The 2023 Iowa Hawkeyes finished their season ranked fourth in in the FBS in total defense, which was a good thing… because Iowa’s offense was a disaster. The 10-3 Hawkeyes finished 130th of 133 teams in points per game (16.6), which is far short of the 25 points per game head coach Kirk Ferentz estimated his team could amass.
It’s also fortunate that the Hawkeyes had punter Tory Taylor, who averaged 47.9 yards per punt, and he had 86 (!) of them. Taylor was by far the team’s yardage leader, and to an historic level. After its 26-0 loss to the Michigan Wolverines in the Big 12 Championship, Iowa set another mark for offensive futility.
With that punt, Iowa now has 1,048 more punting yards than total yards on offense this season. Only other FBS teams with more punt yards than yards on offense is Navy with 73 more
— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 3, 2023
In the end, Iowa gained 3,123 yards and punted for 4,156 yards, which works out to 1,033 more punting yards than total yards. To put that in perspective, the New York Jets have the fewest offensive yards in the NFL this season with 2,862, and they’ve punted for 3,160 yards. That’s a difference of 298 yards — not what you want, but it isn’t over 1,000 yards.
