The Iowa Hawkeyes had a bye week. They had two weeks off to prepare for the Floyd of Rosedale rivalary game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. There were no excuses, no reasons not to be ready, none of that - yet Iowa showed up lackadaisical. In fact, the Hawkeyes no-showed.
Iowa drew close late, knotting things up 10-10 on the shoulder of Tony Diaz busting free for a big play and a Reece Vander Zee touchdown, but fell 13-10 in a game that the Hawkeyes have traditionally found ways to win. Iowa's CFP hopes are on life support as we dissect what went right and wrong.
Right: Phil Parker. In every way.
You simply cannot ask Phil Parker to do much more than he did in this game. He held Minnesota's offense to 209 yards. 209 TOTAL YARDS! That's an elite defensive performance. Minnesota got 2.1 yards per rush on the way to 72 total yards. The Gophers had just 137 passing yards.
Minnesota was just 2-of-14 on third downs. Drake Lindsey threw an interception. I can't ask a defense to be better than this. It was an elite performance that the offense and offensive coaching staff wasted, to put it as bluntly as possible.
Wrong: Bye week preparation
So, I guess, I am a little bit confused. Iowa had two weeks to prepare for this game. What exactly happened during the bye week? It just seems so confusing to me. Iowa looked dumbfounded on offense, as if Minnesota was something brand new.
It falls on the coaching staff for the offensive shortcomings and the special teams mishap on the blocked punt. Iowa walked into this game with a laid-back, lazy, lackadaisical attitude, and it caught up with the Hawkeyes in the worst type of way.
Right: Individual Performances
While so much went wrong, we can't ignore the games from a few stars. Starting with Reece Vander Zee, who scored Iowa's lone touchdown, reeling in four receptions for 69 yards amid a shuffling quarterback situation.
On defense, Bryce Hawthorne, Zach Lutmer, and Cam Buffington, Iowa's usual stars, stepped up when it mattered and shone the brightest in a game that demanded every single ounce of defensive effort to keep the Hawkeyes alive.
Wrong: Playcalling
Iowa's offense was all over the place today. On some drives, Iowa was a hard-nosed team pounding the rock. The next drive, the offense was rolling out three and four wide receivers to sling it. Then, Iowa would run nothing but RPOs. There was no rhythm or feel today.
This was an underwhelming performance from Tim Lester, which is something that hasn't been a common occurrence during his time as Iowa's offensive coordinator. Today, it felt like Iowa's play-calling was lost at times, without an identity or rhythm.
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