Cinderella left her glass slipper at the ball, the carriage turned back into a pumpkin, and the horse turned back into mice at Iowa. After a monster win over Washington at home in Kinnick Stadium with an explosive performance from the offense, Iowa fans felt they might have been a bit too hard on head coach Kirk Ferentz. However, after the poor loss against Michigan State, fans are calling for his job yet again.
Iowa dropped 40 points on Washington in Week 7 with the offense firing on all cylinders and quarterback Cade McNamara looking like he was a competent quarterback, not turning the ball over and even throwing touchdown passes. The run game was still the highlight of the offense, but things felt different against the Huskies. Fans felt like they could hope that the offense was getting better.
Fast forward to Week 8, and the Hawkeyes are taking on a Michigan State team that is ranked ninth in the Big Ten. The Spartans have allowed 323.1 yards per game to opponents so far this season and allow an average of 131.1 rushing yards per game against opponents. For a team that runs the ball very well, Iowa's rushing attack had one of their worst games of the season against a team that is not good at stopping the rush.
The question that everyone is asking, though, when it comes to Ferentz is why he isn't willing to make a change at the quarterback position. Either he is just stubborn and refuses to admit that McNamara isn't it, or maybe Brendan Sullivan just isn't that good. Either way, something needs to change.
So far this season, the rushing attack has been what has sustained the Iowa offense, but teams are learning how to stop the run, leaving the game in McNamara's hands, and when that happens, the Hawkeyes lose. McNamara has just 944 passing yards this season on 97 completions and has thrown six passing touchdowns and four interceptions while being sacked eight times.
Only two quarterbacks have fewer passing yards than McNamara in the Big Ten, and that is Northwestern's Jack Lausch and Purdue Hudson Card. The fact that former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh made McNamara look so good in his first season seems like a fluke. However, no one will ever question his decision to bench McNamara after the performances he has put up since leaving the Wolverines.
Ferentz has continually backed the sixth-year senior, and fans are over it at this point. The fact that McNamara comes out each drive, even after poor play week in and week out, drives fans insane and says that Ferentz is just waving the white flag at this point. Who knows if Sullivan is truly any good because Ferentz won't give him a chance to actually get out on the field and prove he is better than McNamara.
There was a lot of celebrating at the Washington game, with Ferentz getting his 200th career win, but fans found themselves in the same place they were earlier this season, calling for Ferentz's job yet again against Michigan State. The problem is that Ferentz is locked in with Iowa until 2029 and has a huge buyout that the Hawkeyes probably aren't willing to pay right now.
Might as well get comfortable and used to games like these every season, Iowa fans, because the defense can only do so much, as seen against the Spartans. The Big Ten has begun to figure out Phil Parker's defense, and they are looking more and more mortal each game.
If Ferentz wants to silence the fans, he needs to make a change somewhere on the offense, but history shows that he won't do that, and fans are just going to have to deal with it going forward.