When you think of Iowa football, one of the first things that comes to mind is the offensive line. Success has been predicated on the boys up front for the Hawkeyes for years under the Kirk Ferentz regime.
Ferentz aims to play complementary football. This is where the offense and defense play in a way that supports one another, making each unit stronger to win games. The opposing team cannot score without the ball.
Ferentz has always been about running the football, controlling the line of scrimmage, and keeping the clock and chains moving with extended drives. Make it so that the opposition has to take more risks and play a perfect game, playing right into your strong defense’s hands.
For years, this has been a winning formula.
Unfortunately, though, it has lost a bit of its magic in recent years. Sure, Iowa has still been winning games, but it’s clear to anyone watching the games that it is not complementary football.
Phil Parker’s defense now has the task of bailing out the offense, depending on LeVar Woods’ special teams unit to help produce points just as much as the offense.
A large part of this hasn’t been simply a talent gap at the skill positions, but Iowa’s offensive line play being a shadow of its former self over the past few seasons. Both the eye test, as well as Iowa’s overall rushing stats, really paint this picture.
Iowa will have downs where the offensive line looks overmatched, and then there will be plays where everything comes together and a big run is sparked. They’re inconsistent, with the low points shadowing over the highs.
Entering 2024, it’s hard to gauge just where Iowa’s offensive line stacks up against the rest of the Big Ten. Cody Nagel of 247Sports gives them a more-than-fair slotting at No. 10 in his Big Ten offensive line unit rankings.
Injuries, schemes, and quarterback play can all be blamed for the inconsistency of the Iowa offensive line in recent years. A healthy and experienced veteran group could significantly boost the Hawkeyes’ offense, helping to lift them from the bottom of the FBS ranks in 2024. – Nagel, 247Sports.
Nagel is absolutely spot on with that assessment of Iowa’s line. There have been several factors that have heavily impacted the effectiveness of Iowa’s offensive line. Injuries have hampered the unit badly, not allowing the starting five to gain any synergy as a unit. We’ve seen a revolving door at almost all five positions, guys shifted all over the line to cover up holes.
The offensive scheme and situation under former offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz had a huge impact as well. It is tough to operate as an offensive line running the ball when no defense fears your passing attack. Opposing teams were able to stack the box all game long against Iowa, and it didn’t help that Brian Ferentz’s scheme heavily encouraged heavy formations.
With all of the surrounding factors, some blame has to be put on the offensive linemen themselves and their coaching. Sure, the situation has been bad. The scheme has been pretty horrible, and no defense has feared Iowa’s quarterback since I don’t even know when now.
For anyone who’s watched Iowa football, though, it’s clear that the linemen just haven’t played well either. We’ve seen a line unable to get any push in the run game resulting in running backs immediately met in the backfield for losses. Iowa’s quarterback has also been hampered by opposing defensive ends waltzing into the backfield with ease.
There are things that situationally could get better to help the offensive line this year. Hopefully, they all stay healthy. Hopefully, new offensive coordinator Tim Lester runs a scheme that doesn’t handicap the offense into being a bumper car trying to compete in the Dayton 500.
At the end of the day, though, the offensive line has to be better themselves or you can expect much more of the same from the Hawkeyes in 2024.
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