Wine: Big Time!

Nov. 13, 2005

• Game-Day Parking and Road Construction Information
• 2005 Hawkeye Huddles
• Follow the Renovation of Kinnick!
• The Schedule: 2005 and Beyond
• Listen to the Hawkeyes on XM Radio
• Watch and Listen to Kirk, the Hawkeyes

There are those out there – and you know who you are – who believed Iowa had no chance to win a football game at Wisconsin on Saturday.

You thought the Hawkeyes, after two heart-breaking losses, were spent emotionally. You thought they would go to Madison and be passive participants in a going-away party for Barry Alvarez.

You thought 83,000 Badger fans would stage a gigantic post-game celebration at the expense of the Hawkeyes. You thought Iowa’s football season was down the drain.

Maybe you have heard by now that you were wrong, and so was almost everyone else who closely follows college football. The reporters who cover the Hawkeyes, the talking heads on ESPN and Las Vegas odds-makers all thought Iowa had little or no chance to win this one.

But I am happy to report that Iowa still has a pulse, which is beating stronger today after a 20-10 whipping of the Badgers.

Who said the Hawkeyes can’t score touchdowns in the second half? Who said they can’t beat a nationally-ranked team? Who said they can’t protect fourth-quarter leads?

Yes, Iowa got rid of some ghosts in this one. For the first time in a month the Hawkeyes crossed the goal line after intermission. They ran off 20 straight points on a Wisconsin team that was gunning for a Big Ten championship. They got the lead and finished with a surprising victory.

If the loss at Northwestern was a “fizzle in the drizzle” as a clever columnist said, then the win at Madison was “pain in the rain,” only it was Iowa that inflicted the pain.

The elaborate post-game ceremony celebrating the 16-year head coaching career of our old friend Barry Alverez couldn’t have been nearly as much fun after a fourth straight loss to the Hawkeyes. Sorry about that, Badger fans.

The game started like it had been scripted by the home team, which jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first period. Maybe because it began every possession in bad field position, Iowa mounted only one drive, and that ended with a field goal.

The weather and the Hawkeyes both changed at halftime. A hard rain seemed to revive Iowa’s offense, which marched 75 and 80 yards for touchdowns in the third quarter. Drew Tate and his receivers were having a good time with a wet football, and Albert Young was dashing to another 100-yard game.

And most important, when the offense got the ball late in the game, it protected the 10-point lead with a drive to the Wisconsin two-yard line. Never mind a botched hand-off that perhaps cost Iowa another touchdown. That possession killed any chance of a Wisconsin comeback.

Yes, the offense came alive after intermission, but give Iowa’s defense the lion’s share of credit for this victory.

Wisconsin came into the game with one of the nation’s best running backs, Brian Calhoun, and an offense that leads the Big Ten in scoring. The Badgers had scored more than 40 points in five of their previous 10 games.

But Iowa’s defense limited Calhoun to 18 yards rushing and held the Badgers scoreless in the final three periods. When the game was on the line late in the third quarter and into the fourth, the Badgers had four straight three-and-out possessions.

Iowa’s pass defense, which has often been more mush than rush, suddenly got nasty, sacking the Wisconsin quarterback five times in the second half.

This is an all-new, very young defensive front. Freshman Mitch King and sophomore Ken Iwebema were the standouts at Madison. ESPN named King its player of the game.

A television reporter caught defensive coordinator Norm Parker on the field after the game and asked him about the noticeable improvement. Parker seemed mildly amused, saying his defense has been getting better right along and that maybe because of two narrow defeats nobody has noticed.

Now the Hawkeyes wrap up the season at home against Minnesota Saturday. For the fourth consecutive week Iowa will face an opponent with an explosive offense that is headed for a bowl game. The Gophers feature some tremendous running backs and average nearly 300 yards rushing.

The Hawkeyes are bowl-eligible for the fifth straight season. This is likely to be a high-scoring, entertaining game. The winner will get a better bowl bid.

Floyd of Rosedale, the traveling trophy, has resided the last four years in the Iowa football complex, where he obviously enjoys life. Let’s keep him there.