Has the Iowa Hawkeyes’ offensive line done enough for Spencer Petras?

It’s a question that has to be asked. Has the offensive line done enough for Iowa starting quarterback Spencer Petras? Has it afforded Petras the amount of time he needs in pass protection to operate effectively?

Iowa offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brian Ferentz said after the South Dakota State game that he felt Petras had sufficient time to throw for the most part against the Jackrabbits.

“What percentage (of blame), it’s hard to say frankly. I felt like after watching the tape, the majority of that game we had ample opportunity in the pocket to deliver the ball and do what we needed to do as far as making the read and getting the ball to the correct guy on time. So was the protection perfect? No, but if you’re waiting around for perfect protection, you’re not going to be happy with it ever,” Ferentz said.

Petras finished by completing 11-of-25 passes for 109 yards with an interception against South Dakota State. Enter now Iowa’s seventh game of the season and some of those same offensive problems still exist for the Hawkeyes.

Last week Ferentz was asked if he felt Petras still had adequate time to throw through six weeks or if it was a different story now.

“No, that’s not always true. Just like it wasn’t always true in the South Dakota State game. I thought with the exception of two plays in that game that he had adequate time to throw. I think we could point to plays in any of the other five games where maybe he didn’t have the time, but that’s the reality of playing the position.

“You are going to have some of those instances. Now, you look at the other night. I would say there’s probably four examples where he is just certainly not going to have time to get the ball off. Unfortunately, one of them was on our last non-desperation type play. We’ve got an in-cut breaking open at about the 40. Is he going to get in field goal range? He is going to be pretty darn close. Unfortunately, that’s one of those plays where you don’t even get a chance. You couldn’t have thrown that on the plant if he wanted to, and that’s a hitch and throw. There’s opportunities in the game to overcome some things with timing. There’s other times when there’s not.

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“I don’t know if that answers your question well enough, but it’s yes and no. You look at other times. I think one of the hardest things to evaluate as a quarterback, what is the affect of what each play is having on you as the game goes on, right? There’s a cumulative effect that comes from being under duress or being hit. And, unfortunately, it is going to manifest itself from time to time when you would prefer it doesn’t,” Ferentz said.

According to Football Outsiders, Iowa’s sack rate ranks 126th nationally, allowing sacks on 10.2% on what it categorizes as non-garbage time pass attempts. That includes a 10.3% standard downs sack rate, which ranks 126th nationally, and a 9.8% passing downs sack rate, which ranks 99th nationally.

Football Outsiders’ run game numbers for Iowa aren’t ideal either. The Hawkeyes’ opportunity rate is just 39.6%, which ranks 124th nationally. Opportunity rate measures the percentage of carries when four yards are available, or when the offensive line does its job. In a similar disappointing fashion, Iowa’s stuff rate—percentage of carries by running backs that are stopped at or before the line of scrimmage—is at 22%, which ranks 119th.

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Story originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire