During the Syracuse game last weekend, there was a guy, not this guy, who was constantly yelling at the Iowa coaching staff to “Just run the ball down there throats.”
For the record, Iowa ran for 118 yards but only 2.9 yard per carry and was definitely not shy about running it. There were 41 total rushes by the Hawks.
In the end though, I think there was a definite focus on the passing game for a few reasons.
First of all, almost everybody on Syracuse was committed to stopping the run which just makes it too easy to throw the ball.
Also, there were 8 dropped passes against Northern Illinois and quite a few bad early throws by Christensen in that game. I think Ferentz decided that the passing/catching game needed fixed ASAP before getting into the Big Ten games. If we have 8 dropped passes against Wisconsin, there is little chance of winning that game.
Everybody knows that between the offensive line and a couple really talented running backs that the running game should be fine. But that will only work if the passing game is good enough that teams have to pay attention to it.
I am a huge fan of a brutal, pounding, clock killing running game but in the era of TV timeouts between each possession it is getting very difficult to just completely wear out the defense and let the running game take over in the second half. Being able to pass the ball keeps the defense covering the whole field which makes it much easier for the running game to work.
I guarantee you that seeing Moeaki have such a huge game is going to be very disturbing for the linebacking corps of the Big Ten teams. Do they stuff the run and get beat with the 10 yard pass over the middle or do they drop back and end up not getting back to the running back until he is already 5 yards past the line of scrimmage.
Personally, I don’t care what the other linebackers do. Iowa used the Syracuse game to prove that they can flourish either way.
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