Kirk Ferentz of the Iowa Hawkeyes expresses concern after the win against Minnesota

The Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday night to get off to a solid start in the Big Ten Conference.

Although Kaleb Johnson once again put in a dominant performance and Iowa's defense seemed to turn things around, head coach Kirk Ferentz still had one concern after the win: the passing game.

The Hawkeyes totaled 62 passing yards on the night, with quarterback Cade McNamara completing 11 of 19 passes.

Ferentz appreciates Iowa's terrific attack, but wants to see more from the air.

“Just FYI, I'm all for a balanced offense, too,” Ferentz said, according to Josh Helmer of USA Today. “And that's the next challenge. We need to get a little better at passing, but we also missed a few things tonight, especially in the first half, that could have helped.”

“Balance” was a foreign word for the Hawkeyes’ offense in 2024.

Johnson has rushed for 685 yards and nine touchdowns in Iowa's first four games, averaging a solid 8.4 yards per carry, which is fantastic.

But McNamara struggled: He threw for 588 yards, three touchdowns and a couple of interceptions while completing only 62.7 percent of his passes.

Jacob Gill is the only Hawkeyes wide receiver to have double-digit catches so far this year, as Iowa's air attack has shown a complete lack of explosiveness in the early stages of the season.

The Hawkeyes have some time to get in order during their off week before facing the Ohio State Buckeyes on October 5th.