By Danny Payne
Before the season began, had someone said the nation’s No. 5 team would feature the NCAA’s 33rd-leading rusher and 63rd-leading passer, that person would have been looked at as crazy. If the person said that team wouldn’t have any receiver in the nation’s top 100, he or she would have been looked at as down right insane.
But entering its 10th game of the year, that team has won nine games without a superstar, arguably without even a star, on offense. Even more, that offense is finally expected to have almost all of its playmakers available for the first time this year as it heads into its final three games of the regular season. That team is, of course, undefeated Iowa.
“The collection of the parts is probably more impressive than any one individual,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “That’s the beauty of football.”
No. 5 Iowa is in a position to control its own destiny in terms of the College Football Playoffs. Unlike the majority of teams in the top 10, however, Ferentz’s crew has relied on a wide group of players — each of whom seem to star for a one- to three-week stretch before another takes the spotlight.
In the early going, quarterback C.J. Beathard and running LeShun Daniels Jr. were the focus. When both of their performance tapered off because of injuries, running backs Jordan Canzeri and Akrum Wadley stepped up and carried the load. For the most part, the Hawkeye offensive line has been excellent; wide receivers Tevaun Smith and Matt VandeBerg, along with tight ends Henry Krieger Coble and George Kittle have done well, too.
This offense isn’t one filled with the types of generational talents as there are at Ohio State; it’s rather a group of players playing roles to the highest degree, with a few having excellent performances here and there. Simply put, it’s Iowa.
As the season progresses into a period in which superstar performances can make or break a season, questions need answering — can this type of play continue producing wins, and if so, what can we expect to see from the Hawkeye offense the remainder of the season to accomplish that?
If last week’s win over Indiana is any indication, it could be a very dangerous unit and that style of play could take the Hawks far. Beathard had his best game in Big Ten play — most of that was because of his health and ability to keep the defense honest with his legs.
Couple that with running back Canzeri’s expected return from an ankle injury suffered against Northwestern, that gives Iowa four (or three) good available backs, along with a dynamic competitor at quarterback, and that’s one scary offense.
Perhaps Wadley said it best. “[Opponents] just have to pick their poison.”
Assuming all goes according to plan, Wadley is right. Yes, some sample sizes are bigger than others, but of Iowa’s four backs — Wadley, Daniels, Canzeri, and Derrick Mitchell Jr. — all but Daniels average more than 5 yards per carry. The junior’s mark of 4.14 isn’t half-bad, either.
“Obviously, we know that people are better at certain things than others,” Daniels said. “We don’t have a problem with that — I really think it helps our offense flow better; it helps us open up our play-calling because we can expand on different things that our backs do well.”
The key to this success is the backs’ talent, but it’s impossible to understate the importance of Beathard’s health to the success on the ground. If he’s hindered by an injury, he has to stay in the pocket, which makes him less valuable. It isn’t that Beathard is a bad pocket passer, but having a quarterback able to extend plays with his feet and throw on the run is key.
Against Maryland, Beathard was hobbled, so the Terps stacked the box in the second half and effectively took away much of Iowa’s running game.
But when the junior was able to scramble against Indiana and keep the Hoosiers honest, the playbook opened up, which meant success for the Hawkeyes.
“We’re at our best when we can run the ball,” tackle Cole Croston said. “We can make our play-action fakes, we can throw deep — we can do everything in our offense when we can run the ball.”
Of course, it’s important to note the pivotal role the offensive line plays in this. Yes, Wadley’s shiftiness and speed was too much for the Wildcat defense to handle when he rushed for 204 yards, but center Austin Blythe and guard Jordan Walsh, among others, were mauling people in that contest. It was commonplace to see members of Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald’s front-seven on their backs or being pushed way downfield in dominating fashion.
In its three remaining games, Iowa has a chance to excel as an offense in one phase or another. The Hawks have Minnesota on Saturday, followed by Purdue, and then they close the regular season with Nebraska. Of those teams, only Minnesota’s pass defense (177.4 yards per game) and Nebraska’s rushing defense (111.9 yards per game) rank in the better half of the Big Ten.
Iowa’s average of 205 rushing yards per game is greater than the Gophers’, Boilermakers’, and Huskers’ average given up on the ground, which should mean nothing but good things for the Hawkeyes. Although Ferentz and Company’s average of 207 through the air may not look great against Minnesota’s 177.4 or Purdue’s 247.3 average passing yards, Iowa’s statistical average on the ground against those teams should help open up the playbook, as Croston said.
Those numbers aren’t the alpha and omega, but given that the Hawkeyes own the league’s second-best rushing attack without having a full stable available for any of their nine games this season, things look just fine for the Hawkeyes.
Perhaps a breakout star will emerge on the offense, which Iowa would welcome. The more likely scenario, however, is that the Hawkeyes do exactly what they’ve done all year and focus on the run.
The source of that production doesn’t matter — as long as it’s there, that’s just fine.
“Anything can happen over these next three games,” Beathard said. “We just have to make sure that we stay focused and don’t listen to the outside noise.”