By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – KCJJ general manager Tom Suter mentioned on Wednesday’s Hawk Fanatic radio show and podcast that Iowa hasn’t had a quarterback pass for at least 300 yards since Nate Stanley did so against Illinois on Nov. 23, 2019.

That’s 58 straight games, which is even longer than Joe DiMaggio’s legendary 56-game hitting streak.

And while it’s a sobering statistic that helps to describe Iowa’s passing woes in recent seasons, to go this long without a 300-yard passer isn’t as concerning as having passed for fewer than 175 yards in 25 of 34 games since the start of the 2022 season, which is also the case for Iowa.

Iowa also has passed for fewer than 100 yards in 11 games since the start of the 2022 season, including three this season, and for fewer than 150 yards in 15 of 21 games since the start of last season.

Those are disturbing numbers for a program that strives for balance, and that produced the Big Ten’s first 10,000-yard passer in Chuck Long.

Chuck Hartlieb once threw seven touchdown passes against Northwestern in 1987, while the current Iowa team has seven touchdown passes in seven games this season.

The same Iowa program that ended the Big Ten’s three-yards-and-a-cloud of-dust mentality by hiring Hayden Fry and his forward-thinking passing attack now has one of the worst, or least productive, passing offenses at the FBS level.

Tim Lester is in his first season as the Iowa offensive coordinator, and the results have been mixed in that he has helped to re-energize the running game, while the passing attack has continued to sputter.

There are times when Iowa struggles just to complete a forward pass.

It was the same way last season, but that was blamed mostly on Cade McNamara not being healthy, on Deacon Hill being in over his head as McNamara’s replacement, and on former offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz not having enough experience to coach quarterbacks.

McNamara said Tuesday that he is as healthy as he has ever been despite coming off two straight season-ending knee injuries, and yet, the passing offense, even without Brian Ferentz, has shown little to no signs of improving.

Opponents, including Northwestern on Saturday, will continue to load the box and dare Iowa to throw because there is only so much that Kaleb Johnson and the Iowa running game can do.

“When things don’t go good and you’re faced with adversity, it takes experience or mental toughness and really just a lot of motivation and desire to be good,” McNamara said. “And I think this team and this unit has shown that.

“I don’t expect anything less than a response from us.”

Experience, mental toughness, motivation and desire all certainly contribute to winning, but it ultimately comes down to execution more than anything else.

And that is where Iowa’s passing attack continues to come up short.

It would be fun to watch an Iowa quarterback throw for 300 yards on a regular basis, or even once in five years.

But that isn’t as accurate a measuring stick to judge Iowa’s passing woes as the number of 175-yard passing games since the start of the 2022 season or the number of 150-yard passing games since the start of last season.

The fact that Iowa has passed for fewer than 100 yards in 11 games since the start of the 2022 season is quite telling.

That statistic paints a bleak picture of a passing offense that is disjointed and sometimes borderline dysfunctional.

Some fans are clamoring for Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan to get more playing time at quarterback, and maybe that will happen when Sullivan faces his former team on Saturday.

The concern is that no matter who plays quarterback for Iowa, the passing game will continue to struggle because the numbers don’t lie.