Iowa’s passing offense has been, um... interesting for the past several years now and many around the program are curious to see if offseason changes following the retirement of Greg Davis as offensive coordinator will help inject any life into the Hawkeyes’ aerial attack.
While most expect only a few new wrinkles with Brian Ferentz taking over as playcaller, personnel losses at quarterback and wide receiver may hamper the effectiveness of the team no matter what Iowa tries to do differently. After all, Matt VandeBerg is the only Hawkeye to have caught a pass for the team and the addition of New Mexico transfer Matt Quarells means only two receivers have a reception at the FBS level period. Oh, and they’re breaking in a new quarterback for 2017.
The team’s solution? It appears to involve utilizing the one position where depth is no question by putting two -- or even three -- running backs on the field at the same time.
“Maybe because you are a running back you don’t have to line up in a traditional running back spot. I think we need to be open to guys playing different spots and moving around a little bit and find ways to get them the ball in that manner,” the younger Ferentz told Landof10.com on Saturday. “I could see us playing with three running backs on the field. If three running backs are our best option to win a football game we are going to get them on the field somehow. Three guys in the backfield, maybe no guys in the backfield. If we felt like having four receivers on the field was the best thing for us to win, then we’ll find a way to do that.”
The Hawkeyes already have two 1,000 yard rushers in the backfield with returning starter Akrum Wadley and Nevada graduate transfer James Butler. Add in sophomore Toks Akinribade and a number of options at fullback and you can start to see why it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see a few formations trot out three running backs in order to get something going in the passing game.
Ferentz held the title of run game coordinator last season prior to his promotion to OC so it makes plenty of sense he’ll get all of the tailbacks more involved in the passing game as is. In doing so, he’ll be playing perfectly into Iowa’s recent offensive reputation at the same time even if things do pan out this fall.