Tim Lester still sees opportunity to develop Iowa football’s pass game ahead of final month of season

IOWA CITY — There have been 29 Iowa touchdowns this season.

The distribution is fairly one-sided, though. Four touchdowns have been scored via special teams or the defense, 20 have been rushing touchdowns and five through the air.

Six points is six points, right? That’s how Iowa football sees it at least.

“We're still scoring touchdowns,” quarterback Mark Gronowski said after Iowa’s 41-3 win over Minnesota. “All rushing touchdowns, passing touchdowns, ... it's all six points. It felt good.”

On paper, that’s the look of a one-sided offense. Gronowski threw his first Big Ten passing touchdown last week against Minnesota, five conference games into the football schedule. The defense and special teams can certainly find the end zone, and have this season, but it’s more common to see an offensive Hawkeye shove his way into the paint rather than bring down the ball.

Of those 20 rushing touchdowns, only five have been scored by Hawkeye running backs. Instead, it’s Gronowski leading the team — and top five in the country — with 11 rushing touchdowns.

“I've never had one that runs like a fullback, though. This is the first,” Iowa offensive coordinator Tim Lester said Tuesday. “They're definitely a unique group. It takes a lot of pressure off the offense in the red zone and on short yardage, which is a huge part.”

There’s only four games left in the regular season, so where does the passing game come into play? How expandable is it?

The answer for Lester is it depends on the matchup. Like the Penn State win two weeks ago, the Hawkeyes’ run game overtook any need to throw the ball more often. Sometimes, that’ll be the case, and other times the ability to throw more exists, too.

Because of Gronowski’s knee injury sustained against Indiana on Sept. 27, the Hawkeyes have relied more on the run game to take pressure off the quarterback. It’s worked, especially with Iowa getting all of its running backs healthy.

Lester still is trying to develop the passing game, though. Gronowski was 12-for-19 against Minnesota, throwing for 135 yards and a touchdown, bringing his season-total to 946 passing yards.

“We have to keep at it,” Lester said. “The plays haven't changed. We came close on a couple big ones last week. I am calling it the same way.”

The return of wide receiver Reece Vander Zee also can help the Hawkeyes’ game moving forward. The sophomore scored his first touchdown of the season against the Golden Gophers, grabbing a high ball in the north end zone after winning the one-on-one battle.

Though he is one of 11 players, Vander Zee made an immediate impression during his freshman campaign and had the most receiving yards of any returning WR heading into this year.

“We knew we had one-on-one back there, he put it up high and let him go make a play. Hopefully that's one of many,” Lester said. “I'm really hoping for his sake — he's worked so hard to get to this point, that he can just start stacking games together.”

It may not be a season with a 300-yard passing game by Gronowski, but that doesn’t mean Iowa is a one-sided offense. Gronowski’s ability to scramble has provided a wrinkle very few detected Iowa to have this year, and having a healthier depth chart moving forward could open up the playbook even more.

Iowa’s still taking the ball on the first possession, that’s almost guaranteed. The part where it all clicks in-game, that’s what the Hawkeyes are searching for.

A bye week before facing No. 6 Oregon is certainly a good time to hone in on that, too.

“I want to see them continue to improve and run the routes with the right technique, quarterbacks getting through the progressions like they should, getting to their launch points,” Lester said. “It's fun to have a guy that really gets it and is trying to improve and understand what is we're trying to do. We have to continue to get better doing it.”

Comments: madison.hricik@thegazette.com, sign up for my weekly newsletter, Hawk Off the Press, at thegazette.com/hawks.