Iowa Defeats Utah State 24 to 14! Thoughts!

      The Hawkeyes started the year with a win against Utah State Saturday 24 to 14. It was kind of an up and down game. The offense started really good but kind of fizzled out. Defense also started out really well but gave up some plays and points later in the game. I'll start with my thoughts on the how the offense played. 

    Literally the offense couldn't have started any better with Cade McNamara throwing a TD Pass on the Second play of the game to Seth Anderson. One thing that stood out right away was Cade is a very accurate quarterback, I saw very few passes that were just way off. One big concern again is their just seems to be no Wide Receivers making big contribution. Now there were some good things Anderson had the TD but the Wide Receivers Nico Ragaini, Seth Anderson, combined for just 4 catches. Anderson 2 catches for 41 yards 1 td, Nico Ragaini 2 Catches for 36 Yards. The Tight Ends were the standouts in the passing game again with Luke Lachey catching 7 passes for 73 yards, Eric All had 3 catches for 15 yards. I think for this team to get to where they want to go, they need more receivers to step up. Ohio State Transfer Kaleb Brown and returning receiver Diante Vines didn't have a reception. Neither guy really was targeted. Drops were a problem too as Iowa easily should have led 21 to 3 at Halftime but Ragaini dropped a td on a beautiful fade from Cade and Lachey had a drop too that would have been a big gain potentially a td. It's obvious they have some weapons but once again they have to find ways to get the ball to them. For whatever reason other teams can get the ball to their top Wide Receiver but we can't. The good news is the offensive line's pass blocking was excellent, Cade had plenty of time to throw and was barely hit. 

    The Most disappointing thing for the offense to me was the running game. It just seemed like we couldn't get any push or yards consistently. Iowa had 36 carries for just 88 yards averaging 2.4 yards per carry. Coming into the game I though the run game would really show out but there was nothing other than a few good runs. One thing that was noticeable is Kaleb Johnson is going to be the featured back he had 19 carries for 63 yards 1 Touchdown. The rest of the backs combined for just 11 carries with Leshon Williams getting 6 and Jaziun Patterson 5. Multiple things have to happen for the running game to work first line has to block well and the backs have to see the holes. 

    Play calling I thought was okay nothing really stood out to me other than we ran a lot of screens. Several TE Screens which I think will likely be a big part of this offense moving forward. I did like the jet sweep that worked a couple of times to WR Caden Wetjen. Obviously, it's hard to get to some of those deeper play action passes when the run game averages just 2.4 yards per carry. 

    Defensively they were pretty good especially LB Jay Higgins who seemed to fit seamlessly in replacing Jack Campbell. LB Nick Jackson looked a little bit lost at times but he's playing a new position then he did at Virginia so it might take a bit to get adjusted. It was great to see Xavier Nwankpa make a really nice Interception. Iowa only got one sack on Utah State, but they put a lot of pressure on him and sometimes were just one step away. Utah State ran a really fast no huddle offense, that was as quick an offense as I've seen in a while. CB Deshaun Lee making his debut for the Hawkeyes was picked on a bit but did have 7 tackles. He will likely see a lot of action again this coming Saturday at Iowa State. It was a little disappointing to see Utah State put up over 300 yards but a lot of those came after Iowa had already pulled some of their starters. 

    All in All, it was a win but definitely room for a lot of improvement. Offense was inconsistent which we have come to expect. We have a really good QB in Cade McNamara if he gets the time, he got on Saturday he should be able to make plays. The Run game has to be a lot better. I was expecting a little bit more from the Hawks on Saturday, but they are still 1-0. After watching a lot of College Football on Saturday the parody seems to be a lot closer with some of these smaller teams and the bigger teams. Now on to Iowa State so we will really find out about this offense because the Cyclones have a very good defense.