By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Somewhat lost in the buzz and hype surrounding Iowa’s rapidly improving passing attack was the 155 combined rushing yards for Toren Young and Mekhi Sargent against Indiana last Saturday.

That isn’t a ton of rushing yards when you consider that Shonn Greene gained more yards by himself in three games during the 2008 season, and had at least 109 rushing yards in all 13 games that season.

But Iowa’s ground attack against Indiana was more about quality than quantity, and more about timing.

From the beginning, the Iowa offensive line asserted its will in the trenches and created a push that allowed Young and Sargent to excel.

They both averaged at least five yards per carry against Indiana, led by Sargent’s 5.9 mark on 10 attempts.

Indiana had to respect and guard against the run and that created an environment in which Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley thrived by throwing a career-high six touchdown passes.

“That’s the biggest thing we want is efficiency out there because the more, six and seven-yard gains you have, the more they’re going to have to respect that,” Iowa senior center Keegan Render said Tuesday. “And then that opens things up for Nate. Or if you have a good pass play, then that’s going to open things up for us to get six yards at a time.”

Render was basically talking about being balanced, which is always Iowa’s goal on offense, and will be again on Saturday against a talented Maryland squad at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa’s passing attack is now suddenly a beautiful thing to watch with Stanley’s powerful right arm and multiple playmakers combining to make big plays on a somewhat regular basis.

At least, that was the case in the past two games against Minnesota and Indiana.

It’s still too early to anoint the passing attack, but there are signs that it could be special.

Stanley has thrown for over 300 yards in three of the last four games, whereas former Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard never surpassed 300 passing yards in two seasons as the starter.

Iowa also features arguably the best one-two punch at tight end in the country in junior Noah Fant and sophomore T.J. Hockenson, and they showed it against Indiana as each finished with over 100 receiving yards, while also combining for three of Stanley’s six touchdown passes.

So yes, the passing attack is starting to click at a level rarely seen at Iowa, but don’t overlook the running game, because for this Iowa team to be truly special, one can’t do it without the other.

And by special, that means winning at least 11 or 12 games, which would mean running the table in the regular season.

Iowa has little margin for error in its quest to be special, and there will be times when the running game has to deliver for that to happen.

The 2004 season is the one exception where Iowa won a share of the Big Ten title and finished 10-2 overall despite having virtually no running game due mostly to injuries at running back.

But the 2004 squad did have Drew Tate performing at an All-Big Ten level at quarterback, some talented receivers and a rock-solid defense to help offset the lack of productivity at running back.

Iowa's style of football under Kirk Ferentz looks so much easier and makes more sense when the running game is helping to lead the way.

Iowa still hasn't had a 100-yard rusher in a game this season, but it doesn't matter when the running backs combine for more than 150 rushing yards and average more than five yards per carry.

A consistent and productive rushing attack is one of the reasons, maybe the biggest reason, Wisconsin has been so successful for the better part of two decades.

The Badgers beat Iowa with a touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter on Sept. 22 at Kinnick Stadium, but it was Wisconsin’s running game that helped pave the way to victory with 210 rushing yards.

Wisconsin quarterback Alex Hornibrook had the perfect environment in which to perform in the fourth quarter because Iowa had to honor both the run and pass.

Stanley took advantage of a similar circumstance against Indiana and he credits Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz for pushing the right buttons as a play caller.

“I think coach Brian (Ferentz) has a great feel for when teams are doing different things and trying to take one away more so than the other,” Stanley said. “He’s made some great calls this year that’s allowed us to throw the ball down the field and has allowed for those backs to have that success.”

Hockenson showed all of his skills against Indiana with four catches for 107 receiving yards and two touchdowns, and with a pancake block on a running play in which he slammed the defender to the ground about six yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

“Again, it wasn’t anything special,” Hockenson said. “It’s all fundamentals. It was no herculean effort.”

Hockenson was being too humble because his block was something special. It sent a message, that along with all these big passing plays, Iowa also can be physical and nasty with its running game.

"As you know, we want to be balanced in a perfect world,” Kirk Ferentz said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “If that opportunity is there, hopefully, we can get that established. You can take one thing or another away if you choose to. You can take the run away if you need to.

“Saturday, I thought we did a good job of being balanced.”

Ferentz then mentioned a key third-down-and-long play against Indiana in which Iowa converted with a running play. The Hoosiers had to respect the pass because they were getting shredded by Stanley and that created room to run.

And part of the reason Indiana was getting shredded by the pass is because Iowa already had established its running game and that helped set the stage for passing.

“If we can play that way, it makes us a better football team,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Sometimes, you can. It's more fun when you can. But that's not always easy to do.”

It might be more difficult for Iowa to be balanced without starting fullback Brady Ross, who is out for a couple weeks due to an injury. Ross plays a key role in the running game as the lead blocker on many plays.

His blocks are easy to overlook compared to a long touchdown pass, but they're an important piece to the offensive puzzle. 

Iowa’s passing attack will certainly play a pivotal role in whatever happens for the remainder of this season because it’s too good to not have a significant impact.

But don’t overlook those five, six and seven yard gains by the running backs because they are what truly fuels the offense.

Iowa State held Iowa to just 105 rushing yards and that made things tougher for Stanley, who threw for a season-low 166 yards against the Cyclones.

Iowa faced a lot of second-and-long and third-and-long situations against Iowa State and that hurt the passing game.

“You look at it and it might not seem like much between second-and-four and second-and-six, but there’s a huge difference,” Render said. “Total yards after a game rushing is a big thing, but at the same time, efficiency is what we’re striving for. And that’s what we’ve done a better job at this year.

“At the base, Iowa still is a running team. Obviously, we’re throwing better. But the best teams here have done well passing and running. Obviously, the run game opens up the passing. They complement each other.”