Iowa’s inconsistent rushing attack needs to step up on Saturday
IOWA CITY, Iowa – If you were to list the 10 biggest reasons why the Iowa offense has struggled this season, my guess is you’d start at receiver and stay there for a while.
The performance of Iowa’s receivers has left much to be desired.
Injuries are partly to be blame as Matt VandeBerg only played in the first four games before suffering a season-ending foot injury.
But the problems on offense go way beyond missing one key piece to the pass-catching puzzle.
“We just need to start executing some more plays and showing that on Saturdays,” senior receiver Riley McCarron said to reporters on Tuesday. “We’ve been working on those kinds of things in practice, and it’s just things that need to show up in games.”
That is precisely it; a lack of execution is at the root of Iowa’s deficiencies on offense.
But it’s not just the passing attack.
The Iowa running game shouldn’t get a free pass, either, because it has been woefully inconsistent.
Iowa’s much-maligned passing attack is ranked 10th in the Big Ten, averaging 180.3 yards per-game, which is nothing to celebrate.
But the Iowa rushing attack hasn’t been much better, averaging a 167.9 yards per game, which is only ninth best in the conference.
Iowa certainly will need its passing attack to make a contribution against Penn State on Saturday in order to win.
The matchup seems more suited for the Iowa running game, though, considering Penn State is ranked 10th in the conference in rushing defense, allowing 183.4 yards per game.
Iowa fans are clamoring to get junior running back Akrum Wadley in space where he could better use his elusiveness. And that might happen as Wadley acknowledged to reporters on Tuesday that he had worked at slot receiver during the bye week.
There also is hope that Desmond King might see some action on offense, although, Iowa’s All-America cornerback said Tuesday that he didn’t practice any on offense during the bye week.
It’s exciting to think what they could bring to the passing attack, but old-fashioned Iowa football is likely what’ll be needed to defeat Penn State more than anything else.
The Iowa running game would make life easier for quarterback C.J. Beathard and the passing attack if it performs well on Saturday. And by performing well, that would mean gaining at least as many rushing yards as Penn State surrenders on a game-by-game basis.
The Iowa rushing attack has looked dominant against overmatched opponents like Miami of Ohio, Iowa State and Purdue, gaining 212, 198 and 365 rushing yards in those three games, respectively.
But in Iowa’s three losses to North Dakota State, Northwestern and Wisconsin, the ground attack was virtually non-existent, finishing with fewer than 85 rushing yards in all three games.
The Hawkeyes will be in trouble on Saturday should that happen again because the passing attack isn’t good enough to bail out the running game.
Saturday’s game will be played in prime time, with kickoff slated for 6:30 p.m., and will be played in front of more than 100,000 fans who will be dressed mostly in white and screaming at the top of their lungs inside a packed Beaver Stadium.
The atmosphere probably won’t make executing on offense any easier. But nobody said playing Big Ten football is easy.
“None of that really phases, I think, any of us,’ said McCarron. “That’s the kind of stuff you live for when you grow up as a kid. You dream to play in games like that.
“So you can’t think of all that. Just have fun playing football.”
The fun has been hit and miss, so far, this season.
Iowa has a 5-3 record, which in some seasons would be acceptable to fans, but not this season, not with a veteran squad in which many of the key players were instrumental in last season’s march to 12 victories.
No one thing is to blame for Iowa’s offensive woes, but the lack of productivity at receiver gets most of the attention despite the rushing woes.
With four regular-season games remaining, there is hope that Iowa still can salvage something noteworthy out of a season that started with so much promise.
But something has to change on offense before it is too late.
The Iowa defense is performing well enough to keep the games close.
Now it’s up to the offense, including the rushing attack, to hold up its end of the deal.
The defense might need help because the Penn State offense is getting better behind maybe the Big Ten’s top running back in Saquon Barkley.
“He’s a guy that change the momentum of the game,” King said of Barkley. “Our job to stop him is to leverage the ball up, and with him, tackle him and just wrap him up. So we can’t have any missed tackles or things like that.”
Barkley leads the conference with a 111.0 per-game rushing average, while Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley is fourth in the conference in passing, averaging 227.3 yards per game.
Penn State has talented receivers such as Chris Godwin and DaeSean Hamilton to complement the running game. So this will be no easy task for the Iowa defense.
“I think we’re doing our jobs assignment-wise,” said Iowa junior linebacker Josey Jewell. “Everybody has got a lot of juice and energy. And I think we all need to just keep doing our job on an individual level to be able to give everybody else a shot.”
Iowa certainly has a shot on Saturday to defeat Penn State, which is showing life under head coach James Franklin, but hardly is a power.
However, it likely would take a balanced offense to get the job done and that’s why it is hard to pick Iowa because rarely has the offense achieved balance.
Blame the passing attack all you want. But the Iowa rushing attack also should be held accountable.
Prediction: Penn State 24, Iowa 20