Inconsistent offense hurts strategy

If you were to look at the offensive numbers from Saturday's game, IU would appear to be the team that came out on top. But the inability to capitalize in the red zone hurt the Hoosiers as they fell 24-8 to No. 15 Iowa (7-1, 4-0 Big Ten).\nThe Hoosiers (3-4, 1-2) had 481 yards of total offense to the Hawkeyes' 358 yards. Iowa had 156 yards in the first quarter alone and was able to take advantage of IU's lack of offense early on to jump out to a quick 17-0 lead after the first quarter.\nCoach Gerry DiNardo said the team played very sloppy, especially in the beginning. He said he was happy with the way the defense responded but was disappointed with the offensive production.\n"I thought our offense was awful," DiNardo said. "I don't care what the stats say ... You can't throw picks. You can't drop balls. We got what we deserved."\nGoing into Saturday's game, IU had been five for six in the red zone in the Big Ten. Saturday, they were an abysmal one for six with just one field goal by sophomore Bryan Robertson.\nSenior quarterback Gibran Hamdan put together his second straight 300-yard game after going 21-48 for 335 yards. But he put much of the blame on himself after throwing three interceptions inside the 20-yard line -- mistakes that killed IU drives.\n"Up until the red zone I thought we did a lot of things very effectively," Hamdan said. "The frustrating part for me was hurting the team. We put some great drives together today. I made some unfortunate mistakes that hurt us in the red zone."\nComing off impressive performances last week, the receiving corps struggled as well, dropping several passes throughout the game. Sophomore Courtney Roby led the team with 11 catches and 198 yards but was disappointed with his play and the way the team practiced. \n"We didn't have a good week of practice, and it showed," Roby said. "It was like a nightmare that we couldn't wake up from, at least from my standpoint."\nJunior receiver Glenn Johnson said it was a lack of concentration and execution. He said it doesn't add up when you look at their total yards and the number of points the team scored.\nDiNardo said dropped passes disappointed him the most. He said it doesn't matter how many passes are caught, but good receivers don't drop passes.\nHamdan was not as critical of the receivers as DiNardo. He said mistakes happen in the game.\n"I'm sure it's frustrating for them to see me throw interceptions," Hamdan said. "Football is like that. Sometimes you're not always going to make the play. I just try and move on to the next play. There have been many times when they've made great catches for me, even in today's game when I didn't put the ball right on the money."\nOne of the few bright spots for the Hoosier offense was the play of junior running back Brian Lewis. Lewis ran for a season high 121 yards. \nIowa had the Big Ten's best rushing defense and second best in the nation, giving up only 56.1 yards per game. The most yards Iowa had given up to a single back was 68 yards to Penn State's Larry Johnson.\n"I know when I get in the game I have to go out there and do what I am capable of doing, and that's running the ball, blocking," Lewis said. "Whatever coach asks me to do, I just have to go out there and get the job done."\nDespite the poor performances, DiNardo said it's time to start getting ready for next week.\n"We probably could have played better," DiNardo said. "We'll move on. We'll press on. We need to get ready for Illinois. It's like I tell them, after the wins and after the losses, we need to move on"