Brown: Iowa Football Perseveres in '22

Hawkeyes Reach 8 Wins Despite Uneven Ride During Latest Season

IOWA CITY, Iowa - One of the strangest, most statistical-challenged football seasons in Iowa football history is over.

The Hawkeyes won the first game of the season with two safeties and a field goal. They won the last game despite failing to convert any of their 13 third-down conversion attempts. You have to go back to 2014 to find a Power Five offense averaging less than the 251.6 yards Iowa did. The Hawkeyes haven’t been this bad, statistically, on the offensive side of the ball since 1978. Bob Commings was the coach, the team went 2-9 and scored a touchdown or less in five of 11 games. They averaged 11.4 points and 222.7 yards a game.

Commings was fired. Athletic director Bump Elliott had his third- and final chance - to get it right after Commings and Frank Lauterbur won a total of 22 games over eight seasons. Elliott aced his third attempt when he hired Hayden Fry from North Texas. Fry and his successor, Kirk Ferentz, have taken Iowa to a sustained level of success for more than four decades. With that success has come a heightened level of expectation from the fanbase.

Iowa’s offense this season didn’t meet those preseason expectations. That’s not up for debate. In the off-season, there were promises of a retooled offensive attack. All seven games were sold out before the season started. And the offense never got off the ground. Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz has been the leading target for criticism, with head coach Kirk Ferentz close behind.

Injuries at the receiver position, namely Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini, played a role. Quarterback Spencer Petras didn’t have the kind of season he expected out of himself, and the inconsistent play of the offensive line was another major factor. Iowa’s offense became a punch line for national media as well as even the most loyal of Hawkeye fans.

Iowa finished with an 8-5 record, winning five of the last six games after getting embarrassed at Ohio State, 54-10. The lone loss in those last six games, an upset at home to Nebraska, cost the Hawkeyes the West Division title.

Even with that substandard play on offense, the strange-but-true reality is Iowa came close to chalking up double-digit victories. The five losses included two at home to teams that finished with losing records, Nebraska and Iowa State. There was every chance in the world to win a game the Hawkeyes lost at Illinois, 9-6.

Iowa recorded its 10th consecutive winning season, and became the 14th Ferentz-coached team to win at least eight games. Iowa’s record since 2015 is 71-30. But this season was underachieving because one of Phil Parker’s best defenses wasn’t taken full advantage of.

Saturday’s 21-0 victory against Kentucky in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl was the first shutout by a Big Ten in a bowl game since 1999. Ten of Iowa’s 13 opponents scored 13 points or less. Kentucky managed 185 yards, the sixth time the Hawkeye defense held an opponent to 200 or less The defense scored 66 points this season.

That defense should be rock-solid again in 2023. All eyes in the off-season will be focused on the offense, and Kirk Ferentz has some tough decisions to make. Does he make a change at offensive coordinator, or with the offensive line? He’ll answer those questions sooner than later, and Hawkeye Nation will be watching and waiting.

Should Iowa fans want more from the offense? Absolutely, and without question. The addition of Michigan transfer Cade McNamara at quarterback is a big step in the right direction. So are tight end Erick All, one of McNamara’s favorite targets at Michigan, and wide receiver Seth Anderson from Charleston Southern. And there could be more help on the way.

With that said, I think fans should also take a moment to appreciate what Kirk Ferentz has accomplished on a consistent basis. Iowa has won eight games or more in six of the last seven seasons. The exception was a 6-2 mark in the COVID season of 2020.

Ferentz has sustained consistent success because of the positive culture in his program. The opportunity is there for those who want to make the most of that opportunity. That’s why players like linebacker Jack Campbell, cornerback Riley Moss and tight end Sam LaPorta never considered skipping the bowl game. Playing one more game, for Iowa, for Ferentz and with their teammates, made it an easy decision for them.

And judging by his teary farewell to those players, you can tell Ferentz feels the same way about them. He got emotional when LaPorta left the field for the last time on Saturday and gave his coach a hug. He got emotional when he hugged Moss as Iowa waited to receive its bowl trophy. He got emotional the day before the game when he was asked what Campbell meant to him.

All three of those players - and there are more, too - have displayed a loyalty to their coach in a developmental program that’s not for everyone. In today’s age of the transfer portal, player poaching and escalating NIL deals, that loyalty is there for a reason.