Iowa vs. Michigan postgame mailbag: What needs to change on offense before the bowl game?

That was ugly. 

Michigan defeated Iowa 42-3 in Saturday's Big Ten championship game. The Hawkeyes were looking to pull of an upset of the College Football Playoff-bound Wolverines but left Indianapolis with one of the worst losses (point differential) in the Kirk Ferentz era. 

Iowa is a 10-win team but Saturday's result takes some juice out of what's been a successful season to date. And this loss will simmer for longer than any other this year. Iowa's next game likely won't come until Jan. 1. 

So let's get to the Iowa football postgame mailbag, championship weekend edition: 

MORE: Leistikow: Time for Kirk Feretz to make tough decisions about his offense

What happened on defense early? 

Crazy but true: Michigan led 14-3 at halftime without taking a single offensive snap in Iowa territory. How's that possible? Michigan exploited one area of the game that Iowa defensive coordinator Phil Parker emphasizes more than anything: big plays. 

Michigan recorded three 25-plus yard plays in the first quarter alone, and two of them went for touchdowns. The Hawkeyes settled down for the remainder of the half but the damage had been done. 

"It just comes down to fundamentals and details," linebacker Seth Benson said. "We didn't execute on those two plays." 

Iowa surrendered their longest rush (67 yards) and pass (75 yards) on two consecutive possessions. The most notable play was Michigan's Donovan Edwards' 75-yard trick-play touchdown pass to extend the lead to 14-0. Those type of plays aren't easy to defend. Michigan banked on Iowa selling out to stop a running back sweep and Edwards pulled back at the last second for a surprise pass. 

MORE: Iowa vs. Michigan report card: Hawkeyes overwhelmed in all areas

Iowa is a team that prides itself on complimentary football. The defense's blunders early disrupted the team's rhythm from the start and playing catchup against a power like Michigan is not the ideal scenario. And it also marks yet another week where opposing teams have found early success against Iowa's defense. 

A lot of runs on long-yardage situations. Why was that? 

Fans probably won't like this answer but the strategy was living to fight another day. The score doesn't indicate it but for large stretches of the game Iowa dominated field position and played solid defense. In those situations — second-and-20, third-and-18, etc. — the Hawkeyes opted to play conservative football. Punt it, hopefully pin Michigan and set up another favorable scoring opportunity. 

That type of conservative play in a championship game is frustrating but Ferentz noted after the game a recent example in which not playing that way hurt them. 

Down 10 points in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes found themselves in similar situations and opted for the non-conservative route. The result: a strip sack followed by an interception that broke the game open for the Badgers. Ferentz admitted there's some "scar tissue" from that moment and wanted to avoid the game getting out of hand quickly if Michigan were to wreak havoc. 

Second-and-long runs were designed to set up third-and-mediums; the third-and-long runs were meant to avoid an untimely turnover. Perhaps the most frustrating part for fans is that, in the end, the game got out of hand anyway. 

Overall, what's the biggest weakness on Iowa's offense? 

Most of the attention will focus on the offensive line, quarterback play or play-calling but I want to turn the attention to one specific area and one ugly stat: touchdown conversion rate in the end zone. Iowa's offense is one of the nation's worst in raw stat output but held the "opportunistic" label early in the season. But, through 13 games, it's one of the worst teams in terms of cashing in on opportunities deep in opponent territory. 

Iowa ranks 126 out of 130 teams in red zone touchdown rate at 43.9%. The four teams below them, Colorado State, UConn, New Mexico and Arizona, have a combined eight wins this season. Against Michigan, three red zone trips netted only 3 points. In those possessions, the Hawkeyes managed only 10 total yards on seven plays. 

Looking in totality, the numbers are even more grim: Iowa's averaging 297.5 yards per game, the lowest of the Ferentz era. With Saturday's loss, they've scored just two offensive touchdowns in their past three games. Even more staggering is that they've only scored nine offensive touchdowns since the Penn State game. 

There's not one component holding the rest back. The entire unit is searching for answers. 

An offensive collapse like Saturday's sets up fascinating scenarios for the bowl game upcoming: Who will start at quarterback? Will anyone new on this unit emerge? Will Iowa start overhauling its philosophy with the extra prep time? 

I don't expect any major offensive changes until after the bowl game, if any at all. I think it's possible to see different personnel variations, perhaps new wrinkles that the Hawkeyes haven't put on film this year. What's for sure is coaches, players and fans don't want the last offensive showing before the offseason to mirror anything like the one in Indianapolis. 

Kennington Lloyd Smith III covers Iowa Hawkeyes football and men's basketball for the Des Moines Register. You can connect with Kennington on Twitter @SkinnyKenny_ or email him at ksmith@gannett.com.