The end results for the Iowa offense haven’t been quite up to the standard set for the team two games into the season. That’s not a subjective opinion about Iowa’s offense either.
They have failed in both games against Utah State and Iowa State to reach that magic 25 points per game mark set in offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz’s contract for the season.
While the numbers aren’t quite there yet, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been improvements made this year. According to Iowa wide receiver Diante Vines, the offense is extremely close to making a breakthrough.
“Nothing that the defense has done has been able to actually stop us from doing what we want to do,” Vines claimed in a recent media availability. “It’s kind of just the little tweaks that we have to make for ourselves.”
While the stats may not be the prettiest on paper, Iowa currently averaging the 107th most points per game in the nation, there have been flashes. To start, the offense has improved from 17.7 points per game last year, to 22.0 points per game this year.
That’s despite playing a sound defensive squad on the road in Iowa State. There have been splash plays this year that were completely absent from the team last year. With a lot of new additions over the offseason, we could just be getting a glimpse at what the unit can do.
“You know, these first couple of games, you work on these things so that when you get later on in the season, all those things that you messed up and you missed at those times you’re capitalizing on now,” Vines said.
When asked if he thinks the offense is close to that breakthrough, Vines gave an unequivocal response.
“Everything we’re watching on film, we’re close on a lot of things. Close on a lot of deep balls, close on a lot of runs… We can say that we’re really close to actually making the plays that we want to,” Vines said.
Iowa will have their shot at showcasing the offense they want to run when they host Western Michigan this afternoon at 2:30 p.m. CT.
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