A Grand Experiment

At least someone in an Iowa uniform can score

Last week, the Iowa women's basketball team defeated DePaul, 94-72, in an exhibition game played outdoors at the school's Kinnick Stadium. 55,646 people attended, making it the largest crowd ever to watch a women's hoops game. Iowa, and Caitlin Clark, continue to push boundaries on the court.

Quietly, and very certainly without fanfare, the Iowa football program is doing their own kind of barrier-breaking. The 24th-ranked Hawkeyes are 6-1 this season, their only loss a 31-0 drubbing at Penn State. Their remaining schedule is, how shall I say this, softer than marshmallow fluff. There is a reasonable likelihood that Iowa represents the Big Ten West in the conference title game. Which will raise a remarkable question: can a team whose best player is its punter make the FBS Playoffs?

Entering this afternoon's home game against Minnesota, Iowa sports the worst offense in all of major college football. The Hawkeyes are last among 130 FBS teams in total offense and first downs, 128th in passing offense (ahead of only run-dominant Navy and Air Force), and 113th in scoring offense with 20.9 points per game.

6'4" senior punter Tory Taylor is, according to many, the team's best player. He averages 48.33 yards per punt, good for sixth-best in FBS, having launched 45 kicks, which is the second-most in the nation. Iowa's net punting average of 45.24 yards trails only Vanderbilt. In his career, the Hawkeyes are 10-1 when Taylor punts eight or more times, which is among the most brain-bending stats imaginable. He only punted seven times against Penn State, which seems to me to be bad coaching.

It's not as if Iowa's offensive ineptitude is a surprise, either. Coming into the season, the school modified offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz's contract to allow for early termination if the team fails to average 25 points per game. Ferentz needs 300 in 12 games to keep being paid at his current $850,000/year salary. They have 146 through seven games (with two defensive touchdowns, which count towards the total). Iowa must average 31 points per game over the remaining five regular season games to hit the mark. They've reached that level once this season, and haven't done it against a Big 10 opponent since October 29, 2022. Oh, and Ferentz is the very definition of a modern Nepo Baby, being as he's the son of long-time Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. Not great, Bob.

As you might imagine, Iowa's decent at stopping opponents. They rank 10th in the nation in scoring defense and 27th in total defense. Tomorrow's game against Minnesota may well set the sport back decades. The Gophers come into the matchup 119th in total offense and 109th in scoring offense. Vegas has pegged the over/under at 30.5. 

Tory Taylor's gonna have a field day. Make sure you stay far away from NBC from 3:30 to 6:00 Eastern tomorrow, lest Iowa rub off on you.

After tomorrow, the Hawkeyes play Northwestern, Rutgers, and Illinois at home and travel to Nebraska to end their regular season. If they run the table, they'll be in the conversation for a playoff berth. And my Lord, wouldn't that be something?