IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Hawkeyes were cooking. Last week, they experienced a rare offensive outburst in dumping Southern Illinois, 40-0. They carried the momentum
Last week, they experienced a rare offensive outburst in dumping Southern Illinois, 40-0. They carried the momentum over to Saturday in building a 13-0 halftime lead with rival Iowa State in town.The Cyclones rallied for a 20-19 victory in front of a mostly stunned Kinnick Stadium crowd. That from an ISU outfit looked lost in the first half.
In the second half, ISU resembled Jeff Brohm-coached Purdue teams attacking the Hawkeyes. Like the Boilermakers, Iowa State took shots with NFL-caliber receivers. Their quarterback dropped dimes.The latest outing was an aberration for a unit that's stood the test of time. It still was good enough against a talented Cyclone offense.
So, yeah, this team's fate will be decided by how the offense develops. We probably won't learn of any growth next Saturday when 0-2 Troy comes to town, but it better be happening in practice. Trips to Minnesota and Ohio State are up after that. First-year offensive coordinator Tim Lester has input, but the head coach Kirk Ferentz has the final say at who lines up behind center. It's hard knowing what would trigger a change from Ferentz, who has been slow to bench the starter throughout his career.
It's not all on McNamara, either. Lester's play-calling wasn't fooling ISU very often after halftime, and he needs to get the ball into his playmakers' hands. Luke Lachey, Addison Ostrenga and Kaleb Brown are not being utilized enough in the passing game. It is too early to pull the plug on McNamara. He's playing because the coaches feel he gives the team its best chance at victory. If that weren't the case, the coaches would lose the locker room.
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