Nov. 10, 2004
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I’ve had some grim college football assignments over my five-plus years at Sports Illustrated but few compare to the pilgrimage I made to State College, Pa., last weekend. The whole episode — the frustrated fans, the dejected players, JoePa’s sad, tired expression — left me longing to cover a happy, heroic story for this week’s column. For that, I turned to one of Penn State’s recent opponents: Iowa.
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In case you’re not up to speed on this below-the-radar team, the Hawkeyes beat Purdue 23-21 last Saturday. They are 7-2, 5-1 in the Big Ten, which puts them in striking distance of conference co-leaders Wisconsin (9-0, 6-0), which they play host to in two weeks, and Michigan (8-1, 6-0).
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In case you’re not up to speed on this below-the-radar team, the Hawkeyes beat Purdue 23-21 last Saturday. They are 7-2, 5-1 in the Big Ten, which puts them in striking distance of conference co-leaders Wisconsin (9-0, 6-0), which they play host to in two weeks, and Michigan (8-1, 6-0).
It’s no huge surprise that Iowa, which is coming off back-to-back seasons of at least 10 wins under head coach Kirk Ferentz in 2002 and 2003, is having success. What’s most impressive is the team’s improvement since mid-September. During the past two months, the Hawkeyes have faced obstacles that could have easily driven them into the Big Ten’s basement with — how times have changed — the Nittany Lions. Instead, Iowa has climbed from a .500 record to a No. 19 ranking in The Associated Press poll.
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