Iowa Football: Majority of Hawkeye Fans Want Spencer Petras, Brian Ferentz Out

Had you heard Iowa is struggling offensively? It’s true! The Hawkeyes are having a very rough go of things when the ball is in their possession this season. Maybe some might even say it’s been more than a rough go. Maybe even a terrible, horrible, no good go of it. Like, not fun for anyone to watch. Maybe make you want to drink bleach and stick forks in your own eyes to avoid seeing it anymore.

Iowa has scored just one touchdown through two games and it came courtesy of a short field from the defense and special teams. In addition to the help in setting up scores, the defense itself has already scored four points this year, as has the special teams. Which is to say, the defense and special teams have scored more than the offense. So has every other offense in the country. The Hawkeyes rank dead last nationally in scoring offense, total offense, explosive plays, yards per play, QB rating, and a slew of other stats.

They’re... not great, Bob!

But what’s the solution when an offense is as putrid as Iowa’s? Well, if you ask Hawkeye fans, it’s pretty clear. Start by firing offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz. That’s what 88% of respondents to this week’s DraftKings Reacts survey think should happen.

Of course, while Brian’s offense is generally **loud, blasting fart noises**, he isn’t solely to blame for the issues this season. There are, of course, problems along the offensive line and myriad injuries in the wide receiver room. But those aren’t easily fixed or at least attempted to be fixed by a simple changing of one person.

Where that could happen is at quarterback. And that’s what Hawkeye fans are calling for. In this week’s DraftKings Reacts survey, we asked who should start against Nevada and a full 85% of you said it’s time to pull the rip cord and make the move to Alex Padilla.

Of course, that’s not what is happening. We learned earlier this week that Kirk Ferentz (and I do think it’s worth pointing out that at this point, all indications are that it is, in fact, Kirk and not Brian who is insisting on trotting Petras out there) intends to start Spencer Petras yet again this week.

So we asked you all whether you believe Kirk would make a change at all this weekend. Turns out, you all think KF is a bit on the stubborn side.

**Pretends to gasp in shock**

Only 21% of Hawkeye fans think KF will actually make a change at QB this weekend at any point.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the whole situation is that the Iowa defense and special teams units are borderline elite. What Tory Taylor has done so far this season is incredible and the defense is top-6 nationally in virtually every category you would care about.

In short, special teams and defense are the polar opposite of the offense. But with the offense being so bad, expectations for this team have fallen off a proverbial cliff and seem to be making Hawkeye fans they were going off a literal one to stop watching this insanity repeat itself week after week.

Less than a month after you all voted to say you expect this season to finish in the 8-4 or 9-3 neighborhood, your expectations for this year have utterly cratered. A full 82% of the fanbase now believes six wins is the season. More than half of fans believe Iowa will now have a losing season.

That’s happened just four times in 23 seasons under Kirk Ferentz and not since that abysmal 2012 season. Now it appears to be a real possibility just a season off of 10 wins and a Big Ten Championship Game appearance.

On the plus side, as our Cub fans are surely aware, there’s always next year!

Oh, but yeah, we don’t really expect much better. That same stubborn streak that is keeping Spencer Petras in the lineup this weekend is expected to keep Brian Ferentz on the sidelines in 2023 as 65% of Hawkeyes fans think BF will be back for the Hawkeyes a season from now.

That bleach is sounding pretty good right about now.

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