It probably comes as no surprise that the Iowa offense's numbers are terrible all the way down the line from this particularly brutal loss to Penn State. So let's spend a bit more time talking about why the offense struggled so much, because that is more useful.
In particular, today's focus is on the passing game — not because the running game was much more successful, but because Iowa has struggled to such a grave degree throwing the ball, especially since the Utah State game.
Iowa's average of 3.8 yards/rush ranks 11th in the Big Ten. Not great, but not in the cellar. Meanwhile, Iowa's average of 5.5 yards/pass ranks last, and thus far is even worse than 2022's average of 5.8 yards/pass, a season of such futility that the offensive coordinator got put on a performance improvement plan.
KEY POINTS
- There's some ambitious play-calling happening on first down, but leaving the tackles on an island against great edge rushers isn't the move.
- On six second-down passes, Iowa went 1/6 for 12 yards on Saturday — and that completion ended in a lost fumble.
- Iowa is 1/18 on 3rd-and-long situations in the last three games. Things get worse the closer you look.
