He is our starting quarterback. You need to understand that.
Langsdorf says he didn't call a run because one got stuffed, but he has no problem calling up pass play after pass play when Armstrong is having a horrible passing day in sh*tty weather...does that make sense to you?...because that's what I need to understand, because it makes no frickin' sense to me at all. Especially since Imani bulled his way through the heart of the Iowa line for two TDs previously.
For a play caller, you have often more control over passing plays. Adjustments in the running game are made more on a play by play basis. Calling an effective running game requires more sequential understanding, more micro-adjustments with regards to blocking schemes. It's really a bit of a lost art, IMO.
Passing plays can be made to suit all purposes through the use of option routes and packaging plays together. Say you had a 2x2 set, one side can be running a zone concept, the other a man concept. Pre-snap dictates what 'play' you run. A lot of college offenses are primarily third or half field reads like this.
You can package running plays with passing plays, and I've seen signs we're doing some of that. The simplest example is using a twins set and optioning the slot defender. If he wants to leverage outside, you may have numbers in the box. If he leverages inside, you may have a wr screen. A lot of modern football has become reading that defender, whether it's a safety, nickel corner, outside linebacker.
As to our OC, it just seems when he's in a bind he prefers to go to the passing route where he can combine concepts to give more possibilities. Is it a lack of confidence in himself, the QB, the offensive line....whatever, I don't know. That's his comfort zone. Every OC has one.