Iowa Football 2024
Iowa will have more offense, the defense will remain strong, and tweaks are expected to improve an already outstanding scenario. Here are five things you should know about the Hawkeyes heading into the season.
5. Iowa fans, offensive coordinator Tim Lester wants to introduce you to the forward pass.
It won’t be the run-and-shoot, the fun ‘n’ gun, or any other firearm-related terminology for throwing the football a lot of times, but it won’t be “Punt, Baby, Punt” as it has been in Iowa City for so long. New OC Tim Lester isn’t just there to kill time before the defense can return to the field.
The receiving corps has not been stress-tested and was underutilized last year.
4. Iowa’s quarterbacks should be okay.
Deacon Hill, the team’s leading passer, is now at Utah Tech, while Spencer Petras, a former starter, is at Utah State. That’s okay; former Michigan starter Cade McNamara has returned after missing the most of last season due to injury. He’s an experienced enough player to get things started, and Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan should be in the mix.
3. The scheduling could not be finer.
What else could you possibly want in an expanded Big Ten season? You have to play someone who is really talented, and Ohio State is the best team this season. Iowa can’t defeat Ohio State, so it might as well be a road game to get one out of the way. Everything else is pretty winnable.
Michigan, Oregon, Penn State, and USC are all off the schedule.
2. Even Iowa’s linebackers are very amazing.
The Hawkeyes have always been strong at the position, but this group should be among the finest yet in the Kirk Ferentz era. He had 464 tackles throughout his tenure at UVA. That’s how many Nick Jackson has produced.
Jay Higgins returns after coming up with 171 stops previous season. and Kyler Fisher is a talented option just waiting his turn to hit something.
1.
It’s Iowa – the defense owns the program Just because the other areas improved, that doesn’t mean anything stops. Yes, the offense will be better – at least it’ll be competent throwing the ball – and yes, the special teams will be great again. But it’s the defense that will once again keep the Hawkeyes in every game because that’s what this bunch does. Getting 17 points on Iowa will continue to be like pulling teeth.
Leave a Reply