathan Gimm apparently made strides as the backups this spring but they still might have trou-ble holding off high school All-American C.J. Fiedorowicz, who should be game-ready when he arrives.

Offensive line: There is good depth at center, where James Ferentz and Josh Koeppel are bat-tling for the starting job, but this is one place the depth is a bit thin. There are a lot of big bodies behind Riley Reiff, Julian Vandervelde, Markus Zusevics and Adam Gettis but apparently no one who is ready to play with any sort of consistency. Coach Kirk Ferentz said converted defensive lineman Cody Hundertmark is the closest to being ready. If no one steps forward in the fall, there may be an opportunity for Ohio high school star Andrew Donnal to see playing time as a true freshman.

Defensive line: The Hawkeyes may be deeper than ever here. All four starters – Adrian Clay-born, Karl Klug, Christian Ballard and Broderick Binns – return intact with Clayborn and appar-ently Klug primed for starring roles. And some of us have felt for some time that Ballard ranks among the most underrated players on this team. Backup tackle Mike Daniels is good enough to start for half the teams in the Big Ten and young ends LeBron Daniel and Dominic Alvis have emerged as potential stars of the future. Pencil in Daniels and Daniel as certain starters for 2011.

Linebacker: This is another area where the competition has been fierce. Jeremiha Hunter is a third-year starter and Jeff Tarpinian and Tyler Nielsen have emerged as the starters at the other two spots, but Bruce Davis and Troy Johnson are still pushing. Even long-time walk-on Ross Peter-sen looked good in the spring scrimmage. You’ll still see some true freshman play here in the fall, though, as the Hawkeyes brace for the future. Hunter, Tarpinian, Johnson and Petersen are seniors and Davis and Nielsen are juniors.

Cornerback: Shaun Prater is solidly entrenched on one side and sophomore Micah Hyde may be a future star on the other side. Jordan Bernstine, projected to start ahead of Prater last fall before breaking his ankle, may have a hard time finding playing time but he, Greg Castillo and William Lowe provide quality depth.

Safety: Tyler Sash and Brett Greenwood – known to some of us as Sashwood – are one of the best tandems in the country but it’s hard to even guess at who the backups are at this point. Walk-ons Kyle Steinbrecher and Tom Donatell ran with the No. 1 unit in the spring scrimmage, apparently moving ahead of two scholarship players, Jack Swanson and Nick Nielsen, in the final week of drills. All those players have good size and Nielsen had two interceptions last Saturday. The depth isn’t necessarily bad, just unproven.

Kicker: Daniel Murray is the returning starter, but Ferentz has made it clear he wasn’t com-pletely satisfied with the job he did. Trent Mossbrucker, who redshirted last season after being the kicker for much of 2008, has at least an shot at winning the job.

Punter: Another place where the depth isn’t great behind four-year regular Ryan Donahue. But how often does your punter get hurt anyway?

The Hawkeyes’ spring football day – there still is some doubt as to exactly what that will entail – is already upon us Saturday.

It has been a pretty quiet spring for the program. No arrests. Very few injuries. Almost no position changes. Other than Jeff Tarpinian moving ahead of Troy Johnson as the starting middle linebacker and some shuffling of bodies on the second line of the two-deeps, very little has changed since the start of spring drills.

Here are some players that fans may be getting their first extended look at when the Hawkeyes hold a practice and possibly a brief controlled scrimmage Saturday at Kinnick:

Jeff Tarpinian: We’ve been hearing for years about his potential and he’s been a big special teams contributor but now, on the eve of his senior season, he apparently is emerging as a mainstay on the defense. Norm Parker said Tarp has been great this spring, forcing the coaches to move him from the backup slot at weakside linebacker to Pat Angerer’s vacated spot in the middle.

Markus Zusevics: Another guy who has been around, lurking in the shadows, and now is ready to play a major role. He has packed on about 60 pounds since arriving three years ago and still is not as big as Kyle Calloway, but he is going to be a more than adequate replacement for Calloway at right offensive tackle.

Micah Hyde: A brilliant, but undersized high school quarterback in Ohio, he played a lot of special teams as a true freshman last fall but saw only spot duty in the secondary. He now seems to be the guy who will replace Amari Spievey at right cornerback. Most of us assumed it would be Jordan Bernstine or possibly William Lowe or Greg Castillo, but Hyde has outshone all those more experienced players this spring.

Jordan Cotton: This team didn’t really need one more wide receiver. Marvin McNutt is a budding superstar, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos has led the team in receptions three years in a row, Colin Sandeman is a very capable role player, Keenan Davis should take a huge step forward after a rocky freshman year and if Paul Chaney is healthy, he’ll be in the mix. But Cotton, who redshirted as a freshman last fall has hustled his way into the hearts of the coaches. With DJK, Sandeman and Chaney all seniors, he should be a major factor in 2011.

Jonathan Gimm: Iowa just keeps cranking out quality tight ends and this sophomore might be the next one. He apparently is pushing Brad Herman for the No. 2 job behind Allen Reisner and since the Hawkeyes love three-tight end sets, he should see the field at least some this fall. Of course, when high school All-American C.J. Fiedorowicz arrives, everyone might move down one notch.

Brad Rogers: He should be the No. 4 or No. 5 running back in the fall but for now – with all the experienced backs sitting out for precautionary reasons — he’s No. 1. He has shed a lot of excess weight since arriving last fall and served notice that he’s a viable option if something happens to Adam Robinson, Jewel Hampton and Brandon Wegher.

A.J. Derby: It’s going to be at least a year-and-a-half – maybe more – before we see Derby do anything much in an actual game but everyone is curious to see what he looks like at quarterback right now. He graduated from high school in December so he could enroll for the spring semester and go through spring drills.