‘No going back to the drawing board’ for Iowa’s offense after meager 7-3 showing

IOWA CITY — Spencer Petras didn’t wait long to watch film from Iowa’s unesthetic, 7-3, football win.

The game ended at 2:38 p.m. Before the day was over, he was reviewing what happened hours earlier.

“11 a.m. kick, I have plenty of time,” Petras said.

He won’t go into details about what was going through his head as he saw his 11-for-25 performance, which included some misses to open receivers and one interception.

“I’m not going to get into all that,” Petras said. “I’m moving on to next week. Last game’s in the past. It’s behind us. I’m just focused on my prep for Iowa State.”

As Iowa tries to look past its unsightly offensive showing from Saturday, the major changes that many of the booing fans would likely crave are improbable.

“There’s no going back to the drawing board at all,” Petras said. “We have a sound scheme. We have a really good scheme. We have really good players.”

Head coach Kirk Ferentz said the offensive malaise was a “matter of execution.”

“And that’s our task this week,” Ferentz said.

One of the most obvious levers a coach can pull in this situation is a quarterback change, but Ferentz has been reluctant to entertain that thought.

Before having time to closely examine the film, Ferentz made it clear in his postgame news conference Saturday that Petras will be the starting quarterback against Iowa State.

Ferentz declined on Tuesday to say how long of a leash Petras will have if his woes continue against the Cyclones.

“We’ll evaluate everything as it comes,” Ferentz said. “But that’s not prominent in my thoughts right now. My thoughts are more just in terms of our entire group. Hopefully we can give them a plan that they can execute well. And if we play well cohesively, I expect him to play well in his role.”

Other aspects of the offense seem to be less of a certainty than the quarterback spot, namely the offensive line.

Connor Colby was listed as the starting guard on Monday’s depth chart, but Ferentz said Tuesday the “intention right now” is to keep Colby at tackle.

Tyler Elsbury and Jack Plumb did not see offensive snaps in Week 1, but Ferentz said they’re “both in the mix.”

“We’ve got eight, nine guys competing for playing time right now,” Ferentz said. “We’ve seen Jack play on the game field and play well, and I think Tyler has improved with every phase.”

Iowa’s offense may have one reinforcement for Week 2 with the likely return of running back Gavin Williams. Ferentz said he’s “optimistic” about Williams’ chances of playing against the Cyclones after missing Iowa’s season opener.

But the wide receiver position remains thin.

Keagan Johnson, Nico Ragaini and Diante Vines have all been ruled out for Saturday’s Cy-Hawk game, and it might be a while before some of them see the field.

Ferentz declined to give a timetable for Johnson’s return. He has not yet returned to practice.

“I wish I was that smart,” Ferentz said when asked about how many weeks he expects it to be.

Ragaini, meanwhile, is “improving and gaining ground.”

“He’ll be back, I’m confident, this month,” Ferentz said.

Vines’ return is “further down the road.”

Brody Brecht appeared in the SDSU game, but he’s been in what Ferentz described as a “race against time” to catch up after missing myriad training opportunities because of baseball and health.

“The thing with him is just getting him conditioned to the point where he can play regularly just because he missed significant time,” Petras said.

The gluttony of injuries at wide receiver is unusual, but the offensive troubles as a whole are certainly not new to this Iowa team.

Dating back to last year’s Big Ten championship game, Iowa’s offense has gone without a touchdown in two of its last three games.

Iowa’s defense and special teams have outscored the offense in four of the last five games.

Since last year’s Purdue game, Petras has thrown one touchdown and eight interceptions.

Iowa will look to solve its problems with offensive execution against Iowa State — a defense with more scholarship guys than the FCS team Iowa inched past on Saturday.

”It doesn’t get any easier because of the opponent we’re playing,“ Ferentz said.

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