EAST LANSING, MI – A shrug. A simple gesture that still says a lot. Look no further than Michael Jordan or Cailin Clark. On Saturday night in Iowa football’s 32-20 loss to Michigan State, the honor belonged to starting quarterback Aidan Chiles.
The 19-year-old transfer from Oregon State was having the best game of his young college career, connecting with senior wideout Montorie Foster Jr. on an 18-yard touchdown, bringing the quarterback to 170 yards in the air as his squad went ahead, 19-7.
As Foster flexed and let out a roar in the end zone at Spartan Stadium, Chiles glanced back at his sideline. Shoulder raised. Palms turned to the sky. Head tilted. The look said it all.
What are they gonna do about it?
The question is worth asking. The Hawkeyes responded with two more touchdowns, including one that made it a five-point game with seven minutes to go. But they couldn’t answer every salvo the Spartans sent their way. Faced with the opportunity to potentially take the lead for the first time in the game, Iowa didn’t offer a shrug – there was no doubt the team had every desire to win – but the performance still suggested an unintentional indifference to the details.
Nowhere was this seen greater than in tackling, perhaps the foundational skill of football. Without tackling, the only defense would be the clock. So it’s no surprise how the Spartans chewed up more than five minutes of the clock as they delivered the game-sealing touchdown – the result of a nine-play, 75-yard drive where nearly anyone in green was making defenders miss.
The play before running back Nathan Carter’s one-yard rush, Spartan receiver Nick Marsh nearly put the team on the board, weaving past multiple missed tackles to get near the goal line. Chiles’ throw went just one yard – but Marsh gained 10 of his own. The same occurred with Foster, who had 39 yards after the catch on Saturday.
No disrespect to either player, but Foster and Marsh aren’t the same as Ohio State’s future pros Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. Not that it would be an excuse if they were, but it still only adds to the concern level. The Spartans joined Ohio State as the only two schools to put more than 400 yards of offense on Iowa over the Hawkeyes’ last 35 games.
“Just trying to get a little bit more focused, a little better concentration,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said postgame about the Hawkeye defense. “It’s not like we haven’t been there, but you know, tonight we weren’t there and we’ll try to get back on our feet and get things squared away.”
For Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker, staying on your feet is one of his keys to proper tackling. The former Michigan State defensive back elaborated on how the Hawkeyes teach tackling during his bye week press conference.
“We’re working on it all the time, every day,” he said. “Making sure that you run on your toes, have a good balance, be able to change direction, sink your hips, and be able to be in a good football position to make a tackle.”
Parker added then that players showed no signs of poor effort, and I believe that’s still the case. It’s just a matter of discipline. In the words of linebacker Jay Higgins – who will take this loss as hard as anyone despite his team-best 14 tackles – Parker’s scheme wasn’t a fault. The makeable plays just have to be made. A
nd for an Iowa defense that’s historically controlled the controllables, this season has been an outlier. The specter of big plays loomed large yet again as Chiles and the Spartans’ trio of running backs posted eight runs of at least 10 yards while Spartan receivers had eight grabs of at least 15 yards. While the turnovers are still there, this defense is bending more than it should.
“We want to play a better defense than we’ve played typically,” Ferentz said. “So we’ll go back to the drawing board.”
When searching for solutions, it doesn’t help that the Hawkeyes just don’t have a viable option at the No. 2 starting cornerback spot. Ferentz will say there’s a competition, but to have a competition midway through the season isn’t something to brag about. If I had to choose, I’d opt with Deshaun Lee, who has the most experience and hasn’t been burned as much this season.
Then again, maybe I’m sounding like Ferentz, who remains committed to Cade McNamara as QB1 despite frustratingly inconsistent play from the 24-year-old under center. McNamara’s touchdown to Reece Vander Zee was admittedly a beautiful ball, but when comparing that with all his off-target tosses, two performances look like they’re in alternate universes.
In the universe we’re living in, McNamara remains the starter until injury does him part, but the quarterback can be an easy scapegoat.
“He’s going to keep moving forward, moving past from this,” tight end Luke Lachey said. “We all make mistakes. It’s not just on one guy.”
Indeed, it’s not just the quarterback fans should be worrying about. Beating a team coming off a bye week on the road isn’t an easy task in college football, and the Hawkeyes couldn’t pass that test. They have five more on the docket for the rest of the regular season, and they can’t show up without a No. 2 pencil. If they repeat what they did Saturday night and leave the basics at home, then this season could become one to erase rather than remember.