Iowa was not at full strength defensively on Saturday. Sebastian Castro, a standout player at the cash position, was injured and unavailable. Koen Entringer, who replaced Castro and scored an interception in the first half, left the game due to injury.

But injuries don’t excuse poor tackling and an inability to leave the field. Michigan State had the ball for nearly 40 minutes (twice as many as Iowa) and rushed for 212 yards (more than twice the average scores of Iowa opponents).

“There were a lot of potential plays we didn’t make,” Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins said. “Like you look at it and ask if it’s the plan or the game plan. But I think it was just us missing tackles. Being there, being in the right place, but not executing.”

Video: Jay Higgins on what went wrong defensively in loss to Michigan State

Star linebacker Jay Higgins talks about Iowa’s loss to Michigan State.

Much of the Hawkeyes’ offensive success this season has been placed on the shoulders of star running back Kaleb Johnson. Remarkably, Johnson was able to play at an exceptionally high level despite all the attention the defense gave him.

That wasn’t so much the case on Saturday. 75 of Johnson’s 98 rushing yards came on a fourth-quarter touchdown rusher. Other than that run, Michigan State did an excellent job keeping it in check. Johnson finished with 98 yards on 14 carries.

What has been uncovered is an offense that has no answers beyond Johnson.

Quarterback Cade McNamara, who went a paltry 3-for-9 in the first half, wasn’t as bad in the second half but also threw a head-shaking interception. His final stat line of 11 of 23 for 150 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception won’t do much to calm the scrutiny surrounding him.

Iowa’s special teams were mostly fine Saturday, although the usually reliable Drew Stevens missed his only field goal attempt (58 yards).

“In short, we didn’t play well enough offensively in the first half,” Ferentz said. “Really couldn’t hold on much, not much was getting going. And then defensively it just looked like an atypical game. It’s been a while since we played like this. We really weren’t sharp at any stage and didn’t tackle well. So that’s just a bad combination.”

Video: Kaleb Johnson on the challenges of Michigan State’s defense

Star running back Kaleb Johnson talks about Iowa’s loss to Michigan State.

Iowa’s rollercoaster ride of a season once full of hope has reached another trough of uncertainty.

The early season optimism was fueled in part by the return of every part of last year’s Big Ten West championship team. With the option to leave the program, Jay Higgins, Nick Jackson and a handful of others decided to rejoin the Hawkeyes.

Going into the season, the thought of being a College Football Playoff contender wasn’t out of the question for this group. Instead, these dreams have become progressively worse over the past few weeks.

Iowa’s fumble against Iowa State, which blew a 13-point halftime lead, was a sign that the team was falling further short of what some had hoped. A 28-point loss to Ohio State was further evidence of the program’s inability to beat college football’s elite. And then on Saturday, Iowa’s loss to Michigan State secured its place in this season’s disappointment.

Suddenly, Iowa’s outlook for the rest of the season looks a lot bleaker.

The Hawkeyes don’t have a particularly difficult final five games of the regular season.

• Home vs. Northwest
• Home against Wisconsin
• At UCLA
• Bye week
• In Maryland
• Home against Nebraska

Still, Saturday’s loss makes these games seem far less manageable. Iowa is on track for a six- or seven-win season, which would be considered a disappointment given previous expectations.

There is no one solution. Right now, Iowa has a defense that is regressing, an offense that is frustratingly one-dimensional, and a fan base whose patience is wearing thin dangerously quickly.

“We’ll figure it out,” Ferentz said of his team’s mental state. “When you play conference football, it’s week to week. We have no choice. We have three conference games coming up before our next (bye week). We can’t sit around feeling too bad for too long. We’re definitely going to have a bad time (Sunday). We’ll look at the tape and see what we can learn from it.”

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