Iowa Football Report Card: Defense Top of Class, Offense and Coaching Need a Tutor

Did you ever have a report card in middle school or high school that you knew was going to lead to an unpleasant conversation at home? We all did. It's part of growing up. It wasn't fun, but it happened to all of us.

You'd have a bad grade in Math or Science or something, but you would try to point out the better grade elsewhere. Maybe the A you got in your PE class or the A in Foods, where you baked cookies twice a week.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are in that situation today. The report card from the road loss to Minnesota is damning, and it has only one performance worth applauding.

Offense

Offense Grade: D-

Not good enough. There's no other way to say it. It was essentially bringing home a 62% on your math exam. Missed almost every tough question, but guessed lucky on one. That was Iowa's offense. It did nothing all day, until two catch-and-runs popped for a scoring drive to give this team hope.

The quarterbacks tossed three picks, the run game turned it over, while also going for just 90 yards on 30 carries, and a dropped pass led to an interception. It was a full-unit debacle that has plenty of film to review and work on this week.

Defense

Defense Grade: A

Iowa gave up 209 total yards. And lost. That's sickening. Phil Parker and his unit played their guts out against Minnesota to keep Iowa hanging around in this game. They stonewalled the run game and made life impossible for Drake Lindsey in the passing game.

This unit has come together very nicely, and it appears that it is going to be leaned on by Iowa down the stretch as the offensive struggles get worked through.

Special Teams

Special Teams Grade: B

This was actually a pretty solid performance from the special teams unit. There was one fumble by Evan James on a big punt return that cost Iowa field position, but it was negated by a penalty. That has to be cleaned up.

Otherwise, Caden Buhr was 1-for-1 on the day, making a 32-yard field goal, while Boston Everitt averaged a monster 46.5 yards per punt, with three of them downed inside Minnesota's 20. This unit did its job today at a level where it gave Iowa a chance.

Coaching

Coaching Grade: C-

What is so stunning to me is that this game was after a bye week. Had it been the fourth game in a row, I could understand the letdown spot. After a bye, though, it confounds me.

Tim Lester felt all over the place in this game. Some drives were run-heavy, then RPO, then spread pass. There was no rhythm offensively, which didn't help a struggling unit. Phil Parker's defensive game plan raises this one whole grade from a D- to a C-. He was THAT GOOD in this game.

Overall

Overall Grade: D+

What makes this so bad is that even with all of the mistakes, the turnovers, the self-inflicted penalties, and so much more, Iowa found itself in this game. They were the better team here and let this one slip away. Really good teams don't put themselves in those positions like Iowa did.

Add us as a preferred source on Google