The strength of the Iowa Hawkeyes this season has been their ground game. In their six victories, Iowa has leaned on its rushing attack and gotten behind their offensive line on the way to the end zone.
The success that the group and the run game have seen this year has been a large jump from previous seasons. A lot of that credit goes to first-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester.
Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz wasn’t shy about giving Lester his deserved credit in his Tuesday press conference.
“Yeah, a couple things. Give Tim credit, and he spoke to that last week. I read his comments. He has a really good system. That’s obviously why we hired him, to try to do some research here, and felt good about that.
“But I think the biggest picture, and Tim made this very clear last Wednesday, and I’d reaffirm this, and I said this back last August, I think a couple things. First of all, I think the offensive line is in a better place than it’s been the last couple years. Nobody’s issues, it’s just attrition, injuries. It’s been tough. So we’re finally able to maybe play at a level where the proficiency is a little bit more like what we hope,” Ferentz said.
That Iowa offensive line has helped pave the way for a Doak Walker Award semifinalist in junior running back Kaleb Johnson. Ferentz made sure to give Johnson his credit in Iowa’s successes as well, though.
“Then, you’ve got a back who’s in his third year instead of being a first-year guy who’s kind of hit or miss. He’s always been a great kid. He’s an outstanding young man.
“But the lack of consistency, inexperience, immaturity, et cetera, and that’s the benefit of being older. So, our line has benefitted from that, and Kaleb is benefiting from that, and the rest of the room is doing a good job, too, but he’s the one carrying the heaviest load,” Ferentz said.
Iowa’s offensive line and ground game has already rumbled to 2,081 rushing yards, 27 rushing touchdowns and a 5.5 yards per carry average.
The group is averaging 208.1 rushing yards per game and has been the catalyst to Johnson putting up a historic season that will be etched into Iowa Hawkeyes’ history.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Riley on Twitter: @rileydonald7