Where does Iowa football find offense?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Almost every time he stepped onto the football field in black and gold, Iowa fans were ready to rally around Brendan Sullivan as their No. 1 quarterback.

And given Sullivan’s comments this week leading up to the Music City Bowl, it’s easy to see why.

The Hawkeyes have been searching for a quarterback upgrade in the transfer portal, and understandably so, after a passing offense that ranked 131st out of 134 FBS teams in yards and attempts. Part of that deficiency was the poor play of Cade McNamara, who started eight games, and part of it was because Sullivan – who gave Iowa a new run-pass option – lasted only 1½ games as the Hawkeye starter .

Sullivan was aware that Iowa was heavily pursuing Penn State transfer Beau Pribula and lost at the last second to Music City foe Missouri. But he remained positive and communicated regularly with offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

“Coach Lester is super transparent. That’s the motto these days,” Sullivan said of a possible expansion of the NCAA transfer portal. “You have to compete. If you are afraid of competition, you should not play the game. I am here. I remain. I play for Iowa. I will continue to do my best.”

Iowa fans loved this quote as it made the rounds on social media with responses like, “That’s my quarterback.”

Monday against Missouri marks Sullivan’s third start as a Hawkeye and first since he suffered a regular-season-ending ankle injury on Nov. 8 at UCLA. The Tigers are a formidable opponent. They are 20-5 over the last two seasons and have program momentum under coach Eliah Drinkwitz. This will be Sullivan’s first action against an SEC opponent. He knows a good performance in the game can keep the good vibes going into 2025, which could become a four-way battle for Iowa’s starting position.

“It’s obviously something that’s in the back of your mind,” Sullivan said. “Ultimately I want to play football and have fun.

“We’re playing an SEC opponent, a ranked team that had a heck of a season. We’re preparing for this as a team and I’m trying to do my part to win. If that’s a 300-yard throw, I’ll throw 300 yards.”

Sullivan’s story is one of many this week, both on and off the field.

To prepare for the matchup, let’s look at three select questions submitted by my SMS group (a free perk for Hawk Central or Register subscribers) as well as a bonus question about the future QB.

Where does Iowa turn on offense with Kaleb Johnson gone? Was the crime?

Well, first things first: Kamari Moulton is expected to be the lead running back as Iowa’s All-American Johnson has opted to prepare for the NFL Draft. The redshirt freshman is diminutive (5-foot-10, 197 pounds) compared to the powerful and graceful Johnson (6-0, 225 pounds), but he also has a feisty upside. Moulton and backup Jaziun Patterson will both transfer Monday.

“I’m prepared for this and I’ve been waiting for this my whole life,” said Moulton, a Fort Lauderdale native who has accumulated 377 yards on 70 carries this season, including a 68-yard touchdown Nov. 23 at Maryland. “I don’t feel any pressure because we’re from South Florida and we’ve always played with and against great players. This is nothing new for me.”

The offensive begins there on Monday. But I think offensive coordinator Tim Lester will make a point to include speedy slot receivers Kaden Wetjen and Terrell Washington Jr. as well as freshman wideout Reece Vander Zee (two touchdowns in the opener and a nice game at Michigan State before missing that one). ). last four games).

Because Johnson was so good, Iowa only averaged 13.5 pass attempts per game in November. His highest score of 31 attempts came in the season opener when Johnson missed the first half due to suspension. Without Johnson, expect Sullivan to throw 20-plus throws against Missouri in search of a spark on offense.

How does the Iowa defense attack the Missouri offense to create turnovers?

A well-founded question, as the Tigers are a ball-controlling, time-wasting offense. And that’s a scary question, because Iowa had major problems getting off the field (a total of one forced punt) in losses to Michigan State and UCLA – the only two games Iowa played on grass this season. And you know it: This game will be played on grass at Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.

Missouri leads the SEC and is second among power conference teams in time of possession at 33:08 per game. And his quarterback, Brady Cook, has thrown just two interceptions in his last 14 starts, or 362 pass attempts. As a team, Missouri has only nine giveaways this season.

That’s quite a challenge, but if there’s one defense that can upset Missouri’s offense, it’s Iowa, which led the Big Ten with 16 interceptions and 24 takeaways.

How to combat the Tigers’ efficiency? All-American linebacker Jay Higgins believes the key is limiting the damage from running backs Nate Noel (804 rushing yards) and Marcus Carroll (578 yards, 12 touchdowns) and forcing Missouri to become one-dimensional.

“Their offense has played great the last six games,” Higgins said. “We will try to stop the run. We’ll try to… put them in obvious passing situations and do our best to play our style of football – disrupting ways, (influencing) the timing and playing physical. I don’t think too many teams want to participate in physical bowl games. I mean, that’s the only way we can play.”

Missouri’s big opt-out is star receiver Luther Burden, a projected first-round NFL draft pick. But Theo Wease (55 catches, 809 yards) will keep the Iowa pass defense honest. Look for the Hawkeyes to execute their usual basic plan, with a slight increase in aggressiveness against the run. What happened at Michigan State and UCLA (consistent runs) can’t happen again.

They want Cook (who once managed an SEC-record 365 consecutive attempts without an interception) to make some catastrophic mistakes in his fourth bowl start. Simply put, this requires Phil Parker’s Iowa defense to take some risk at some point, perhaps with a few timed attacks from Nick Jackson or Sebastian Castro.

Is Kirk Ferentz more concerned with getting the sixth-graders a bowl win or seeing what he does next year?

More on the bowl win. Always has been under Ferentz and always will be. But that doesn’t mean he and the Hawkeye team aren’t looking to the future.

I actually think this bowl game blends both worlds pretty well. The departures of Johnson and cornerback Jermari Harris have opened up the opportunities mentioned above for younger players at the talent positions.

Bowl prep in December has always been a time for true freshmen to take the next step, and four new names we saw on Monday are receiver KJ Parker, running backs Brevin Doll and Xavier Williams, and defensive back Rashad Godfrey.

I also think Lester wants to test his passing game a bit more as Iowa is expected to have a more balanced offense in 2025.

But Ferentz is determined to win and play against his veterans. The 20-plus seniors in their final games as Hawkeyes have internalized the importance of ending their careers with a win.

“One last time with your boys, you have 60 minutes,” said Jackson, who will play his NCAA record 73rd game but wouldn’t miss it for the world. “It’s another football game and you want to go out the right way.”

Bonus question: Who do you think will start at QB next year? Someone on the roster or another transfer portal guy?

The Hawkeyes could still get someone in this portal cycle. And if Lester doesn’t like what he sees from his quarterbacks in the spring and the right opportunity arises, they could pounce during the portal’s spring entry period (April 16-25).

But as the dust has settled a bit and some positive energy surrounding the quartet and the symmetry of Sullivan (one more year), Jackson Stratton (two more years), Hank Brown (three more years) and Jimmy Sullivan (four more years). ) prevails, I would say the starter from August 30th against Albany is on the current roster.

And none of the four would completely shock me, not even Jimmy Sullivan. But if I had to give a percentage for the current crop, I would choose Brendan Sullivan at 50%, Brown at 30%, Stratton at 15% and Jimmy Sullivan at 5%. How is that?

Chad Leistikow’s Music City Bowl prediction

Time, TV, line: 1:30 p.m. CT Monday, ESPN, Missouri by 2½ points

Where Missouri comes out on top: Tigers edge rusher Johnny Walker Jr. (6-3, 250) has the longest sack streak in the country at six straight games, and he has seven½ for the season. Walker also has three forced fumbles. … Cook has some Nate Stanley vibes as he has a 26-13 career record at Missouri (Stanley was 25-14 at Iowa from 2017-19) and is entering his final collegiate start. … Missouri is ranked No. 20 and is motivated to put together the school’s first back-to-back ranked seasons since 2013-14. Iowa is now 0-8 against its last eight ranked opponents. … The Tigers are great on third down (46.7%).

Where Iowa comes out on top: Special teams with punter Rhys Dakin, returner Kaden Wetjen and kicker Drew Stevens should be a big advantage. Iowa only needs to reach Missouri’s 35-yard line to settle for three points. … The Hawkeyes can gain confidence knowing that the Tigers have failed against major league opponents (loss 41-10 to Texas A&M, 34-0 to Alabama). This should be more competitive than the 35-0 loss to Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl last year. … In Sullivan’s only dual start as a Hawkeye, Iowa defeated Wisconsin 42-10.

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