Gut Check Time

Oct. 1, 2006

• ESPN GameDay Visits Iowa City: The Pictures
• Hawkeye All-Access
• Order the “Video Season Ticket”
• Make a (fashion) Statement!
• Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series

Don Meredith was the most colorful analyst Monday Night Football ever had. When he decided the outcome of a game was determined, regardless of how much time remained, he sang a few bars of “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”

As Iowa’s football game with Ohio State unfolded Saturday night, I wondered if Meredith was watching on national television. If he was, at what point did he tell Musco to turn out the lights?

Was it when Ohio State intercepted Drew Tate’s pass on the first play of the second quarter and got a touchdown in three plays, making the score 14-3?

It might have been later in the same period after Iowa had narrowed the margin to 14-10 with a nicely executed 80-yard scoring drive. Iowa’s defense forced an Ohio State punt and the Hawkeyes had great field position at the 50.

But Iowa failed to gain a yard in three plays and punted the ball right back to the visitors, who went 89 yards for a touchdown to end the half leading 21-10.

As critical as those developments were, it’s doubtful Meredith would have turned out the lights so early in the game.

My guess is he would have broken into his signature song in the fourth quarter after witnessing this string of events: Ohio State got conservative and Iowa executed an 86-yard touchdown drive to make the score 31-17. The Buckeyes, still seemingly content to sit on their lead, had to punt, giving Iowa good field position.

Iowa’s defense was getting tougher and its offense sharper. The Hawkeyes seemed to be warming to the idea of an upset.

And things got interesting when Tate found Scott Chandler on a pass over the middle in Buckeye territory. But Chandler fumbled the ball and Ohio State recovered.

The thunderous noise made by 70,000 fans was sucked out of the stadium and into the darkness. That’s when Meredith would have begun singing.

Yes, there were nine minutes remaining and Iowa got the ball back twice, only to have two more passes intercepted, giving Ohio State another cheap touchdown. But the game unofficially ended with the fumble. The party was over.

Not to lay this loss on Chandler. There’s plenty of blame to go around.

This contest had more buildup than any Iowa game ever played in September. More than it merited. Really big games are played in late October and November when there is a conference championship on the line. Still, it was an important early season contest in which the Hawkeyes had an opportunity to make a statement. Instead they stammered and stuttered.

Iowa needed a game like it played at Michigan in 2002. Instead, it got a game like it played against Southern Cal in the Orange Bowl later that season. Meanwhile Ohio State played like Kinnick was its home field. If the screaming gold-clad Iowa faithful were a distraction, the Buckeyes didn’t show it.

Is this the No. 1 team in college football? Who knows? But right now, who can argue? It has won 12 straight games and has a schedule greased for its annual showdown with Michigan, which will be played in Columbus. It’s a good bet that Ohio State will play in the national championship game in January.

Meanwhile the Hawkeyes can take solace in the fact they have won four of their first five games, only the second time that’s happened in the Kirk Ferentz era. And the teams they’ve beaten aren’t as weak as once thought.

Syracuse has won three straight, and Illinois won at Michigan State Saturday. Iowa State’s only other loss was at Texas, and Montana is ranked with the best teams in Division 1-AA.

But Ferentz and his coaching staff have some things they need to clean up. Slow starts continue to be an issue. Ohio State jumped to a 7-0 lead in less than four minutes. Iowa won the toss and elected to receive, then lost a yard in three plays and punted. The Buckeyes scored on their first possession.

For the third time in five games Iowa’s defense had no takeaways. But the offense turned it over four times, and as Ohio State Jim Tressel said, “They made mistakes, we didn’t, and that’s why we’re the happy locker room.”

Purdue — Iowa’s homecoming opponent Saturday — is the highest scoring team in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes better make the visitors earn every point they score. Don’t give them anything. Otherwise it could be two straight defeats at Kinnick for the first time in seven seasons.

If the lights are turned off early in this game, let’s make sure the Hawkeyes are ahead on the scoreboard.