Again, when the foe was ranked, the ‘23 Hawkeyes were shut out and shut down

ORLANDO, Fla. — There’s an inclination to say it may be for the best that Iowa got shut out in its two highest-profile games this season.

The 26-0 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten championship and Monday’s 35-0 flop against Tennessee in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl scream “Fix this already!”

The double zeros ought to be enough to convince even stubbornly consistent Kirk Ferentz that the fourth offensive coordinator he hires in a quarter-century as the Hawkeyes’ head coach better be an offensive repairman.

For three full years, Iowa’s offense hasn’t just underperformed. It’s been broken. Use all the injury excuses you want for the 2023 season that’s now in the books with 10 wins and the final Big Ten West championship. The offense still had scholarship players left at quarterback and tight end, but they got zilch in Indianapolis and Orlando.

We could use the rest of this page and the ones that follow to list negative examples of “the first time since.”

Getting blanked three times in a season for the first time since 1972 might kick off such a list. Especially when Iowa hadn’t been goose-egged once since 2000 before absorbing a 31-0 September defeat at Penn State.

Zero, zero, zero. Penn State, Michigan, Tennessee. The three ranked teams of the 14 Iowa played, not the flotsam and jetsam of the now-defunct West.

Tennessee was required to use its No. 2 quarterback because Joe Milton opted out as he looks toward the NFL. But the Volunteers’ QB2, freshman Nico Iamaleava, was an elite recruit. Monday’s moment wasn’t too big for him.

Give him and his offensive unit a ton of credit. That was no ordinary defense Iamaleava faced, but the Volunteers moved it around plenty. They had 10 plays of at least 12 yards in the first half alone and had 383 total yards despite surrendering six sacks.

That defense, however, didn’t fumble the ball away at its 2-yard line or throw an interception from the opponent’s 4 or throw a pick-6.

Deacon Hill, Iowa’s No. 2 quarterback, was no match for the 5-star Iamaleava. The Tennessee freshman wasn’t flawless, but he didn’t give away the ball like Hill did.

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The next Iowa OC presumably will have the Hawkeyes’ 2023 QB1 come August in Cade McNamara. But McNamara, who wasn’t a portrait of good health before his season was ended by injury in Game 5, still needs a coordinated offense as well as a body full of working parts.

Still, you can’t expect to ever win 10 games again — or nine, or eight — with the No. 133 offense out of 133 in yards per game and yards per play. This season was the best tightrope act of all time, but it took fantastic defense and the best punter in the college game.

Monday was one of the few times this season when Iowa needed an ordinary offense in order to compete. Oh, how good ordinary would look next season. Is there a doctor for that offense coming to the house?

“First of all, I want a guy who is going to be a really good team player,” Ferentz said after the game. “Obviously, they have to have expertise in their area, like all of our coaches, and they have to be good people. They have to be guys that are going to mentor the players they work. They have to be people that understand a team is a team.”

True, all that, of course. But tack on this to the job description: “Must be able to get at least 25 and hopefully more points per game and not put the entire burden of winning on the defense and special teams.”

The Hawkeyes being the first FBS team to get shut out thrice in a season since 2-10 Rutgers four years ago is flat-out weird. You don’t get shut out three times and go 10-4. You also don’t go 10-4 and outscore your opposition by just nine points.

Iowa did. It 10-7’ed and 15-13’ed and 13-10’ed its way to a division championship no one can take from it. It showed remarkable heart, resourcefulness and toughness. This was, against all odds, a successful season.

But it’s high time to relocate offense to the program’s winning equation. Exit Brian Ferentz, enter whomever is next.

"Whomever“ doesn’t have to be a miracle worker, but he will need to bring the offense back into the 21st century. Most importantly, he’ll need Kirk Ferentz to let him.

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com