Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is expecting even more progress from an offense that has eight starters back from last year’s team that finished 8-5. The offense made big strides last season by averaging 180 yards on the ground per game and just over 26 points. “We do have a quarterback who is returning and this is probably one of our more experienced offensive groups coming back,” Ferentz says.
Junior Jake Rudock returns at quarterback after throwing for nearly 2,400 and 18 touchdowns last season. Ferentz says they didn’t know how Ruddock would handle the physical aspect and highs and lows of the entire season and he says “obviously our expectation level is going to be a little bit different than a guy who hasn’t played.” He says they just want all the quarterbacks to be better players this year.
Depth at running back has been an issue in recent years but it is not right now. The top three rushers return and lead a large stable of running backs. Ferentz says at this point there has been no discussion on moving any of them to a different position. He says Mark Weisman has the flexibility to be a fullback and running back, and he hopes having a lot of backs will be a good problem to have.
Iowa concludes spring drills with a scrimmage on April 26th.