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

While Kaleb Johnson delivered another dominant performance and Iowa’s defense looked to get the ship back on course, head coach Kirk Ferentz has one concern after the win: the passing game.

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

Ferentz appreciates Iowa’s great offense, but he wants to see more through the air.

“For the record, I’m all about a balanced offense,” Ferentz said, via Josh Helmer of USA Today. “And that’s the next challenge. We’ve got to do a little better in the passing game, but we also left some things out there tonight, especially in the first half, that could have helped.”

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

Johnson has racked up 685 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging a robust 8.4 yards per carry in Iowa’s first four games. That’s fantastic.

But McNamara has struggled mightily, throwing for 588 yards, scoring three touchdowns and throwing a pair of interceptions while completing 62.7 percent of his passes.

Jacob Gill is the only Hawkeyes wide receiver to make more than 10 catches so far this year, as Iowa’s air attack has been completely unexplosive in the early stages of the season.

The Hawkeyes will have their week off to get everything in order before they face the Ohio State Buckeyes on October 5.