Iowa Hawkeyes 2024 Football Preview

In recent years, Iowa football has been a dichotomy of two extremes. On one hand the defense under Phil Parker has been one of the nation’s best. It’s elite-level and quite possibly national championship worthy.

Then there’s the I*wa *ffense that’s an offense to modern college football. Almost satirically bad last season: 127th in passing offense, 129th in scoring offense and the absolute worst in total offense.

Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz (son of Kirk) was put on notice after a dismal 2022 season that the Hawkeyes needed to average 25 points per game last season.

Iowa only topped that meager 25 point threshold in two games last season: against Western Michigan (41-10) and Michigan State (26-16). So Brian was relieved of his duties after the season, replaced by former Western Michigan coach Tim Lester. But remember this: the general plan for the offense was set by Kirk Ferentz, not Brian. Kirk wants to maintain possession, minimize turnovers and put the defense in the best position to win games. (“Punting is winning!”) So while Lester will put his wrinkles on plays, Iowa isn’t going to change it’s formula much.

Especially since Iowa pretty much returns everybody offensively. Now, returning experience is usually a good thing, but when the offense is as awful as Iowa’s has been the last few seasons, trotting out the same players probably isn’t going to result in significantly different outcomes.

At quarterback, senior Cade McNamara (6’1” 205 lbs.) returns after an injury-limited 2023 season where he completed just 51% of his passes for 505 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions. A quad muscle tear limited him at the start of the 2023 season until he finally had to get it fixed with season-ending surgery. McNamara missed most of 2022 due to injury as well, so the only reference we have is his 2021 season at Michigan where he completed 64% of his passes for 2,576 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. McNamara says he’s fully healthy and that this the best he’s felt in some time, but in an open scrimmage two weeks ago, he struggled mightily. But so did Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan (6’3” 225 lbs.) against that Iowa defense in that same scrimmage, so keep that perspective in mind. Last year at NW, Sullivan completed nearly 64% of his passes for 714 yards, six touchdown and two interceptions in four starts. All told, either has to be an upgrade over Deacon Hill, who started the last nine games last season before transferring to 1-AA Utah Tech.

Iowa’s running back room returns intact with juniors Leshon Williams (5’10” 208 lbs.) and Kaleb Johnson (6’0” 222 lbs.) Williams led with 821 yards and a touchdown last season, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, while Johnson rushed for 463 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 4.0 YPC. But a solid offseason has elevated redshirt freshman Kamari Moulton (5’9” 200 lbs.) to the top of the depth chart. That might be the spark Iowa’s lethargic offense desperately needs.

Iowa loses their top two receivers, including yet another tight end selected in the NFL draft. Junior tight end Luke Lachey (6’6” 253 lbs.) missed the last nine games after earning honorable mention All-Big Ten honors in 2022. Sophomore Kaleb Brown (5’10” 197 lbs.) caught 22 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown and will be Iowa’s leading returning receiver. Junior tight end Addison Ostrenga (6’4” 255 lbs.) also returns; he caught 31 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns last season.

All five starters return on the Iowa offensive line, led by senior left tackle Mason Richman (6’6” 312 lbs.), an honorable mention All-Big Ten honoree in 2021 and 2022. Senior left guard Nick DeJong (6’6” 305 lbs.) has been a four-year starter all over the offensive line. It’s an experienced offensive line, to be sure. But like much of the rest of the offense, returning experience from an awful offense isn’t necessarily a positive sign. Iowa seems to be hoping that a new coordinator, a healthier quarterback and a new freshman running back is going to drag the Hawkeye offense out of it’s multi-year coma.

On the other side of the ball, Iowa’s elite defense returns eight starters, though they do lose two NFL draft picks with one on the defensive line. Senior defensive tackle Yahya Black (6’5” 306 lbs) led the Hawkeyes with 3.5 sacks last season. The defensive end tandem of seniors Deontae Craig (6’3” 266 lbs.) and Ethan Hurkett (6’3” 260 lbs.) combined for 106 tackles last season; Craig led Iowa with seven quarterback hurries.

Both of Iowa’s elite linebackers turned down the NFL for their senior seasons with the Hawkeyes. All-American middle linebacker Jay Higgins (6’2” 233 lbs.) led the entire Big Ten last season with 171 tackles, a number that tied the school record. Weakside linebacker Nick Jackson (6’0” 237 lbs.) earned second-team All-Big Ten honors last season with 110 tackles. If there’s a better linebacking group in the country, I hope the Huskers don’t have to play them as well.

Iowa returns four starters in the secondary, led by senior nickle Sebastian Castro (5’11” 195 lbs.) who led Iowa with three interceptions and eight pass breakups. The second team All-Big Ten honoree was third on the Hawkeeys with 67 tackles. Senior cornerback Jermari Harris (6’1” 190 lbs.) also had eight pass breakups and had 42 tackles. Senior safety Quinn Schulte (6’1” 209 lbs.) is a two-year starter who has 136 tackles the last two seasons, while junior safety Xavier Nwankpa (6’2” 210 lbs.) added 42 tackles last season.

Iowa’s schedule is relatively friendly, as their toughest opponents should be a road game at Ohio State, with home games against Iowa State, Washington and Wisconsin. That favorable schedule plus what looks like an outstanding, elite-level defense has people thinking that Iowa is a contender for the expanded College Football Playoff. The big question is whether a healthy quarterback, a potentially new running back and a new offensive coordinator (who’s still doing what Kirk Ferentz wants his offense to do) can turn Iowa’s Pop Warner-level offense into one that could actually score a point against ranked opposition. In 2023, Iowa played three ranked opponents (Penn State, Michigan and Tennessee) – and was outscored 92-0.

That gives me pause to want to place Iowa in playoff consideration. If Iowa can look competitive on October 5th at the Horseshoe against the Buckeyes, we can reopen that conversation.