Kirk Ferentz addresses Iowa's challenges on offense against ranked teams in 2023

The Iowa Hawkeyes were shut out against the Tennessee Volunteers in the Citrus Bowl. For head coach Kirk Ferentz, it was another frustrating performance on the offensive side of the ball by his team. Unfortunately, it also wasn’t the first game where Iowa struggled against a ranked opponent this season.

After the game, Ferentz addressed those offensive challenges that Iowa has faced against ranked opponents during the 2023 season.

“Offense is pretty complicated,” Kirk Ferentz said. “It’s a team effort. I’ll just say this and again I don’t want to get too global on things, we’ve played some top 10 teams, we’ve been a top 10 team. So, I think we know what it takes and what’s required.”

Iowa was shut out against the three Top-25 opponents it played in 2023. In fact, the last time the Hawkeyes scored against a Top 25 team was in the second quarter against Ohio State in 2022, making it 14 quarters since the Hawkeyes scored against a ranked opponent.

“Typically for us, at least the last 25 years, everything’s got to work together and didn’t today. It was pretty obvious out there. But, usually, whether it’s this year or 1999, if you turn the ball over, if you have negative yardage plays, if you don’t make the makeable plays, it’s going to be tough unless you’ve got great personnel. So, that’s just kind of the nature of football. So, it starts with those things, but obviously, the players and the experience all play factors into that,” Ferentz said.

“But, I mean, we’ve played at that level. We’ve played teams at that level. We’ve beaten teams at that level. So, it’s not like we’re talking about something that none of us are aware of.”

The last time Iowa beat a Top-25 opponent was against Penn State in October of 2021. Since then, the Hawkeyes are just 0-7 against ranked teams.

“We’ve just got to get better, and we will. That’s the plan. We’ll start that work in about two weeks,” Ferentz concluded.

The Citrus Bowl was Brian Ferentz‘s last game as Iowa’s offensive coordinator. That’s something that Iowa knew before the season was over. Now, Iowa will be on the search for a new offensive coordinator to try to improve ahead of 2024.

Kirk Ferentz evaluates spark Marco Lainez brought to Iowa’s offense in bowl game

Freshman quarterback Marco Lainez got into the Citrus Bowl against Tennessee, giving Iowa a small spark on the offensive side of the ball. After the game, Kirk Ferentz broke down his performance.

“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s critical when we thought of it. We came into the game considering it. Marco’s done a really good job. The improvement he’s made, he basically started with us in August, so the improvement he’s made has been really impressive. He’s a great young guy. Great attitude,” Ferentz said.

“It is hard to practice three quarterbacks. He certainly got work as the season went on, but he still has a lot of learning to do, a lot of time in front of him and all those types of things. Yeah, he went and competed like you think. He has some things to learn. All this will be good experience for him. Something to draw upon and does not burn a year of eligibility, so that is a good thing.”