Life of Brian: Iowa has a new OC and the same offense we know and love

After a change in offensive coordinators, the Iowa Hawkeyes faithful were hopeful that the offense would at least improve over years past, and their Week 1 tune-up matchup against Illinois State was the perfect opportunity.

However, the early returns from Cade McNamara and the Hawkeyes offense directly contradicted that narrative, starting the game with two three-and-outs, a field goal, another punt, a turnover, and then one final punt. Yikes!

The Hawkeyes have had one of the worst offenses in the nation for years with Brian Ferentz, son of head coach Kirk Ferentz, helming the offense. The program finally got rid of the younger Ferentz at the end of last season.

Tim Lester, who was the head coach of Western Michigan from 2017-22 was hired this offseason with the idea being that he could at least get the offense to respectful standards this season or the next.

It should be noted that Kirk Ferentz was serving a one-game suspension against FCS Illinois State after a Level II NCAA recruiting violation that occurred in 2022.

Iowa's offense rebounds from horrendous start but concerns remain

After the awful start, though, Iowa did ultimately right the ship after putting up only six points in the first half. The Hawkeyes offense got hot in the second half, putting 34 points on the board in the final two quarters. Moreover, Iowa ended the day with 462 yards of total offense which, as Nicole Auerbach of NBC Sports noted, is the most they've put up in five years.

But let's not crown McNamara, who nearly had a 300-yard outing on Saturday, and the Iowa offense just yet. This is, after all, an FCS program in Illinois State. As the Hawkeyes face rival Iowa State and soon after eye a daunting Big Ten schedule, that's going to be a different task entirely for Lester to really turn things around on that side of the ball.

However, at least they did ultimately right the ship against an inferior opponent. We'll see if that's a building block or, perhaps more likely, if this was all about level of competition. What we saw in the first half would indicate a strong lean toward the latter.