Iowa Hawkeyes College Football Betting - CFB Lines

2024 Iowa Hawkeyes College Football Betting

Last year, Kirk Ferentz had to swallow the bitter pill of personal loss and humiliation. Athletic director Beth Goetz fired Kirk Ferentz’s son, Brian Ferentz, as offensive coordinator. It was a long time coming. Kirk and former athletic director Gary Barta found ways around the Iowa nepotism law. When Goetz took over last year, she had no ties to that past or Brian. Most important of all, Iowa had one of the worst offenses in college football for the past several years. The arrangement became indefensible.

The tragedy of Brian Ferentz’s offense was that if it had been merely mediocre, Iowa could have won the Big Ten championships. Last year, with no offense at all, Iowa finished 10-4. Iowa’s best player was punter Tory Taylor. While that fact became the source of considerable humor, it was indicative of Iowa’s plight. Iowa had championship-level defense and kicking teams. But it had no offense to complement them.

This year Tim Lester takes over as the new OC. He is charged with producing a mid-level offense. If he does, Iowa could be a truly dangerous team. The Hawkeyes will need improvement, as the Big Ten has gotten rid of divisional play. As of this year, Iowa has nowhere to hide.

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2024 Iowa Hawkeyes Betting Preview

Iowa’s defense should be rock-solid again, but it can’t make Iowa a contender by itself. The offense will have to do its part, or it could be another season in which the Hawkeyes fall short of Big Ten contention. The schedule looks tougher than last season, so unless the offense improves considerably, Iowa could find itself in a mid-tier bowl game.

After two seasons in which the Iowa offense ranked near the bottom nationally in multiple statistical categories, athletic director Beth Goetz fired offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz with four games left in the 2023 regular season. Kirk Ferentz, the longest-tenured head coach in the country, isn’t used to having football decisions made for him. The 26th-year head coach plowed ahead, though, hiring former Western Michigan head coach Tim Lester as his new offensive coordinator and promising that the offense would look different in 2024.

Quarterback Cade McNamara suffered a season-ending knee injury in the fifth game, and backup Deacon Hill completed only 48.6 percent of his passes and has transferred. Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan will join the team this offseason to provide depth. McNamara was limited during the spring, but he is expected to be healthy by the start of preseason practice.

Iowa has some nice individual pieces on offense, including senior tight end Luke Lachey, but there is little depth at receiver. While the offensive line is experienced, it has underperformed. Iowa has solid depth at running back, but the backfield is only as good as the players up front.

Iowa won 10 games last season, mostly because of this side of the ball. Phil Parker is arguably the best defensive coordinator in the nation, and his 2024 unit should only enhance that reputation.

Iowa didn’t do much in the transfer portal, but that was mostly because the key players on defense chose to return.

2024 Iowa Hawkeyes Football Schedule

The Iowa Hawkeyes have a proud tradition and one of college football's most passionate and devoted fan bases. Iowa has 13 conference championships and five division titles. They won the national championship in 1921, 1922, 1956, 1958, and 1960. Howard Jones, Forest Evashevski, Hayden Fry, and Kirk Ferentz are legendary coaches who are on the Iowa Mt. Rushmore.

Ferentz took over for Fry in 1999 and led the Hawkwe4yuees to four top-9 or better finishes from 2002 through 2009. In recent years, Iowa has been a consistent top-25 program.

Fans have become increasingly frustrated with the lack of game-breaking talent on the Hawkeyes. Iowa is in the second tier of Big Ten contenders. And fans are running out of patience.

2024-2025 College Football Schedule

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