By Jordan Hansen | [email protected]

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Four games into the season, there is starting to be a bit of a cause for worry about the Iowa football team.

Not “burn it all to the ground” type of worry — and there has been subtle improvement — but not everything is rosy for the Hawkeyes.

Coming off a loss to North Dakota State, a win against Rutgers was a must — and win the Hawkeyes did — but many of the same problems arose. Iowa gave up 193 yards rushing to the Scarlet Knights, while starting quarterback C.J. Beathard was sacked twice and hit another five times. At times, the offense could barely creep along, struggling to string plays and drives together.

All those issues have popped up more than once this season and continue to plague head coach Kirk Ferentz’s team.

“The real issue in my mind, is two things: Fundamentals … and too many instances, in my opinion, where not everybody gets the call,” Ferentz said. “We have these little intricate calls we make up front … we have to get a little better on that.”

Ferentz’s words came in response to a question about the rushing defense, but it extends to other things as well. The offensive line has missed blocks (something Beathard has not been happy about), and receivers don’t always get separation.

It’s still early in the season, and the Hawkeyes are banking on things getting better.

“We really need to get everyone on the same page,” linebacker Josey Jewell said. “Everything is correctable, what we’re doing right now. We didn’t play what I thought was close to good defense at all. That’s not just as linebackers; we need to make big improvements.”

For Iowa, the bright side has to be that things can improve and they did show a bit of growth Sept.24. Perhaps the most obvious example is the Hawkeyes’ running game. Held to just 34 yards last week, Iowa ran the ball for 193 against Rutgers.

Running back Akrum Wadley toted the ball 12 times for 84 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Fellow running back LeShun Daniels Jr. had 13 carries for 77 yards, with his last going for 12 and the game-sealing first down.

Last week when called upon, Iowa was not able to convert and run down the clock in a similar situation. The Bison got the ball back and hit a field goal as time expired.

“The coaches trusted me enough to put the game away, and I do what I got to do best, run the football and make a play,” Daniels Jr. said. “The offensive line opened up a nice hole for me, and I just had to put my foot in the ground and put my pads down and finish it out.

“I was jacked up.”

Defensively, there were certain things the team did well — especially in pass coverage. Rutgers quarterback Chris Laviano was sacked 4 times and also took more than one hit. Cornerbacks Desmond King and Greg Mabin also played fairly well in pass coverage, sniffing out a number of screens while also making plays downfield.

Safety Brandon Snyder made one of the biggest plays of the game, forcing a fumble in the closing minutes to give the ball back to the offense just outside the red zone.

So while there are certainly some concerns for Iowa, it’s unreasonable to throw this season out already. Improvement is not impossible, just as regression is also a possibility. The Hawkeyes get Northwestern at home next week, its first divisional game and one that comes at a crucial point in the season.

“We just really wanted to come out here today and play as a unit, play as a team, and do what we can to win this game,” King said. “We knew it was going to be tough, like I said, going into conference play is going to be tough. You’re going to play against guys who are similar to your team and things like that.

“Guys are going to fight; you’re going to have to fight to the end and play the whole 60 minutes.”

Follow @JordyHansen for Iowa football news, updates, and analysis.