NASHVILLE, Tenn. − The moments from the last time we saw this Iowa football team were unforgettable: Kaleb Johnson’s incredible 72-yard touchdown catch-and-run, Max Llewellyn’s final-minute strip-sack fumble and Drew Stevens’ walk-off, 53-yard field goal to beat rival Nebraska at Kinnick Stadium.
But what kind of got clouded over with those unforgettable moments was Iowa’s worst offensive performance of the season. The Hawkeyes managed only 164 yards – 44% of them coming on one super-human play – and five first downs in their 13-10 win.
Thus, Monday’s Music City Bowl matchup against 9-3 Missouri offers a shot at offensive redemption for the 8-4 Hawkeyes, who are 2½-point underdogs at Nissan Stadium (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN).
How much progress has Tim Lester’s offense made in December?
Maybe quite a bit.
We’ll get a chance to see exactly how much when Iowa faces a Missouri defense that has a similar profile as Nebraska’s. The Tigers allow 319.3 yards per game, 20th nationally. The Cornhuskers allowed 317.9 yards, 18th in FBS.
“Hopefully it shows tomorrow,” Lester said in a press conference Sunday. “And I’ve been really encouraged by the last month, watching the whole passing unit get better.”
Lester has recent memories of seeing a young offense put it all together in the postseason. He was with the Green Bay Packers a year ago, a team that began the year with a young fleet of receivers (just like Iowa) and a pocket-mobile quarterback in Jordan Love who was trying to find his way.
The Packers delivered their best performance of the year in a playoff game at Dallas, a 48-32 victory in which Love threw for an efficient 272 yards and three touchdowns and wasn’t sacked. Green Bay nearly pulled an upset of the San Francisco 49ers a week later.
The passing game is where Iowa needed the most work, and that’s been the primary focus in December – especially with Johnson opting out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Lester has been craving this kind of practice time with his young players as they learn the Shanahan offensive system (which Green Bay runs, too).
It takes a while for the intricately timed system to click. Once it does, the offense has the potential to take off.
“We tried to get better at the passing game, get better at our timing,” Lester said. “I really think we’re starting to understand the timing of the whole thing, (receivers) along with the quarterbacks. The only way to do that is practice it, right? Time on task is real thing.
“We have to find a way to be explosive, right? And this year, sometimes handing inside zone to No. 2 (Johnson) was our most explosive play. That’s my job, to find a way to be explosive in every game, no matter how that has to happen.”
Lester sees progress in Brendan Sullivan, talks portal
Sullivan met with the media Friday, articulating how he was 100% healthy. Lester and head coach Kirk Ferentz fielded questions about Sullivan on Sunday, and both feel confident in what they’ve seen from the Northwestern transfer this month.
Ferentz said Sullivan’s main flaw is how hard he can be on himself.
“He doesn’t need to win the game,” Ferentz said. “He just needs to play his position really well.”
Lester has seen Sullivan’s mobility return to what it was before his bad ankle sprain suffered Nov. 8 at UCLA. Sullivan threw only 19 pass attempts in his 6½ quarters as a starter this season, and it sounds like Lester is more willing to trust the pass against Missouri.
“His feet are getting better, he’s getting more comfortable in the offense,” Lester said. “This month’s been huge for him, and really for everybody. … But yeah, he’s sharp right now.”
Speaking of the future, Lester was asked about newcomer Hank Brown (an Auburn transfer) and incoming freshman Jimmy Sullivan (who finished high school two Thursdays ago). Both have participated in Iowa’s end-of-practice development periods.
And when Lester started talking about that, defensive coordinator Phil Parker smirked – knowing that was a tough ask for the youngsters.
“They’ve literally been there 24-48 hours, and I’ve got them running the show,” Lester said. “Those are invaluable (reps) for the next month before they actually show up (in January). Such a huge opportunity for them. I’m excited for both of them.
“They both had ups and downs in their six days here. They definitely showed some progress. Smart, good feet. We’re just trying to build that room and have a bunch of competition.”
On that point, Lester did say he would still like to add another quarterback to the room. He has four this spring in both Sullivans, Brown and Jackson Stratton. “I’d like five or six,” he said.
Ferentz knows his Iowa-Missouri history
“Last time we played Missouri, we had a freshman run for 219 (yards),” Ferentz noted Sunday. “I did look that up.”
Correct. In the 2010 Insight Bowl (Iowa’s only meeting with Missouri since 1910), freshman Marcus Coker carried 33 times for 219 yards after starter Adam Robinson was suspended and No. 2 back Jewel Hampton was set to transfer. The Hawkeyes won anyway, 27-24.
In other words, Ferentz has experience of finding success when a lead back (or two) is down. He is comfortable turning to two redshirt freshmen in Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson without Johnson in the backfield. Iowa enters the game averaging 199.8 yards on the ground, so well-blocked opportunities should be there.
“They’ve just got to be themselves. And they’re both good players,” Ferentz said. “I’d be perfectly happy if the two of them split the load. If we’re going to win the game, we’re going to have to run the ball.”
This is a more traditional bowl matchup
The parade of bowl games on (mostly) ESPN have been a total crapshoot in terms of who’s even available to play in today’s culture of opt-outs for the NFL Draft and the NCAA transfer portal. We even saw Miami play its star quarterback, Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward, for only a half. And that decision was a factor in Iowa State’s comeback win in Saturday’s Pop-Tarts Bowl.
But this Iowa-Missouri matchup is as close to old-school as we can get these days. Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz and Ferentz were trading notes and realized both programs only had two opt-outs for the game.
“But the rest of these senior classes are wanting to play,” Drinkwitz noted. “And they want to play together for the brotherhood.”
Iowa’s opt-outs are Johnson and cornerback Jermari Harris. Missouri will play without stud wide receiver Luther Burden and right tackle Armand Membou.
Listening to Drinkwitz, the Missouri gave off PJ Fleck vibes with his devotion to team culture, acronyms and even the word “elite.”
Drinkwitz did call this an “exhibition” game, mainly saying that a win or loss wouldn’t define either team’s season. But he emphasized the developmental approach of his Tigers, who are No. 19 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. In that sense, there are a lot of parallels between his program (which is 20-5 over the past two seasons) and Iowa (which is 18-8).
“(Ferentz) is the gold standard of college football and what it takes to build and sustain a program of success and excellence, player development,” Drinkwitz said. “It’s a real honor to be on the same football field with him and his program. Our team knows that in order for us to have a chance, we’re going to have to play a clean football game.”
A surprise absence in Kyler Fisher
Ferentz itemized three expected missing players due to injury: center Logan Jones, wide receiver Seth Anderson and defensive back Koen Entringer. But then he dropped an unexpected note that sixth-year senior outside linebacker Kyler Fisher would not be able to play due to an “unmet” academic requirement.
It sounded like Fisher just let a class get away from him and was too late to rally to be eligible for this game.
“He made every effort to make it to the finish line, but just wasn’t able to,” Ferentz said. “It’s a tough break. Nothing malicious, anything like that. We’ll be fine.”
That’s a tough way for the former walk-on to finish his playing career. But Fisher has been active in practices and with the team throughout bowl prep. Look for either Jaxon Rexroth or Landyn Van Kekerix to fill in at outside linebacker when Iowa uses its 4-3 defense.
On that note, Parker seemed in good spirits following Sunday’s final practice of the 2024 season.
“It looked like the kids were polished,” Parker said. “Really happy for them.”
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has served for 30 years with The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text-message group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
