Saturday’s comedy of errors was a painful and frustrating four quarters of football, where Iowa’s offense found a way to shoot themselves in the foot for a full 60 minutes, turning what should have been a heavily prepared post-bye week matchup into a frustrating afternoon.
A Bye Week to Prepare and the Offense Was Out of Synch
From four fumbles and three interceptions to mistimed routes, dropped passes, and a blocked punt, the mistakes spanned the offensive depth chart. Iowa simply wasn’t mentally prepared to match Minnesota’s high-adrenaline energy. The team appeared to be suffering from a lack of full-contact, game-speed reps over the break. Reviewing the replay with a calmer state of mind makes it clear that the coaching staff’s preparation, what they did or didn’t do during the week off (or both), was the root cause of an offense that completely lost its rhythm despite numerous opportunities to win.
Minnesota’s offense ran fourteen series in this game. Fourteen! That’s basically unheard of. Unless, of course, their defense pulls in three interceptions, a fumble recovery, and a blocked punt. Nonetheless, Minnesota was only able to score 13 points, slightly below what the oddsmakers predicted. Iowa’s defense held Minnesota to 2.1 yards per rush, and 209 total yards of offense. Deshaun Lee had an interception that, with a Minnesota penalty, set up Iowa’s offense on the Minnesota 11-yard line (although the offense could only muster a field goal).
The Defense and Special Teams Did Their Part
Special teams did not stand out as much as the defense. But as usual, Caden Buhr was 1/1 on field goal attempts. Boston Everitt had a monster 60-yard punt and put 3 of 6 punts inside the 20. Iowa’s coverage on most kick returns was decent.
The Fake Punt Makes a Return
On Iowa’s fourth series of the game, they started at their own 18. This drive included a lateral pass from Hecklinski to DJ Vonnahme, and a shovel pass from Heck to tight end Thomas Meyer. The drive stalled out on the 39, and Iowa called a fake punt. A direct snap to Cam Buffington, where he rolled to the left side following his two blockers. It worked for a three-yard gain and a first down. Surprising that the risk adverse Ferentz went for it on his own 39, but clearly a sign they were seeking to find a way to spark some life into the offense.
Missed Opportunities on Critical Long Passing Plays
On Iowa’s third series of the game, they started at Minnesota’s 49 after a punt & fair catch by Evan James. On the very first play of that series Hecklinski threw a long pass to Diaz down the right sideline where he had separation from the defender. If caught, Diaz would have been at about the 15-yard line. Instead, Heck slightly underthrew the pass, allowing the defender to catch up to Diaz and break up the play.
On Iowa’s fourth series, immediately following Iowa’s fake punt for a first down, Diaz went vertical for a long slant pass in the middle of the field. Diaz was wide open by the time he got to the 25-yard line, but Hecklinski overthrew him. If the ball had been well placed it would have been an easy touchdown.
Even on Iowa’s last series of the game, Brown missed a wide open DJ Vonnahme to keep the series alive. Make the pass, and they would have had a Bonafide chance to at least run the clock down, preventing Minnesota’s last long drive after the two-minute warning.
Moving on to The Heartland Trophy
The observative types may have noticed that the photo featured for this article is the Heartland Trophy. A bronze bull with no name. Unfortunately, he has no testicles either after Bowlsby asked them to be removed prior to the public unveiling. But I digress. It’s Monday, time to flush this one and turn the page, because Wisconsin is coming to town on Saturday for Homecoming, and The Heartland Trophy is at stake. Time to get back to work at filling up the trophy case.