No. 25 Iowa eager to see offensive improvement in opener against FCS foe Illinois State

Published Aug. 29, 2024 2:40 p.m. ET

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No. 25 Iowa will unveil what it hopes will be an improved offense under first-year coordinator Tim Lester when it opens the season against Illinois State in Iowa City on Saturday.

Based on his experience from knocking around the Big Ten as a defensive assistant in the 1990s and 2000s, Redbirds coach Brock Spack predicted even if the Hawkeyes' offense is improved, there won't necessarily be anything new about it.

Spack quoted the tough-guy title character in the 1971 movie “Billy Jack” to make his point.

“Billy Jack says, ‘You know what, I’m going to put my right foot on the side of your face, and there’s nothing you can do about it,'" Spack said. "That's Iowa football. They’re going to try to run that outside sprint and inside zone and they’re going to say, ‘There’s nothing you can do about it.’”

The Hawkeyes won 10 games and made it to the Big Ten championship game last year in spite of an offense that ranked at the bottom of the Bowl Subdivision. Brian Ferentz, coach Kirk Ferentz's son, finished the season as coordinator after athletic director Beth Goetz announced in October he would not be back in 2024.

Lester, hired in January, spent last season as a senior analyst for the Green Bay Packers. The offense may feature more motion and perhaps some run-pass options for quarterback Cade McNamara, but nothing too flashy.

“I think good effort obviously, playing fundamentally sound and not doing things that are going to beat us, would be a good starting point,” he said. “Then if we can get a little momentum going and hit a couple plays, that’s always a good thing, too. That’s usually what it takes for offensive production.”

Wallace is in charge

Head coach Kirk Ferentz will serve a self-imposed one-game suspension along with wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr for committing a recruiting violation

Assistant head coach Seth Wallace, the linebackers coach and assistant defensive coordinator, will take over Ferentz's game-day duties.

“I would say we want to (win) for him, but at the end of the day, we’re also doing it for our teammates," defensive back Sebastian Castro said.

Ferentz said there's no need for the team to rally around his absence.

“We’ve got a good group of guys, and the staff will do a great job," he said. "To me it’s almost a non-factor. It could be the same thing if I got hit by a truck or something like that.”

Cade says he's OK

McNamara, who tore the ACL in his left knee in the fifth game last year, made it to game week with no health problems.

“I’ve gotten over it,” he said. "My leg’s not injured. There’s no injury, there’s nothing. This is the best my body has felt, I’m fully confident of that.”

Surprise RB starter

Kamari Moulton is listed as the No. 1 running back on the Iowa depth chart ahead of veterans Leshon Williams and Kaleb Johnson. Ferentz said Williams has been battling a nagging injury and Moulton merits the job for being consistently sharp at practice. Moulton appeared in four games last season to preserve his redshirt and ran for 50 yards and two touchdowns.

Redbirds' starting QB?

The identity of Illinois State's starting quarterback remained a mystery as of midweek. Spack said before preseason practice he'll likely have a two-quarterback system with 2023 backup Tommy Rittenhouse and Kansas State transfer Jake Rubley.

Thanks for the memories

The Redbirds have played eight games against a Bowl Subdivision team since Spack took over in 2009. Five of those have been against Big Ten opponents, with the Redbirds beating Northwestern 9-7 in 2016. They've also knocked off Colorado State (2018) and Eastern Michigan (2012). Iowa will pay Illinois State a $650,000 guarantee.

“What I like about them is it's a bus ride — you don't spend a lot of money on an airplane — and the kids in the Big Ten (footprint), most of them are from the Midwest, if not Illinois and the Chicago area. They watched these teams and now get to play against them.”

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CFB - Illinois State Redbirds vs. Iowa Hawkeyes - 08/31/2024