Honestly, we're talking past each other.
Kirk Ferentz hamstrings the offense. Kirk doesn't give any shits about offensive metrics or stats, so quoting them is irrelevant. The only offensive metric to Kirk is W-L. In Kirk's mind, Spencer wasn't 54%, 9TD's / 6 INT's last year. Spencer was 7-2. Brian was 7-2. You can shit on Brian all you want. But, as long as we're winning games & playing 'complementary football', Kirk doesn't care about the stats. He wouldn't even try a hail mary from the 42 yard line on Saturday for fear of something catastrophic happening. He's likely the only one - or one of an exceptionally few - that comes to that decision.
As a fan, I can agree that it doesn't make for the most exciting brand of football. But as a Hawkeye fan, I appreciate the hell out of what KF has done for the program, so while the game Saturday was infuriating, as long as he's winning, Kirk gets to chart the course. I'll put up with statistically inferior offensive football as long as we're winning. Kirk’s son, Brian Ferentz & Spencer Petras are embodiment's of KF's philosophy.
So again, strictly as a fan, it might lead me to the 'Spencer sucks & is a pants shitter' conclusion...but since, we're stuck with KF, I try & evaluate Spencer's play as I understand KF evaluates him. It saves me a lot of unnecessary angst.