Nov. 5, 2007
IOWA CITY — Iowa’s football team has finally found consistency.
In the last two games the Hawkeyes have played like a bad high school team in the first half and a good NFL team in the second. In both games they have dug themselves into a 14-point hole, then climbed out of it to win. Their offense and defense were both bad one half, then good the next.
That’s consistency, just not the kind their fans and coaches are looking for.
“I’m puzzled at our performance,” said Kirk Ferentz after watching his team yo-yo its way to a 28-17 victory at Northwestern Saturday. The head coach can’t figure why his team starts games so poorly, then finishes so strong. The answer is fairly simple.
Science tells us that we all have different biological clocks. Some of us function better in the morning, some better in the afternoon and some better in the evening. It is obvious that collectively, this Iowa football team does not wake up until the noon hour.
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After pulling out two victories in games in which they appeared to be toast, the Hawkeyes cannot afford to stumble now. Not if they want to receive a seventh straight bowl invitation. Not if they want to play a post-season game in Orlando or Phoenix.
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Twenty years ago this would not have been a problem. Twenty years ago Iowa football games started in the early afternoon, as they had for 100 years. Everyone was happy – the players, the coaches, and the fans. Then television came along and messed things up.
So that more games could be televised and more TV revenue generated, the Big Ten scheduled some games in the morning, some in the afternoon and some in the evening. For the past 20 years or so, about half of Iowa’s games have started at 11 a.m.
Morning kickoffs at Kinnick Stadium are not necessarily a good thing. Just ask the fans who drive in from Ft. Dodge, Atlantic and Centerville. Some say God never intended for football to be played in the morning. It’s in the Bible. You can look it up.
And if you don’t buy the above reasoning, you can attempt to come up with another explanation for the wild swings in the Hawkeyes’ performance the past two weeks.
How can a defense leak like a sieve the first quarter, then become an impassable roadblock? How can an offense not make a first down in the first quarter, then score four touchdowns the last 31 minutes?
Those are questions Coach Ferentz would like to have answered, because the last two games on Iowa’s schedule both begin at 11 a.m. First it’s Minnesota, then Western Michigan, visiting Kinnick Stadium. In both games Iowa will be a solid favorite, a role it has not always lived up to this season.
After pulling out two victories in games in which they appeared to be toast, the Hawkeyes cannot afford to stumble now. Not if they want to receive a seventh straight bowl invitation. Not if they want to play a post-season game in Orlando or Phoenix.
Part of Iowa’s inconsistent play is perhaps due to the unusual number of freshmen who have been playing. More than 20 are seeing some sort of game action, and many contributed mightily to the victory at Northwestern.
Ryan Donahue had one punt of 74 yards (after an 82-yarder a week earlier) and another roll dead at the three-yard line. Adrian Clayborn blocked a field goal and Christian Ballard recorded 2 ½ sacks, one that pushed NU out of field goal range.
combined for 14 pass receptions and 191 yards.
Kicker Daniel Murray, offensive guard Bryan Bugala and safety Brett Greenwood are starting as rookies. That’s a large number of freshmen playing key roles, but they are a big reason why Iowa has won three of its last four games.
Minnesota has won only one game under new coach Tim Brewster, and that required three overtimes against Miami of Ohio. Since then the Gophers have lost eight straight.
The Hawkeyes will hear all week that they are a heavy favorite and should win this one easily, much like they did when they played Iowa State and Indiana, and you know the outcome of those games.
The job of Kirk Ferentz this week is to convince his players that Minnesota is not going to give up Floyd of Rosedale without a fight. And he’s got to remind them (often) that football is a 60-minute game.
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