As Iowa prepares for Minnesota rematch, Hawkeyes have benefit of improved offense

IOWA CITY — Iowa football’s 12-10 loss to rival Minnesota in 2023 left a “pretty sour taste in everyone’s mouth.”

“The way that it ended, especially with it coming down to the wire like that, a lot of guys were pretty upset about that loss,” quarterback Cade McNamara said. “But this is a new season, this is a new team. … We have to completely go into this game with a blank slate.”

As Iowa prepares for its rematch of last year’s Minnesota loss — the loss where Iowa mustered only 127 total yards — the reality of this year being a new team in a new season has been especially apparent.

Iowa ranks 54th nationally in yards per game, 58th in points per game and 46th in third-down efficiency through three games. It is a stark contrast from last year’s final numbers — 130th in yards per game, 129th in points per game and 126th in third-down efficiency.

Running back Kaleb Johnson leads the country in rushing yards this season and is third in rushing yards per game. He became the first Hawkeye running back to rush for more than 100 yards in three consecutive games since Jordan Canzeri did so in 2015.

“He’s been doing really well,” tight end Luke Lachey said of Johnson. “And it’s obviously a great boost to our offense and all of our confidence, and it’s a testament to the O-line and everyone going out there and blocking for him.”

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz echoed the praise of Iowa’s offensive line, which has six different offensive linemen with at least 13 career starts.

“We’re a little better up front now than we’ve been the last couple years, so maybe we can handle some things,” Ferentz said. “Not only ability to block, but also the ability to maybe be in the right spot to block the right guy with the right leverage.”

The passing game, while not perfect, has shown improvement as well. Iowa ranks 57th in completion percentage after ranking 129th in the statistic last year. McNamara’s “overall sense of relief” as he feels “the best I’ve felt in a really long time” may be a factor there.

“If we can get consistency there (at quarterback), too, those two things really help dictate how an offense goes,” Ferentz said.

It’s possible for some of those numbers to slip as it goes against much more formidable defenses in Big Ten play. But even when looking at Iowa’s numbers this year versus at this point last year — when Iowa had a similar strength of nonconference schedule — it is a remarkable improvement.

At the end of Iowa’s 2023 nonconference slate, the Hawkeyes ranked 119th in yards per game, 73rd in points per game, 107th in third-down efficiency and 116th in completion percentage. Now, Iowa is 58th or better in each metric.

New offensive coordinator Tim Lester talked before the season about wanting to “cut everything in half” statistically in 2024.

“I kind of look at where we were nationally in a couple stats, and if we’re 120th, I want to be in the 60s this year,” Lester said at the team’s annual media day. “And if we were 50th, I want to be 25.”

The Hawkeyes, even with making the improvements so far that Lester ambitiously set out for before the season, do not seem entirely satisfied.

Iowa’s offense, according to McNamara, is a “work in progress.”

“The steps that we’ve taken every single week has been huge for us,” McNamara said. “And I think, overall, the more steps that we take going forward — we just have to continue to get better. … I’m really excited just to see how this thing ends.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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