Iowa Football: Are Hawkeyes serious Big Ten title contenders in 2020?

New quarterback in Iowa City will test offense

Iowa picked up 10 victories last season, but the Hawkeye offense did not generate a ton of production. The Hawkeyes finished ranked 99th in the country for total offense and scored only 27 points once in conference play and that was against Rutgers.

Quarterback Nate Stanley seemed like he was in Iowa City forever but he has moved on to the NFL as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. The offense will be in the hands of redshirt sophomore Spencer Petras, who has only thrown a total of 11 passes in his collegiate career.

Luckily for Petras, he will have an experienced cast of skilled players to help him out. Sophomore Tyler Goodson returns after a solid first year of toting the rock for 638 yards and five scores. Goodson also can be counted on to catch passes out of the backfield and should be ready to make a jump in production this season.

Iowa returns their top four receivers from a year ago which seems to be a rarity at the collegiate level. Ihmir Smith-Marsette is a senior and led the group with 722 yards and five touchdowns. The Hawkeyes also return their top tight end, sophomore Sam Laporta.

Petras will have options which is great news for a first year signal caller and one lacking the benefit of non conference games to fine tune things before conference play. Losing a top lineman in Tristan Wirfs to the NFL will hurt, however the Hawkeyes do return the other four starters including tackle Alaric Jackson who is a NFL draft prospect himself.