Iowa football faces another high-powered transfer quarterback in Washington’s Will Rogers

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Iowa Hawkeyes faced a high-profile transfer quarterback last week. They’ll get another one this week.

It’s Will Rogers this time around. He’ll lead the Washington Huskies into Kinnick Stadium for an 11 a.m. game Saturday on FOX.

Iowa lost to Ohio State a week ago, 35-7. Buckeyes QB Will Howard completed 21 of 25 passes for 209 yards and four touchdowns.

Howard went to Columbus this season after a stellar career at Kansas State. Rogers moved to the Pacific Northwest this fall after four prolific seasons at Mississippi State.

He threw for 12,315 yards for the Bulldogs, helped by the late Mike Leach’s “Air Raid Offense.” That yardage total is second in Southeastern Conference history behind only Georgia’s Aaron Murray, who had 13,166.

And Rogers was limited to eight games last season at MSU by a shoulder issue. The Mississippi native committed to Washington and stuck with that commitment even after head coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama.

The school hired Jedd Fisch as his replacement. Fisch previously was head coach at Arizona and has experience as an assistant for eight different NFL teams, including as an offensive coordinator.

“When everything went down and I had a chance to meet with Coach Fisch, his experience in the NFL really attracted me. And also he’s done really, really well for quarterbacks,” Rogers told local reporters. “At the end of the day, everybody wants to play football on the next level.”

Rogers ranks second in the Big Ten Conference in passing yards with 1,625 in six games. He is completing 73.6 percent of his throws (131 of 178) with 12 touchdowns to one interception.

His passer rating of 171.4 is fourth in the league, behind (in order) Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke, Penn State’s Drew Allar and the aforementioned Howard.

“I’m not Michael Penix or anything like that,” Rogers said, referring to his All-America predecessor, who led Washington to last season’s national championship game. ”I’m not going be able to make some of the throws and the plays that he made. I’m my own self, with that being said. It’s just a confidence with myself that a lot of quarterbacks have. Between the white lines, I like myself.”

Washington (4-2) is coming off a big home win over Michigan, 27-17. Rogers completed 21 of 31 passes for 271 yards, with two TDs and a pick.

Those stats look fine, but the Huskies have had difficulty offensively once they get into opponent territory. Washington goes into this week 118th of 133 FBS teams in red-zone efficiency.

Iowa is tied for 49th by comparison.

Washington was 5-for-6 inside the Michigan 20-yard line last week, with three touchdowns.

“I think that’s the biggest thing, is just finishing in the red zone,” Rogers told local reporters this week. “Whether that be a penalty that sets us back, now we’re in second-and-20 and now we’re just trying to maybe kick a field goal at this point, because the odds of converting a second-and-20 or third-and-20 are pretty low.

“There were several instances (against Michigan) night where, myself included, guys just don’t do their job and we’re forced to kick a field goal. If you make a field goal it’s a four-point swing, whether you would have a touchdown or a field goal, so just leaving points out there is the biggest thing. We’re obviously moving the ball, we’re doing some pretty good things in the open field. But I’d say just penalties and finishing in the red zone (are issues).”

Washington has a dynamic receiving duo in Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson. Boston ranks third in the Big Ten in yards per game (85.5) and Jackson fourth (82.0).

Jackson is a senior transfer from Michigan. Boston is a redshirt sophomore from the Seattle area.

Jackson has eight touchdown catches.

“I feel like our team is excited about this opportunity, this trip,” Fisch said. “We’ve tried to make a big focus so they understand what Iowa football is, what Iowa football’s brand is. It’s not hard to know their brand, Coach Ferentz has been there 25, 26 years ... Have all the respect in the world for him, for his program.”

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