Iowa's methodical offense on a roll

Published Sep. 12, 2010 7:24 p.m. ET

foxsports

Iowa's offense is designed to control the tempo, not light up a scoreboard.

But when the Hawkeyes are clicking on all cylinders, their methodical approach can be just as effective as a pass-happy spread attack - and just as demoralizing to opposing defenses.

Iowa's offense was rolling in a 35-7 win over rival Iowa State on Saturday, which wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated.

The Hawkeyes (2-0) scored touchdowns on five of their first seven possessions, controlled the clock for more than 20 minutes in the first half and ran the ball on 50 of 70 plays.

Iowa rushed for 275 yards against the Cyclones, converted 7 of 14 third downs and now have scored 56 points in the first half through just two games.

''I didn't see that coming by any stretch. Our team really came out and executed very well right from the start,'' Ferentz said.

Iowa's first two possessions were 13- and 16-play drives that took over 15 minutes off the clock and set a brutal tone for the shell-shocked Cyclones.

Iowa's opening series was a clinic in balance. The Hawkeyes used running back Adam Robinson and short passes from Ricky Stanzi to set up a 9-yard touchdown pass to Marvin McNutt.

Iowa brought in Jewel Hampton for the second drive, his first action since a knee injury cost him all of last season.

Robinson rushed for a career-high 156 yards on just 14 carries. Hampton had 84 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, even though he didn't appear to get as many holes to run through as Robinson did.

''We're not worried about that in the least. We want both guys to be involved. Adam has done a tremendous job. He's really given us a spark,'' Ferentz said.

Robinson set up the fourth touchdown on a 75-yard run up the middle late in the second half, and he closed out the scoring on a 39-yard TD run midway through the third quarter.

''We were able to call the right plays at the right time and get ourselves in the right looks,'' Stanzi said. ''We executed very efficiently in the first half.''

Iowa didn't need Stanzi to do too much against the Cyclones. The most encouraging sign from the senior quarterback is that he's yet to throw an interception this season after tossing 15 - including four that were returned for touchdowns - in 2009.

Stanzi's 204 passing yards came on just 11 completions.

Iowa's fast start offensively has made one of the team's bigger concerns heading into the season, kicker, a non-factor so far.

Trent Mossbrucker has handled extra points with Daniel Murray sidelined because of injury, but he hasn't shown what he can do on field goals yet because the Hawkeyes haven't had to try one.

''Top to bottom, there are no weaknesses. They have the ability to run it. They have the ability to throw it. People aren't going to score very many points on them,'' Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads said.