Tuesdays with Torbee
I admit it, I was one of the boobirds serenading Kirk Ferentz and the rest of the Iowa coaching staff when they chose to run out the clock with around one minute remaining in the first half against the Troy Trojans, clinging to a four-point lead.
Certainly, some of it was a hangover from the prior week’s frustrating loss to Iowa State and some of it was seeing the Iowa football team once again failing to capitalize on opportunity and choosing to regroup instead of going full throttle.
In retrospect – and upon rewatching the game not in a state of agitation – it absolutely was the right call to reset, regroup and come out refreshed for a second half that ended up being smooth sailing with a couple notable exceptions.
There’s no question, however, that the fanbase is jittery and unsure of what to make of this flawed yet tantalizingly capable team.
The scars of the past several seasons’ abysmal offensive performances, I believe, are obscuring fans from seeing the clear and impressive improvement on that side of the ball. The Hawkeyes appear to have their best running back since Shonn Greene, a capable offensive line and a quarterback with the talent and temperament to be an effective game manager. Iowa has already completed passes to more wide receivers than it did all of 2023, as well.
Has it looked seamless and easy? Absolutely not. However, considering we are only three games into the Tim Lester offensive coordinator era, expectations for consistency are likely out of whack. I do feel comfortable saying that if Iowa can continue racking up more than 200 yards on the ground and over 350 yards in total offense, it will win a lot of Big 10 games.
The most concerning flaw from the past two contests is the defensive secondary giving up long passing plays for touchdowns or critical, game-saving first downs to the opponent. Iowa State gashed the Hawks for one long touchdown and a long first down to set up its game winning field goal two weeks ago. Last week, two bombs to the same wide receiver burned the defensive backs twice for touchdowns, which is the only way the Trojans stayed in touch with an otherwise dominant Hawkeye team. Add in an uncharacteristic special teams blown coverage and mediocre punt that led to Troy’s third touchdown, and you understand why fans remain restless.
The good news, of course, is that the man coaching the secondary and the defense overall is last year’s Frank Broyles Award winner, defensive coordinator Phil Parker. If anyone on the Iowa staff has earned some grace and should be expected to fix a glaring issue, he’s the guy. We also know Iowa has talented players in those positions, so it is a reasonable expectation those big play breakdowns be addressed. I’d be shocked if we see free runners behind Iowa’s secondary again any time soon.
Likewise, special teams coach Levar Woods has routinely fielded one of the strongest units in the country. Field goal kicker Drew Stevens looks strong and accurate, punt returner Kaden Wetjen is terrifying but dynamic and is going to house a return eventually. Hopefully, the kinks in the punt coverage team are the focus of improvement in practice this week and a repeat of the coverage failure against Troy becomes a distant memory.
If defense and special teams are your biggest concerns, and you are an Iowa Hawkeyes fan, you’re probably in a pretty good place. Past performance may not be a guarantee of future results, but the resume is solid.
The “real” season begins in earnest this coming Saturday night in Minneapolis. I am very curious to see whether the revenge factor by Iowa, which feels it was cheated out of a Floyd of Rosedale win at home last October, is a meaningful intangible. While he comes across as the ultimate mild-mannered, steady coach, there have been a few times Kirk Ferentz-coached teams have obliterated opponents he has a personal grudge against. The 2010 37-6 thrashing of #5 Michigan State springs to mind, in which Ferentz decided to rub Mark Dantonio’s nose in the dirt for standing over a concussed Colin Sandeman while berating the refs the year prior in East Lansing.
If given the opportunity, I am convinced Kirk would like to teach squirrely P.J. Fleck a lesson in hubris management as well. What I’m not convinced of is whether Iowa is sufficiently superior to the Gophers to make that possible. In many ways, this game feels like an early inflection point. Keep the dominant run game going, show spark on offense, clean up defensive and special teams mistakes and win convincingly in a trophy game and that aforementioned fan jitteriness likely eases.
Get involved in another white knuckle, down-to-the-wire slugfest and anxiety remains high.
There is a pig being held hostage in the Great North that was absconded under nefarious circumstances last autumn. It’s time to go up there, kick some butt and bring home the bacon.
Follow me on X @torybrecht and the 12 Saturdays podcasts @12Saturdays.
