Looking at some of the offensive numbers as the Hawkeyes navigate past their bye week, it seems fair to say that Iowa hasn’t gotten the type of offensive line play that it needs to be consistently successful.
Iowa currently owns the nation’s No. 127 rushing offense, averaging just 82.2 rushing yards per game. The Hawkeyes have also surrendered 18 sacks thus far this season, or three per game on average. That figure has Iowa ranked tied-109th nationally in sacks allowed per game.
Asked why the Hawkeyes offensive line hasn’t been getting the push and pass protection it’s accustomed to, Iowa offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Ferentz started up with the following response.
“Sure. Well, I think the other night is a good example, right? So there’s different kinds of games you can be in. We knew what kind of game it was going to be on Saturday night. Part of the reason I have a lot of respect for what they do there, they’re going to play in an eight-man front regardless of what they’re doing behind it.
“What they’re doing is they’re going to line up and say, hey, listen, we’re going to play one-on-one at every single spot across the board here. If somebody wins for us, we’re going to be in good shape. If somebody loses, it’s not going to be so good. You look at the game a year ago. I felt like we were able to run the ball pretty effectively against Illinois last year in Kinnick. We were winning some of those one-on-one battles. The other night we knew there were going to be man blocks, and at the end of the day we just weren’t able to win enough to get anything going,” Ferentz said of the offensive line’s play against Illinois.
Ferentz then elaborated on the push that Iowa is struggling to get, while acknowledging that perhaps players up front just haven’t developed to the point the Hawkeyes need just yet.
“You think about push, and that’s true to some extent, but at the end of the day if you are not going to be able to win the one-on-one battles, it’s going to be a problem.
“Same thing in pass protection the other night. The same issues that the front creates in the run game, it creates in pass protection where you know it’s going to be five-on-five for the majority of the night. Maybe not true against a four-down front or some other teams, but the problem is real simply we’ve got some guys playing right now that simply haven’t developed to the level that they probably need to be out there, whether it’s injury issues, whether it’s missed time, and it really doesn’t matter.
“The reality is what we have to be doing right now is pushing those guys forward as quickly as we can trying to get them the tools they need to be successful and get them out there. I think I would be remiss to say in fairness to some of those players, I’ve seen improvement. I’ve seen marked improvement with some guys. I think a lot of guys are making strides. Didn’t show up consistently enough the other night, but I’m excited to see how they continue to progress,” Ferentz said.
Per Pro Football Focus, seven Iowa offensive linemen have seen 127 or more snaps. That group includes Connor Colby, Nick DeJong, Gennings Dunker, Tyler Elsbury, Logan Jones, Mason Richman and Beau Stephens.
Of those seven Hawkeyes, only DeJong is an upperclassman, so there’s a reasonable hope that the other underclassmen can continue to advance. Naturally, that will be pivotal in Iowa’s quest to turn the second half of the season into a strong finish.
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