Iowa’s woeful offense lives up to reputation in brutal 9-6 loss at Illinois
By Pat Harty
CHAMPAIGN, Illinois – Late in the second quarter of Saturday’s football game between Iowa and Illinois, my sister texted me saying that she was switching to the Hallmark Channel in search of more action and excitement.
She could’ve said she was switching to CSPAN and it would’ve made sense considering how poorly both offenses played throughout the game.
Illinois prevailed 9-6 despite committing three turnovers, including one at the Iowa 1-yard line, and despite losing starting quarterback Tommy DeVito to an injury late in the first quarter.
Iowa now enters the bye week with records of 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the Big Ten, and with an offense that continues to perform at an unacceptable level.
Iowa had an 85-yard fumble return by Riley Moss in the fourth quarter that was called a touchdown on the field reversed after the officials ruled that Illinois quarterback Artur Sitkowski’s elbow was on the ground.
Fabrizio Pinton then made a 36-yard field to give Illinois a 9-6 lead with 2 minutes, 49 seconds left to play.
That would be enough points as Illinois defensive back Matthew Bailey intercepted a pass by Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras with 1:36 left to play.
Iowa had one more possession on offense in the closing seconds, but not surprisingly, it went nowhere.
Illinois ended an eight-game losing streak against Iowa, while second-year Illinois head coach Bret Bielema, a former Iowa nose guard, defeated his alma mater for the first time as the Illinois head coach.
Illinois improved to 5-1 and 2-1 in the conference, and appears to be on the rise, while Iowa’s season is quickly moving in the wrong direction because of an offense that shows no signs of improving.
Take away a couple decent runs late in the second half and the Iowa running game was virtually non-existent yet again, gaining just 52 yards on 30 attempts.
Take away the performance of senior tight end Sam LaPorta and the Iowa passing game was also virtually non-existent. LaPorta finished with nine of Iowa’s 18 catches, and 100 of Iowa’s 170 passing yards.
“Tough loss for us and everybody in the lockerroom is disappointed right now,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “Overall, certainly we didn’t play well enough to win.”
Overall?
While it’s true that the Iowa defense gave up 200 rushing yards, Illinois still only scored nine points and didn’t score a touchdown.
The Iowa special teams also did its part as usual.
This loss rests almost solely on Brian Ferentz’s sputtering offense, and it’s getting harder and harder for fans to accept the dysfunction and disappointment.
The fact that Brian Ferentz is Kirk Ferentz’s son makes the situation on offense even more frustrating and maddening for fans who wonder why no changes are being made.
Tory Taylor punted eight times in Saturday’s game, which speaks volumes about the dysfunction on offense.
The Iowa offense has become a national laughingstock, and while you feel for the players on offense, the criticism is justified.
Kirk Ferentz has said throughout the season that offense performs well in practice.
But as former NBA great Allen Iverson once said, we’re talking about practice, not a game.
It’s little consolation for the fans to keep being told that the offense looks good in practice when it repeatedly looks terrible in games.
Iowa already has lost more games this season than it lost during the regular season a year ago when it won the West Division with records of 10-2 overall and 7-2 in conference play.
The offense struggled last season, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as this season.
Petras took a beating in Saturday’s game as he faced constant pressure in the pocket.
The Iowa offensive line struggled with pass blocking, and that combined with Petras’s lack of mobility was a recipe for disaster.
Iowa has now scored seven or fewer points in three of the six games this season, and in six games since the start of last season.
That’s an embarrassing statistic and shows that the offense is getting worse.
Petras is a fifth-year senior who has started 25 games, and yet, he isn’t any better now than he was two years ago.
In fairness to Petras, he doesn’t have much to work with on offense, but he adds to the problems by missing open receivers, and by having little mobility.
“It just sucks putting up six points, and I just feel it’s a lot self-inflicted, and it starts with me, ” Petras said. ”
Iowa rarely has had an explosive offense in 24 seasons under Kirk Ferentz, but this is as bad as it’s ever been.
Even his first team in 1999, which finished 1-10, performed better on offense than the current offense.
The bye week will at least give the Iowa players some time to rest and heal, but with mighty Ohio State up next on the schedule, the situation looks bleak.
The Buckeyes, behind star quarterback C.J. Stroud, score points like an arena football team, including 49 in a victory over Michigan State on Saturday, while Iowa has only scored 88 points in six games this season.
Kirk Ferentz has been in difficult spots before as the Iowa head coach, but he’s never had an offense this bad.
And there, obviously, is no quick fix, and there might not be any fix at all with the regular season half over.
Iowa 3 3 0 0 – 6
Illinois 3 3 0 3 – 9
IL – Fabrizio Pinton 27 FG
I – Drew Stevens 32 FG
IL – Pinton 37 FG
I – Stevens 27 FG
IL – Pinton 36 FG