Average is not something that most people strive to be. Being average is definitely not the goal for college football teams as they prepare for their season. Teams map out and strive to reach their goals each year, but you’ll never hear a coach or team captain in a locker room give a pregame speech to the team where they say “We gotta go out there and be average” and then put their hands together and say, “One, two, three, average!”
However, there’s one team, on one side of the ball, where they might be and should be striving to be average this season. Since 2020, Iowa’s offense and in particular its performance at the quarterback position has not only been below average, it’s statistically near the bottom of all FBS teams.
Since 2020, Iowa has an overall record of 34-15 with two 10-win seasons, two Big Ten Championship Game appearances and three top-20 CFP finishes. That’s a four-year stretch that a lot of programs would take in an instant if given the opportunity. Iowa accomplished all of that with an offense that averaged the fewest explosive plays per game in FBS (2.9 plays of 20-plus yards per game) and averaged 20.9 points per game (122nd in FBS). The program is left thinking about a lot of what-ifs in regards to its poor offensive output.
What if the Iowa offense was in the middle of the pack statistically?
Maybe the Hawkeyes could’ve had a top-10 team. Maybe they would’ve won a Big Ten Championship and made their first College Football Playoff appearance. But you can’t win a Big Ten Championship if your offense can’t score. Iowa has faced Michigan in two of the last three Big Ten Championship Games and have been outscored 68-3, including a 26-0 shutout in 2023. In fact, Iowa’s offense was shut out three times in 2023 (most in FBS)….
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