Reviewing the 2019 Iowa Hawkeyes

The Hawkeyes have kicked more field goals than scored touchdowns this season. | Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Iowa games have been low scoring this season due to a great defense and an offense that struggles in the red zone.

In eight games against Power Five opponents not named Rutgers this season, a couple of interesting facts about Iowa immediately pop up: first, nobody has scored more than 24 points on the Hawkeyes, and second, Iowa hasn’t scored more than 26 points in any of those games. The Hawkeyes rank 11th in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging just 19.4 points in conference games, but second in scoring defense, giving up just 12.5 points per game in conference games. Junior kicker Keith Duncan leads the nation with 27 field goals converted this season; the Hawkeyes have actually kicked more field goals than scored touchdowns (26) this season. In 37 trips into the red zone, Iowa has only scored 12 touchdowns (tied for sixth worst in the country; for comparison, Nebraska has scored 23 touchdowns on 50 possessions in the red zone.

Quarterback Nate Stanley has completed nearly 60% of his passes for 2,639 yards and 14 touchdowns with six interceptions. Stanley ranks ninth in the Big Ten in passing efficiency, but isn’t much of a threat to run, gaining two yards rushing this season after subtracting out sack yardage. In fact, unlike the days of the AIRBHG (Angry Iowa Running Back Hating God), Iowa hasn’t run the ball well as of late. Except, of course, against Nebraska. Last year, Mekhi Sargent and Toren Young combined to rush for 256 yards against the Huskers. This year, those two backs have each rushed for just 488 and 408 yards respectively through the first 11 games of 2019. True freshman Tyler Goodson has taken over the top spot on the depth chart, but he hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire either, rushing for 474 yards and averaging 4.6 yards per carry. Last week, Illinois held the trio to just 51 yards on 25 carries, with Goodson leading with 38 yards on 21 carries.