Harty: Time to get the best players in space before it’s too late
IOWA CITY, Iowa – For a college football team, a bye week is time for reflection, recovery and re-energizing.
It is time to exhale and to let up on the gas just a little bit, and time to look closer at the younger players on the team.
It also is the ideal time to add a wrinkle or two or three, which the 5-3 Iowa football team so desperately needs right now on offense.
The Iowa defense, after struggling early against the run, is now performing well enough for the Hawkeyes to be in position to win games.
It’s the offense that needs a boost or a spark or whatever you want to call it because right now it isn’t performing well enough for Iowa to win critical games.
Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis told reporters on Wednesday that they were looking at ways during the bye week to help the offense, like for example, getting running backs Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels on the field at the same time.
My response to that is what took so long?
No disrespect to the fullback position because it is critical to Iowa’s success and the young men who play it are tough, unselfish and brave.
But there is a downside to using a fullback in that it brings another defender into the box and crowds the line of scrimmage. It also takes a receiver or second tight end off the field, leaving Iowa with one less option on the outside.
Assuming he can make catches, the idea of using Wadley in the slot with Daniels lined up in the backfield is intriguing. Defenses would have to account for both, but with only one in the backfield.
Defenses also would have to account for All-America cornerback Desmond King if he lined up on offense. Just his presence on offense would cause a stir and would force defenses to react.
The bye week would be the ideal time to install a package for King if the coaches truly are considering it.
Imagine the possibilities with King and Wadley lined up as receivers, along with tight end George Kittle and Daniels in the backfield. That would be four proven playmakers on the field at the same time, players who excel in space and who have a knack for seizing the moment.
Davis told reporters on Wednesday that’s Iowa biggest deficiency on offense is dealing with 3rd-and-long situations. The absence of playmakers is partly why a team gets in 3rd-and-long situations and why it struggles to convert.
Davis pointed out that Iowa has lost several key receivers from last season, including senior Matt VandeBerg, who is out with a broken foot after playing in just four games. Iowa also has struggled to replace Tevaun Smith, who along with tight end Henry Krieger Coble and VandeBerg, were three of quarterback C.J. Beathard’s favorite targets last season.
"He had thrown the ball to those guys for three or four years, and everything they did, C.J. knew exactly what
they were fixing to do," Davis said. "And so right now we don’t have that same chemistry. Especially when it gets to pushing the ball down the field."
The lack of chemistry is more reason to shake things up.
One of the biggest problems with the Iowa offense has been the inability to get players in space on a regular basis. An inconsistent running game is partly to blame, but so is the lack of explosive skill players.
That’s why Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has to utilize what he has before it’s too late.
All that is left for the senior class, which includes King, Daniels, Kittle and Beathard, is four regular-season games and a bowl game, assuming Iowa wins at least one more game.
The career of arguably the greatest defensive back in school history will be over. Let’s just hope we’re not left wondering what King could have accomplished on offense.
The odds seem pretty good that King would make something positive happen if he had three or four touches on offense. The Detroit native has a gift for making defenders miss in space and he uses his blockers exceptionally well as a return specialist.
Combine that with King’s solid ball skills and you have perhaps an offensive spark waiting to happen.
Something needs to happen on offense because right now the passing attack poses little threat with so few playmakers.
The bye week is time to make it happen. It’s time to get more creative and more resourceful.
It’s time to make things easier for Beathard by getting more playmakers in space. Iowa has struggled all season to stretch the field on offense. But that might change if defenses had to worry about Wadley or King in the slot.
Big-time college football is serious stuff with tons of plays and schemes and formations. But it’s not rocket science.
Installing a package for King or putting Wadley in the slot is easier said than done. But it shouldn’t be that hard for coaches and players at this level.
Especially with an extra week to prepare.
Iowa’s next games is against Penn State on Nov. 5 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa.
It is hard to picture Iowa winning that game if the rushing attack sputters, as it did in the three losses to North Dakota State, Northwestern and Wisconsin. Defenses don’t have reason to fear, or even respect the Iowa passing attack, so they can load up to stop the run.
The bye week is also a good time to get true freshman tight end Noah Fant more involved in the offense. He still has a ways to go as a blocker, but shows nice potential as a receiver.
Iowa’s offense thrived last season from having two receiving threats at tight end in Kittle and Krieger Coble, who was a senior and Kittle’s cousin.
There hasn’t been a one-two punch at tight end this season, but Fant is showing signs that he could fill that role with Kittle.
There is no secret formula or simple solution to fix what is causing the Iowa offense to struggle. The best remedy is to just keep grinding and working to improve on a daily basis.
But there are ways to help the offense, and getting the best players in space before it’s too late would be a step in the right direction.
How big of a step would be determined on the field.