Kirk Ferentz gives honest assessment of Iowa offense against Michigan

Kirk Ferentz decided to be blunt following the rough showing Iowa had during the Big Ten Championship against the Michigan Wolverines.

While many didn’t expect the Hawkeyes to win, Ferentz certainly was disappointed to see his team’s offense unable to put up a measly point. Afterwards, the Iowa leader gave an honest assessment of the Hawkeyes’ offense, with the overarching thought being they simply weren’t good enough.

“So probably the two biggest plays, in my opinion, were the punt return and the turnover in the third quarter. Then we turned one over too, which cost us a field goal probably,” Ferentz started. “I would attribute Michigan’s defensive performance or our offensive performance to their defense. They have a really good defense, and it’s statistically proven. I think they give up ten points a game.

“That’s not our strength right now. We didn’t match up well. That’s the way it goes. We’ll go back to the drawing board.”

Nevertheless, offense has been the story of Iowa’s season in 2023. Their defense has carried them to success, but they could only do so much against the top team in the nation.

Now, Iowa will have the chance to put the right stamp on their season in their bowl game, as they’ll face Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl. We’ll see if Kirk Ferentz and company come ready to play for that showdown later in bowl season, unlike last weekend’s game against Michigan.

Tennessee vs Iowa odds: Citrus Bowl point spread released

With a slew of bowl matchups being announced on Sunday, one of the most exciting will be in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, as No. 21 ranked Tennessee faces No. 17 Iowa in a marquee SEC/Big Ten showdown.

According to FanDuel, the Volunteers enter the game as 7-point favorites over the Hawkeyes, with the point total over-under sitting at a low 36.5 points for the matchup. But here’s everything else you need to know about one of the most exciting bowl matchups that will kick off on January 1.

Iowa enters the Citrus Bowl fresh off of suffering a 26-0 loss to the now No. 1 ranked team in the nation Michigan, but did finish the regular season strong with four straight wins in their 25th season under head coach Kirk Ferentz.

Per usual, Iowa’s elite play on the defensive a significant impact on their 10-3 finish to the season, holding opponents to an average of just 13.2 points per game this year which ranked No. 4 in the entire nation across all of college football. 

But unfortunately, their offense has been quite literally the total opposite this season in comparison to their defense, scoring just 16.6 points per game to represent the fourth worst scoring offense in the FBS this year only trailing Akron, Michigan State, and Kent State. 

The Hawkeyes have leaned heavily on their defense this season, but will likely need some more help from their offense if they want to compete with Volunteers on New Year’s Day.

On3’s Kaiden Smith contributed to this article.