Just a Few Thoughts About Iowa Football After the Purdue Debacle

On Defense

The Back Seven Is Still Excellent (When Healthy)

It's not an easy thing to say after by far their worst outing of the season versus Purdue, but the long-term production and performance from the unit combined with Iowa's persistent struggles against Purdue suggest that last Saturday was more aberrational than anything (hopefully). You can make the argument that the excessive amount of interceptions are lucky (maybe they are), but through the first six weeks, the pass defense was suffocating almost every play regardless of whether the ball was intercepted. I don't think Riley Moss' absence on Saturday had a significant effect on Saturday's outcome, for the record. They were just out-schemed on Saturday. They didn't play well by their standards (Matt Hankins in particular had a horrible game in the midst of a fantastic season), but nobody on Iowa's team did.

The Defensive Line Is Not Quite There

One of my biggest concerns going into this season was the lack of pass-rushing upside this year's defensive line would have after the departure of Daviyon Nixon and Chauncey Gholston. It has a lot of above-average players on it, but there isn't a true impact rusher. Joe Evans and freshman Deontae Craig (who was hurt on Saturday) are probably the best pure pass-rushers on the team now, but neither is the type of player (at this point) that can fill the AJ Epenesa/Chauncey Gholston/Anthony Nelson role. Purdue (and even Penn State for a quarter) exposed the deficiency up front that trickled into the backfield, and I worry that other teams (namely Nebraska, Minnesota, and potentially Ohio State in a B1G Championship game) will be able to pick away at the Iowa defense in a similar way to what we saw last Saturday.

Jeff Brohm Absolutely Owns Phil Parker (And Iowa)

It's just true at this point. Phil owns just about every other coach he gets matched up with, but Brohm is his kryptonite. Props to Brohm for continuing to do it year-in and year-out.

On Offense

The Core Problem Is the Line, Not Spencer Petras

I'll try to keep this succinct. Our offensive line hasn't been great in like 5 years. We've had sensational individual talents (Tristan Wirfs, Tyler Linderbaum, James Daniels, etc.), but the line as a whole has been average. This year's team might be the worst in the past several seasons. Linderbaum is tremendous (I cannot overstate how good he is), but the rest of the line is average at best right now. They're young, for the most part, which is the only saving grace because their performance in about every single game this year (except maybe Maryland) has been less-than-inspiring. The tackles get beat far too often on the edge, and the guard rotation in the middle, I have come to realize, signifies a lack of established talent as opposed to tremendous depth.

The issues on the line are magnified by the fact that Spencer Petras is a much, much, much worse quarterback when he is put under pressure. When given time, I legitimately think he is a top-3 or 4 QB in the Big Ten this season (not really stellar company, but it's something). He has a big arm, and his ball placement and accuracy is better than Nate Stanley was from a down-to-down basis and I don't think it's particularly close. When he sets his feet, it's almost always on-target. Now, being under pressure is something a QB has to deal with, and that's why Spencer is not absolved of blame here. He needs to be better (especially after Saturday). I just get tired when people place all the blame solely on the quarterback when there are ample factors contributing to his perceived struggles.

Furthering my assertion that the line is the issue is the fact that the running game hasn't taken off. There have been precious few drives where the line sustains blocks enough to consistently get 5-8 yards per play and drive down the field in 8 or 9 plays while imposing their will. The Iowa rushing offense tends to get its yards when Tyler Goodson (or Ivory Kelly-Martin) rips off a big run that makes the box score look a lot better. Some blame should be placed on the scheme and maybe some decisions by the running backs, but Iowa should not struggle to pound Kent State and Colorado State on the ground. They did. The line has to be better than that.

On the Coaching

Maybe Consider That the "Complimentary Football" That You Base Your Program Around Would Be Easier If Your Offense Matched the Millennium We Are Currently In

I think that header says most of what I want to say. I'm not asking for the Air Raid. I want (and I think most fans want this) an offensive scheme that is adaptive enough to not actively work against the personnel Iowa has and helping the personnel on the other side.

The outside zone scheme works when your offensive line is good as a unit and the defense can't keep up with your team speed. Our offensive line hasn't been good as a unit probably 4 of the last 5 seasons (last year's line seemed okay in a smaller sample size). Whether it's recruiting or development, the personnel simply cannot run the system.

The Freshman Receivers Need More Snaps

True freshmen Arland Bruce and Keagan Johnson are the best receivers on the team right now. I was completely wrong about Tyrone Tracy being a game-changer, and Charlie Jones and Nico Ragaini are both great 3rd options. Johnson ripped off a 38-yard catch-and-run on the very first play of the game and proceeded to play less than one-third of the snaps the rest of the game. What are we doing?! It's one thing if the player doesn't get open during their plays, but why take him off the field when he's performing better than every player ahead of him on the depth chart?

I've heard that one of the reasons for Johnson's lowered snap counts is his relative weakness as a blocker. Really. I know it's a thing at Iowa, but it's so silly to base a player's standing in the offense off of at-most a tertiary aspect of the position they play.

Find A Way To Get Jeff Brohm Out of the Conference

By any means necessary.

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This has been a pretty scatter-brained post, but I had to get. a couple of those things off my chest. Trust me, I'll have more elaboration on most of these points in the future. We'll see all this again by the end of the year. It's Iowa football. It works to get to the point of being almost sustainably relevant in the national picture, but it refuses to change enough to ascend any higher. Some of it is personnel this year, but some of it is the whole structure of the program. It's excruciating as a fan because the changes don't seem unreasonable, and some of the rigidity seems almost deliberately harmful. I know that's not the intention of the staff, but it can easily seem that way.

If the Hawks could just never lose another game for the rest of time, I promise I won't complain as much as I am now. I feel like that's a reasonable bargain.