Do NOT trust anyone who says, "Because Big 12 defenses are soft !!". While true... that is absolutely not the point. The point is that Iowa lacks, and has lacked for the better part of a decade, an explosive, attacking offense. We have failed to innovate and modernize our base offensive sets. We have NOT recruited or developed offensive skill position talent at an elite level. And our O Line power foundation has diminished to our current status - as a below average running team.
We can all get into a never-ending armchair OC debate about bad play calling v. bad execution. But the reality is, Iowa's current path to scoring and success is with consistent/methodical drives. We are not an explosive team that looks to get the ball to athletes, in space. As we've seen this past month, if Iowa falls behind the down & distance pace, (for example, losing 2 yards on 1st down = 2nd & 12) we end up punting.
With all that being said, Iowa "gives away" far too many plays offensively. By that I mean - if we look at each play within it's own situational context (down, distance, game clock, field position, game score, etc.), I think Iowa needs a serious reset in its approach to risk v. reward play calling. What are the high risk, low reward plays and how can we minimize them? What are the low risk, high reward plays? And how can we run more of those?
The modern spread offense is meant to utilize the low risk, high reward plays, creating consistent and efficient offense. Iowa State is currently doing this much better than Iowa.
