The Iowa Hawkeyes secured a 40-0 win over Illinois State to start the year off 1-0 despite the absence of their coach Kirk Ferentz.
Ferentz is back for the second game of the season for the Hawkeyes against bitter rivals, the Iowa State Cyclones. The Iowa coach sat out last game after receiving a one-game suspension for violating the contact recruiting rules of the NCAA. Ferentz watched his team and his offense click without his presence, and hopes the team can replicate the same production when he returns this week.
Iowa Hawkeyes Score 40-Points Without Coach Kirk Ferentz on the Sideline
The Iowa football team had arguably their best offensive showing in quite some time to kick off the 2024 season. The Hawkeyes recorded nearly 500-yards of total offense against Illinois State while scoring 40-points, something they had not done in nearly a year. Iowa managed to achieve this feat during the absence of their coach Kirk Ferentz as well as their old offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz.
Kirk had hired his son, Brian, in 2017 to take over the Hawkeyes offense and lead the unit to some sort of success. However, Brian failed to do so, averaged 26.1 points per game during his tenure which began to drastically fall off in 2022. The Iowa offense averaged 17.7 points per game in 2022 and many fans began calling for Brian to be fired.
Kirk found himself in quite the controversy over the past two seasons surrounding his son and the Iowa football program. Many believed that Kirk refused to fire his son due to nepotism, and would have continued to give his son more chances if the media did not begin to place pressure upon the coach. Kirk fired Brian and hired Tim Lester, the former Western Michigan Broncos head coach.
Lester ran a successful air-raid offense with the Broncos and served this past season on the Green Bay Packers staff after being fired from WMU in 2022. Lester brings a new playbook, a new play-style, and a different offensive viewpoint to Iowa that could bring plenty of success. Despite a slow start, Lester put up 40-points in his debut and showed he can find success with this Iowa team.
What Will the Iowa Football Team Need to Do to Win Against the Cyclones?
A season ago, Iowa Hawkeyes fans and analysts were extremely critical of the struggles the offense had all season long. The Hawkeyes scored 30 or more points once last season when they scored 41-points against the Western Michigan Broncos. The next best offensive performance for the team came against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, when the offense score 22-points.
The Hawkeyes scored 24-points and 26-points in two other games last season, but were assisted by the defense. The Iowa football team averaged 15.4 points per game last season and scored just 22 total touchdowns all year. This terrible offensive showing prompted the team to hire offensive coordinator Tim Lester to bring in a new mind.
Ferentz faced plenty of flack last season for his struggling offense, but now must showcase that he can lead a successful offense. The Iowa staff needs to continue to focus on opening up the game through the air since they truly struggled to do so last season. The Hawkeyes could not get anything going in the passing game and left their offense one dimensional.
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