The Talent Gap is Growing Between Iowa and College Football Elite

The Iowa Hawkeye lost at the Horse Shoe against Ohio State on Saturday. That sentence, and the game's final score, 35-7, shouldn't have surprised many Iowa fans. This Buckeye team is loaded at every position and should compete for a National Championship. The fact that some had Iowa as a dark horse team for the College Football Playoff now seems laughable. But Saturday's game meant much more. It was another example of the growing gap between the best in college football...and Iowa Hawkeye football.

Only a handful of teams in football could have hung with that OSU team on Saturday. Iowa only trailed 7-0 at halftime. But as the Athletic points out, the Hawkeyes have been outscored 270-51 by the last eight ranked opponents they've faced. Only one of those games was competitive. In their last two games against the Buckeyes, Iowa has been outscored 89-17. We're not gaining ground on the Buckeyes. We're not even treading water. And it didn't used to be this way, even under Kirk Ferentz.

The Athletic reports that from 2008 to 2021 Iowa faced 16 top-10 opponents. They won eight of those ball games. Of the eight losses Iowa suffered, only the Rose Bowl loss to Stanford had a final margin greater than 10 points. Flash forward to 2024. None of Iowa's eight straight ranked losses have been close.

Even though it is better than last season, the Iowa offense simply can't keep up. Cade McNamara, the only active Big Ten quarterback to have beaten Ohio State, wasn't the answer on Saturday. Iowa's stud running back Kaleb Johnson, was constantly hounded and held to under 100 yards rushing. The Hawkeye defense could only hold up for one half. None of this means that Iowa still won't win most of their games moving forward and have a year that will make most fans happy. But the competitive gap is only growing. The Athletic reports that Ohio State has a reported NIL war chest of $20 million.

Your move, Kirk.