Wine: A Tale of Two Halves, One Team

Oct. 28, 2007

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IOWA CITY – A sports writer friend walked by at halftime of Iowa’s football game with Michigan State and announced, “Your team is dead.”

After what we had witnessed in the first 30 minutes I had no rebuttal except to weakly reply, “I believe in the resurrection. Will that help?”

After the game, a gang of reporters surrounded Albert Young, and he emphatically told them, “We are not dead!”

Which proves that the players, not the news media, determines the outcome of a football game. Aren’t we happy about that?

What my sports writer friend could not have known, of course, was that the Hawkeyes did not go to their locker room at halftime. Instead, they slipped into a phone booth on the Kinnick Stadium concourse where they collectively transformed themselves from mild-mannered Clark Kent to Superman. Or so it seemed.

How else can we account for Young’s 143 rushing yards after intermission? Or Ryan Donahoe’s 82-yard punt that almost cleared Melrose Avenue? Or freshman Daniel Murray’s career-long 47-yard field goal?

An Iowa offense that had scored only six touchdowns in five previous Big Ten games scored four in the second half Saturday. An Iowa defense that barely slowed down Michigan State’s high-octane attack in the first half held the Spartans to three points in the final two quarters.

But let’s be honest. When MSU connected on a 40-yard pass in the final minute, setting up a game-tying field goal, it looked like Superman’s 30-minute effort would go for naught. Overtime is not where the Hawkeyes wanted to go.

To win in overtime a team has to score touchdowns, and Iowa has not been good at that. And you don’t want to go overtime with the highest scoring team in the Big Ten.

But the Hawkeyes did not shed their Superman cape. They overcame a holding penalty in the first OT with a 23-yard TD pass. In the second OT, they scored on five rushing plays, then the defense came to the rescue by putting the Spartans in a fourth and 13, which they could not overcome.

I have personally witnessed more than 300 Iowa football games, and this was as entertaining, exciting and electrifying as any other. It was also the most bizarre. I cannot recall another Iowa team playing so poorly in the first half and so well in the second.

The fact that Iowa earned a crucial victory with critical contributions from little-known players has been well documented. Freshmen Paul Chaney Jr. and Jevon Pugh scored touchdowns in overtime. Walk-on Drew Gardner, who isn’t even on the depth chart, made the tackle that sealed the victory.

Not so prominently reported was Iowa’s ball security. The Hawkeyes had no fumbles – therefore they could not lose one – and they had no pass interceptions. For the season, quarterback Jake Christensen has 12 touchdown passes to only three interceptions, a remarkable ratio of four to one. But with a completion rate that is barely above 50 percent, he needs to sharpen his accuracy.

Back in August Coach Kirk Ferentz said it was important his Hawkeyes showed improvement with special teams and turnover ratio, and they have done that. But an inconsistent offense continues to be a problem for this Iowa team.

There have been signs in the last two home games – wins over Illinois and MSU – that the offense might be coming around despite the absence of many key players. Now the Hawkeyes take their offense on the road, where it has not played well all season.

At Evanston on Saturday the Hawkeyes will face a team that scores about as many points as it gives up — a lot. In that regard Northwestern is similar to Michigan State.

The Hawkeyes would like to have a similar result, and they might if their sterling second half performance against the Spartans carries over against the Wildcats.

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