Each team has an identity. This year's team, as its identity has developed, has come to rely on the run game, which is to say it relies on Mo--who is a one-man wrecking crew. By emphasizing the run game so heavily, we have in effect chosen not to develop this year's passing game. PJ says that you have to fail to succeed--implying lots of chances are given to aid in development. But we don't give our passing game many failures before shutting it down, because we might end up giving away games that Mo can win almost single-handedly.
We are winning games in 2022 with a dominant run game, so long as we play teams (1) that our defense can stuff and (2) that our OL, over the course of the game, can eventually dominate. Other key to our wins this year minimizing turnovers, which is easier to do in the run game. This conservative formula can work against Wisconsin. And it might work against Iowa if we (1) eliminate turnovers (big "if," against a ball hawking defense) and (2) somehow win the field position (punter's) game. Our current conservative run-game oriented offense might also be more suited to the weather we will face against Iowa and Wisconsin, too.
So, as much as I yearn for a more balanced offense, we probably finish the year fighting with one arm tied behind our back--but with the other arm being one that is brutally strong and resilient. That appears to be the formula for this year, based on personnel, PJ's risk aversion in winnable games AND our ability to win fighting with only one arm.
Long run, the 65%+ run model is a poor strategy for recruiting quality WRs and QBs to a Power 5 team. It is a poor strategy for building a team that can rally back from big deficits (anybody watch Buffalo v. Vikings yesterday?). It is a poor strategy for bringing new fans into the stadium. And it is ass-backwards in a game whose rules are designed to favor the passing game. PJ obviously knows all this. So, we are not going to play service academy football every year. But, assuming Mo remains an iron man, that is probably how we finish off this year. Too late in the season, with only bad-weather trophy games remaining, to shift emphasis to a purposely under-developed passing game unless Athan makes a huge step forward and our WRs begin catching all catchable balls. So, we probably try the passing game early in each trophy game to see if it is "there," and to perhaps help us build up a lead. But we could abandon it soon for a number of reasons.
