Despite Iowa letting go of Brian Ferentz in the offseason, the Hawkeyes are facing significant offensive challenges just three weeks before the college football season begins. Starting quarterback Cade McNamara had a poor performance in a Saturday scrimmage, and his backup also struggled.
Everybody has a bad day here or there, but… it was rough.
To Iowa’s credit, it has won 10 games in three of the last five years and has not had a losing season since 2012. However, defense and special teams are the lone catalysts for the success. Offense is not.
In 2023, the Hawkeyes averaged 15.43 points per game, boosted by a 41-point game against Western Michigan, and 17.69 points per game in 2022. This minimal improvement doesn’t capture the extent of their struggles.
Iowa finished last in the FBS for total offense last season, ranking 130th out of 130 teams. This led to Brian Ferentz’s dismissal and his replacement by former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester. During Lester’s six-year tenure at Western Michigan, his teams outperformed the Hawkeyes in several offensive metrics, including passing yards, rushing yards, total offense, completion percentage, yards per game, and points per game.
It remains to be seen if Lester can turn around one of the worst offenses in history, as current prospects aren’t promising.
Iowa’s performance on Saturday was disappointing. Fans who attended an open practice at Kinnick Stadium were unimpressed with the offense, which has become a recurring issue.
Cade McNamara, who transferred from Michigan after a season-ending knee injury last year, struggled significantly. He completed only eight of 24 passes for just 20 yards, with six of those completions being checkdowns. He also threw a pick-six.
Brendan Sullivan transferred to Iowa during the offseason after two years at Northwestern. The former three-star recruit is expected to serve as the backup to McNamara, but that could change.
Sullivan out-played the incumbent during the scrimmage!
There is only one problem… He wasn’t good either. Sullivan went 10-of-21 for 76 yards.
The Hawkeyes did not score a touchdown with either of its two potential starting quarterbacks. Sound familiar?
All things considered, a singular bad scrimmage is not typically cause for concern. It happens. It’s usually no big deal.
However, for Iowa’s offense to be as bad as it was on Saturday after firing its offensive coordinator is more than enough reason to panic. Especially with the greatest punter of all-time no longer on the roster.