3 Massive Concerns For Iowa Hawkeyes Before Ohio State Matchup

The Iowa Hawkeyes have some major concerns heading into their next game against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Sep 21, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback Cade McNamara (12) looks on during the second half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a bye coming up in Week 5, and they will spend their time preparing for a Big Ten showdown with the Ohio State Buckeyes on Oct. 5.

Iowa is 3-1 and just defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but it's clear that the team has some major issues.

Here are a few significant concerns for the Hawkeyes.

Quarterback play

At what point will head coach Kirk Ferentz give serious consideration to benching Cade McNamara in favor of Brendan Sullivan?

McNamara went 11-for-19 with a season-low 62 yards against Minnesota, and on the season overall, he has thrown for 588 yards, three touchdowns and a couple of interceptions while completing 62.7 percent of his passes.

The 24-year-old transferred from the Michigan Wolverines in December 2022 and has been a bust since then, struggling in five games last season before tearing his ACL.

Could Sullivan represent a better option? At this juncture, it wouldn't hurt to try. After all, McNamara has thrown for under 100 yards in two of his first four games this year.

Where are the wide receivers?

Two of Iowa's top three pass-catchers in 2024 have been tight ends, which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given the school's history.

But the Hawkeyes' wide receivers have been absolutely non-existent.

Jacob Gill is the team's leading receiver with 13 receptions for 145 yards and a touchdown. The next closest is Reece Vander Zee, who has logged seven catches for 94 yards and a pair of scores.

Against the Golden Gophers, Iowa's wide outs accumulated two grabs in total.

How much this has to do with quarterback play and how much it actually has to do with the receiver talent is definitely debatable, but it's not a great sign moving forward.

Inconsistency

The Hawkeyes have not put together a single, consistent 40-minute effort throughout their first four games.

Yes, Iowa hammered Illinois State 40-0 in Week 1, but it had only scored six points by halftime. The Hawkeyes then lost to Iowa State, fell behind 14-10 to Troy at the half and were trailing Minnesota entering the third quarter.

Thanks to heroics from running back Kaleb Johnson, Iowa has managed to scrape together three wins and has looked dominant for short stretches. But the Hawkeyes have not even gotten into the meat of their schedule yet.

Iowa cannot expect to play one good half and beat Ohio State. Or Michigan. Or Oregon. Or most teams in the Big Ten.