For the offense, it’s a little bit of everything

IOWA CITY - Some Iowa players are clearly frustrated.

Check wide receiver Tevaun Smith's response after a short reception in the second half of last weekend's loss to Iowa State. The junior shed the ISU tackler and popped off the Kinnick Stadium turf, pumping his fist and glaring intensely toward the Iowa sideline.

'I was a bit frustrated in the game,” Smith said. 'There was a point in the game where I thought we should give the receivers a chance. I was just a little frustrated. I was just trying to express that.”

Some players are fighting back frustration.

'It's one game,” quarterback Jake Rudock said through a forced smile and gritted teeth.

The answer for the Iowa offense is . . . it's not just one thing. It's a little bit of everything.

'If you're not doing as well as you would like to do, typically there's going to be scrutiny, introspection, whatever,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said Tuesday. 'Usually it's a pretty intricate deal. If it's just one area or one point, then usually you see coaching staffs trying to address that, change personnel, et cetera, but I don't think that's the case right now. We just have to do better.”

That's not going to be a very satisfying answer, but that is the facts.

Iowa's offense has, in the recent past, consistently found ways to run the ball against stacked defensive fronts. Through three games, Iowa's running game has been stopped cold. It's early, yes, but the 3.61 yards a carry is tracking to be Iowa's lowest since 2.03 in 2004. It's early, really early, like only week 3, but there also hasn't been consistent traction. Assignments are missed far too consistently.

'Sometimes, that's the way it goes in games,” offensive tackle Andrew Donnal said. 'Everyone is trying to stop our run game. Everyone knows that's what we're trying to do, so they're doing everything they can to stop it. Sometimes, you have to do other things. You have to throw the ball, you have to open things ups.”

While that topic is front and center, Ferentz was asked three different times about wide receivers Damond Powell and Derrick Willies. They are healthy, he said, they just haven't worked their way into the gameplan.

Powell, a junior college transfer, is a senior. He missed all of fall camp after hernia surgery, but he's been in every game this season. He is Iowa's fastest wide receiver, or very close with Willies and Smith in that mix. Powell caught just 12 passes last season, but averaged 24.25 yards a catch.

Willies, a 6-4, 210-pound redshirt freshman, opened eyes this spring and fall. So far this season, he has three catches for 65 yards and a TD.

On one hand, from an outside perspective, they look like potential playmakers for an offense that sure could use all of that. From a coach's perspective, they're not there yet.

'Nothing against either of those guys,” Ferentz said. 'It's just where they're at right now. They've got growth to make.”

Powell said he doesn't dwell on what didn't happen for him during a game. He tries to stay into being ready to come through when it's his turn.

'If you stay down and your number gets called and you don't make a play, that's bad,” said Powell, who's caught three passes for 42 yards this season. 'Just knowing my role, I have a different role here, it's a different program. I just have to continue to keep working hard and when my number is called, I have to be ready to make a play.”

Ferentz said the opportunity is there for Powell and Willies to expand their roles, but they seem locked into one receiver position (Iowa has three distinct receiver positions, and Smith and senior Kevonte Martin-Manley - team leader with 19 receptions - occupy two of those).

'That's kind of the coaches' decision, who goes in and who doesn't,” Rudock said. 'I can come off [the field] and say I want them in there, but at the same time, I feel good with all the receivers who've been rotating in. It's really up to the coaches.”

Offensive struggles was the topic Tuesday, so you know the offensive coordinator's name came up.

This is Greg Davis' third season. Iowa's scoring has dropped and, it's early, yes, so far this season is tracking downward. If Ferentz had dissatisfaction, do you really think he'd air it publicly? Of course not. Here, Ferentz veered into running the long race that Davis, who began his coaching career in 1973, has run.

He also might've sneaked in a not-so-subliminal message.

'Greg is stellar. Unbelievable,” Ferentz said. 'I can go down the list of everybody on our staff. We've got outstanding coaches.

'If you play, it's the same way. You can't be a good player, I'm not suggesting I was ever a good player, but you can't stay in the game and compete if you're going to go home and cry every time you get beat. It doesn't work that way.”

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