THE Iowa Hawkeyes suffered an embarrassing loss Friday night, falling to UCLA Bruins by a score of 20-17 in an ugly affair.

Yes, it was a Big Ten game, but it wasn’t like Iowa lost to Ohio State or Oregon here. Hell, it’s not Wisconsin, which the Hawkeyes hammered the week before.

This was a less than pedestrian UCLA team that entered the game with a 3-5 record and really didn’t have much to gain on either side of the ball.

And you know what? Early on, it looked like Iowa was about to rout another opponent, as the Hawkeyes took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

But before you knew it, the Bruins had put up 17 unanswered points to take a seven-point lead before halftime. This was despite UCLA turning the ball over three times.

As painful as it may be, it’s time to state the obvious: this season has been a massive failure for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa is just 6-4 and has a few nasty losses under its belt. A loss to Ohio State was expected. The Iowa State loss doesn’t seem bad anymore either. But falling to Michigan State and UCLA? This shouldn’t happen to a team that had high expectations heading into 2024.

The Hawkeyes tried Cade McNamara under center. It didn’t work. Then they went to Brendan Sullivan, who logged just one full start before being benched in favor of Jackson Stratton.

Iowa just can’t seem to put together a cohesive offensive unit, and while a lot of that is due to poor quarterback play, it’s also a direct result of not having Really reliable weapons outside of running back Kaleb Johnson, who is coming off his worst game of the season.

As volatile as the Hawkeyes’ defense has been this year, it has at least mostly done its job. It’s not Jay Higgins’ fault that Iowa ran a total of 46 offensive plays Friday (UCLA ran 73).

Damn, it’s honestly a miracle the Hawkeyes only allowed 20 points. Of course, a lot of this is due to the Bruins’ ineptitude, but you’d think UCLA (or any Big Ten team, for that matter) would have posted 20+ points given the circumstances.

So Iowa’s defense isn’t to blame. The Hawkeyes’ frustrating results this season fall squarely on the shoulders of the offense and, let’s face it, head coach Kirk Ferentz.

The worst part is that Iowa actually had a very lenient schedule. The Hawkeyes are not playing Oregon. They don’t play Penn State. They’ve faced the bottom half of the Big Ten and really should be 7-2 at this point. Their current record is inexcusable.

You’d want to say Iowa could win its final two games considering its last two opponents are Maryland and Nebraska, but we’re talking about the 2024 Hawkeyes.

This team just isn’t very good and the season is essentially a lost cause.