ESPN sneaks Iowa Hawkeyes into 2024 ‘way-too-early’ top 25 rankings
Somehow, someway, the Iowa Hawkeyes always find themselves on the cusp of the rankings going into each football season.
The groundwork is set as the Hawkeyes were No. 24 in USA TODAY Sports’ “way-too-early” top 25 rankings for 2024. This time, they find themselves barely hanging on for a spot in the rankings.
ESPN has the Iowa Hawkeyes ranked No. 25 in their 2024 “way-too-early” top 25 rankings. Iowa is the last team in and has some serious question marks and positions to fill, but their pieces that are already in place earned them this spot.
2024 outlook: Hear me out: Iowa averaged 15.4 points per game in 2023, which ranked 132nd out of 133 FBS teams (only Kent State was worse) in scoring offense. The Hawkeyes somehow managed to win 10 games and capture a Big Ten West title. Sure, they were shut out in their final two games, falling to Michigan 26-0 in the Big Ten championship game and to Tennessee 35-0 in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. It was the first time Iowa had been shut out in consecutive games since 1966.
Don’t forget Iowa played its final nine games without starting quarterback Cade McNamara, who tore an ACL on Sept. 30. So, if coach Kirk Ferentz can hire the right offensive coordinator to replace his son, Brian, things have to get better, right? A handful of six-year seniors, including cornerback Jermari Harris and linebacker Jay Higgins, have already announced they’re coming back. The bad news: Taylor is departing after setting an NCAA record for punting yards in a season with 4,479. – Mark Schlabach, ESPN
It can’t get any worse than the last two years, right? At some point, this team has to stumble into some semblance of offensive success even if that means being perfectly average in the nation. An average offense makes this team lethal to ranked opponents.
What makes them so lethal is the defense. Five Iowa defensive starters opted to return in 2024 after weighing their decision stay-or-go decisions to the NFL. That group includes linebackers Jay Higgins and Nick Jackson, CASH Sebastian Castro, cornerback Jermari Harris and safety Quinn Schulte.
They bring back a ton of production and experience to a unit that is near the top each year already.
If the offense can improve, the departure of Tory Taylor, while not ever fully replaceable, can at least be mitigated by sustained drives using the clock and flipping field position.
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