Iowa should consider making these changes to turn season around

Clearly, Iowa is going in the wrong direction. That much is obvious after 2 straight losses in which it scored a total of 14 points.

Watching an inept offense squander the opportunity to win the West and reach the Big Ten Championship Game has to be incredibly frustrating for Iowa fans.

What can Iowa do in the short term to get this season turned around? Here are a few options:

1. Switch play callers

Kirk Ferentz is going to have to have some tough conversations in the offseason about the direction of this offense. And a lot of that will involve his son, Brian Ferentz, who has been the offensive coordinator since 2017. Iowa’s offense is ranked 124th nationally right now, with the only teams below it being UMass, Navy, UConn, Southern Miss, New Mexico and Colorado. Not exactly elite company.

I’m not going to pretend like I know football better than either Ferentz. But here’s what I do know: On paper, Iowa should have had a good offense this season. Spencer Petras is in his second year as the starting QB, Tyler Goodson was a First Team All-B1G running back last season and center Tyler Linderbaum is one of the best offensive linemen in the country. Those are some terrific building blocks. So to be averaging 4.43 yards per play (125th nationally) and 2.88 yards per rush (123rd nationally) is unacceptable.

When a program is doing something unacceptable, it is supposed to make changes. Look at Ohio State, for instance. Ryan Day demoted his hand-picked defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs after Ohio State lost to Oregon. The Buckeyes have shown a lot of improvement the last few weeks on that side of the ball.

I’m not saying this pitiful offense is the fault of Brian Ferentz, but he is the one who coordinates it.

2. Give more reps to Alex Padilla

Spencer Petras is who he is at this point. He’s a below-average QB who can win games when placed in optimal situations. But without the benefit of good field position or a strong run game, he’s not a difference maker. He is 11th in the B1G in completion percentage (58.4), 10th in yards per attempt (6.5), 11th in QB rating (121.2) and 8th in yards per game (178.3). Whatever metric you want to use, it’s not a pretty picture.

Take, for instance, his last pass of the game against Wisconsin. It’s fourth-and-13 with just under 11 minutes left. His receiver runs a comeback route right at the first down marker, but Petras thinks he is going to continue down the sideline. Even if they were on the same page, the throw was about 10 feet over the receiver’s head. ESPN play-by-play man Bob Wischusen called it “a lob to the sideline that has no prayer.”

On top of that, Petras is as immobile as a QB in 2021 could be. With Iowa’s offensive line struggles, that’s a very bad combination.

So why not give backup QB Alex Padilla a shot? He has been in the program for 2 years now, so he should be comfortable at this point. He is much more mobile than Petras, too. He got in for the final 2 drives against Wisconsin, and there was a play that stuck out. Pressure forced him to roll out to his left, and after avoiding the sack, he threw on the run across his body and hit Sam LaPorta in stride for a gain of 28. There is something to build on here, to see if his mobility could alleviate some of the problems Iowa is facing.

3. Run more 2-tight end sets

I thought this was a very interesting nugget in Scott Dochterman’s story on The Athletic:

Through Iowa’s first seven games, the offense’s most productive personnel groupings included two tight ends on the field (4.1 yards per carry, 7.1 yards per pass attempt). With one or no tight ends in the game, Iowa averaged 2.7 yards per carry and 6.5 yards per pass attempt.

OK, so that seems like an easy fix. Iowa churns out tight ends like nothing. LaPorta is Iowa’s best pass catcher, and it could involve someone like Luke Lachey even more. He only played 23 snaps against Iowa (compared to 54 for LaPorta), so get those guys out there together more.

4. Intercept more passes

This one seems obvious, right? Iowa is 4-0 against Power 5 opponents when it intercepts 3 or more passes, and 0-2 when it doesn’t. Problem solved!

I’m kidding, obviously. But yeah, forcing a few turnovers would certainly help. Iowa has forced only 1 the last 2 games.

Ryan O'Gara

Ryan O'Gara is the lead columnist for Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGara.