Breaking Tendencies: Iowa's Biggest Offensive Question Against Washington

Let's just be honest for a moment: this is not the ideal week for the Iowa Hawkeyes to have a cross-country road trip on a short week against a desperate Big Ten team. It's just not great.

It's never ideal to have all that stacked against you and be forced to respond, but it's really tough when you have some rather large health concerns dotting the offensive depth chart. The quarterback's health, specifically, causes some concern.

No one is going to have a pity party for Iowa, though. It's time to overcome the hurdles, pick up a quality road win, and get to 5-1. That starts with a gigantic question looming.

What changes this week? Something has to...

I am looking directly at Iowa's rushing attack, or lack thereof, I should say. Earlier this week, I dug into Iowa's ground game on a per-game basis, as opposed to the overall stats. It painted a scary picture. The Hawkeyes haven't been able to run the ball against Power Four teams.

Getting that going is a non-negotiable for the offensive line and this offense. Iowa has to be able to run the ball to sustain drives; otherwise, Hank Brown will be under duress all game, as we saw against Ohio State, which he left early due to injury.

How does the run game get better? It's simpler than we think

I don't think it's some gigantic riddle to get the ground game going if you are Iowa. The last two seasons, both with Tim Lester as the offensive coordinator, have seen similar schemes.

The 2026 scheme is more like the 2024 scheme with Kaleb Johnson. It is a lot of zone blocking, as opposed to the 2025 run game that saw more option and RPO looks due to Mark Gronowski's running ability.

As it stands right now, over 51% of all of Iowa's rushing attempts have come on first down. Looking at every play on first down, Iowa has shown a tendency to run it on 55% of first-down plays.

It's who Iowa is. They want to stay ahead of the sticks. I get it. But this is an area where Iowa can change its tendencies.

Where Iowa can open up the run game is with quick throws and pre-snap RPOs on first downs. This is where defenses are going to give Iowa most of its base looks and man-to-man looks. Iowa has to be willing to use the pass to open up the run, as opposed to setting up play-action with the run game.