Iowa football: Hawks emphasize passing game in win over Panthers
By Andrew Wade
In the first two games, the passing attack had been dismal, which is why the Iowa football team emphasized it this week in it’s game plan for the Panthers.
I am not going to sit here and say the passing game is fixed or that we have nothing to worry about. Although the Iowa football team’s passing attack was much improved in week three against the Panthers, it was still a FCS team, and there are still things to work on. Regardless, it was nice to see the passing attack get off to a good start and to see Noah Fant and Nick Easley get the targets they need to make the team successful.
In Saturday night’s contest, Iowa football quarterback Nate Stanley threw for more yards (309) than he did in his first two games combined (274). Maxwell Award nominee Noah Fant more than doubled his season receiving yards leading up to this game (41) with an outstanding five catch, 99-yard performance. Last but not least, last year’s leading receiver Nick Easley went from one catch (and 15 yards) in the first two games to ten catches for 103 yards and a touchdown.
It was obvious from the start of the game, the Iowa football team was making an emphasis of getting the passing game going and getting their key guys involved. Furthermore, the team ran a lot more of an up-tempo offense than we traditionally see from the Iowa football program.
This was all by design according to head coach Kirk Ferentz in his Saturday night press conference:
"Yeah, I mean we have been trying for three weeks to throw the ball with some success and it looked a lot better tonight. It was good to see some things, but as I was alluding to a minute ago I think we were seeing it in practice too. Wednesday in particular I thought we looked like we were starting to maybe get where we want to get or at least moving in the right direction."
As the passing attack picked up, it was nice to see Easley more involved in the game plan too. Through the first two games, his targets have been limited and not just because of Nate Stanley not throwing him the ball but by play design. Last season, Iowa loved to run different variations of screens to the senior wide receiver but in the first two games, that was nowhere to be seen. The Panthers got a heavy dosage of that Saturday night, however.
According to Kirk, it sounds like there is a reason behind this too; Easley was a little banged up and it was only a matter of time before he got more involved in the offense.
Kirk addressed the injury question and Easley’s involvement early in his conference with this:
"Yeah, a little bit but nothing major. Just it’s kind of funny how things get going or don’t get going and our passing attack, in general, it was just kind of sporadic. So at least tonight we looked a little bit more representative of what we’re trying to be. And Nick’s a good football player. So to me it was just a matter of time, before he starts showing some good things and good to see him running around out there."
It remains to be seen how the passing attack progresses moving forward. The Hawkeyes have a tough test in playing the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday with the Badgers coming off a disappointing loss to BYU. Historically, the Iowa-Wisconsin game is more of a battle of a trenches game than an air it out game.
Last season, both team’s passing attacks combined for 176 yards combined. These two teams are cut from the same cloth, but with the success Iowa had running an up-tempo offense Saturday, it will be interesting to see if that is utilized against the Badgers or if they’ll revert back to traditional Iowa football and rely on the running game.