Hlas: Hawkeyes hit three-quarters pole without the horses

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — So this 41-14 debacle of a loss at Penn State was a surprise to Iowa. But should it have been?

"I thought we'd come in here and compete well and have a chance to win the football game," Hawkeyes Coach Kirk Ferentz said.

'We obviously didn't expect this at all,' quarterback C.J. Beathard said.

'We felt really prepared throughout the week,' said cornerback Desmond King.

And so forth. The reality of how far they've slipped this year after how high they climbed a year ago hasn't fully registered.

But deep down, the Hawkeyes have to know this isn't very complicated. They're just not a very good team.

The season is three-quarters over. They're 5-4, and the wins are over teams that mostly are mediocrities. There have been three games in which they have been held to 236 or fewer yards, including Saturday night's fiasco. No team in the nation averages under 300 yards per game.

How many Hawkeyes would you consider for the All-Big Ten first team? There's shoo-in King, and probably linebacker Josey Jewell, and … that's it.

Defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson might be a second-teamer. Guard Sean Welsh, too. LeShun Daniels and Akrum Wadley are fine running backs, but they're in a sea of fine Big Ten running backs that starts with Penn State's Saquon Barkley.

Last year, guard Jordan Walsh was an Associated Press All-Big Ten first teamer with King, while Beathard and center Austin Blythe were on the second team with Jewell. Senior defensive end Nate Meier and senior safety Jordan Lomax were on the coaches' third team.

Last year's seniors weren't a group of superstars, but they were solid. This year's Hawkeyes miss Walsh and Blythe and Meier and Lomax and linebacker Cole Fisher and wide receiver Tevaun Smith. Their replacements simply aren't as good.

Saturday's game wasn't the least bit competitive, starting with the opening kickoff when Penn State's Miles Sanders went 48 yards to set up a short-field touchdown drive.

The contrast between the two teams' initial drives was like flip-flopping the digits of Penn State's 41 points to get Iowa's 14.

The Hawkeyes had a 4th-and-1 on their first possession from the PSU 34, and Beathard was dropped for a 1-yard loss. Then they were short on 3rd-and-2 and punted. Then they were stopped for no gain on 3rd-and-1 and punted.

Good teams don't have three glaring goose eggs like that in one game.

'If you make those plays like we should, who knows what happens?' Beathard said. 'It's a different ballgame.'

It couldn't have hurt, but the statistics scream that it would have taken a lot more than that. Penn State rushed for 359 yards, Iowa 30. That looks like a typographical error.

Beathard quarterbacked a team across a magical season last year. He had decent enough wide receivers. He had two healthy tight ends who combined for 55 catches and seven touchdowns, and who played their positions the way Ferentz likes. He had an offensive line that was better than this season's, and Blythe and Walsh didn't miss a start to injury.

In 2015, Ferentz was the Big Ten's Coach of the Year. He had a lot of good pieces emerge and seemed to make them all fit.

This year? Not enough good pieces, not nearly enough good fits.

'The cavalry's not coming,' Ferentz said.

Which is unfortunate. Because Michigan's coming to town Saturday, and the Wolverines are taking no prisoners.