Aug. 24, 2008
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IOWA CITY – University of Iowa football fans are eager to return to the days of 10-win seasons and follow their team to a bowl game in Florida
The 2008 Hawkeyes can do that, and it’s as easy as one-two-three. All they have to do is:
1. Win games in which they are favored.
2. Win close games.
3. Win games at Kinnick Stadium.
That was the formula followed by the three Iowa teams of 2002-03-04. Those clubs won 31 games, including two bowl games in Florida, and ranked No. 8 in the nation each year.
Let’s have a review.
The 2002 season began with Iowa winning three early games by a touchdown or less. One was a wild 42-35 overtime escape at Penn State in the Big Ten opener. The following week the Hawkeyes returned home to nip Purdue at the wire, 31-28.
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It’s easy to see why the Hawkeyes were exceptionally good in 2004-50-06 and only ordinary the last three years.
Let’s hope the 2008 Iowa team can win close games, avoid upsets and protect the home turf. If it can do that, we’re in for an enjoyable season. |
Those two exciting triumphs were a critical spark in a season that produced an 11-2 record and Big Ten championship.
That’s also the year that Iowa began a streak of 21 straight victories at Kinnick Stadium.
In 2003 Iowa rolled to a 10-3 record by protecting the home field, avoiding upsets and winning a couple of close games. All three losses were on the road to solid Big Ten opponents. A decisive 37-17 victory over Florida in the Outback Bowl capped a season that exceeded expectations.
The 2004 Hawkeyes finished 10-2 because they won five games by a touchdown or less. They won three games by two points each, all in the Big Ten, two of them on the road.
That Iowa team had an inexperienced sophomore quarterback in Drew Tate, and injuries wiped out a stable of running backs. Still, it earned a share of the Big Ten title and ended the season with an unforgettable victory over LSU in the Capital One Bowl.
In the last half of the 2005 season Iowa developed the habit of losing close games and getting upset by opponents they were a solid favorite to beat.
That year the Hawkeyes lost to Michigan in overtime at home (by three points), then squandered a 13-point fourth-quarter lead and lost at Northwestern by one. The season ended at the Outback Bowl, where Florida won by seven.
In 2006, Iowa lost to Indiana by three, to Wisconsin by three and Texas by two in the Alamo Bowl. In the early stages of last season the Hawkeyes lost to Iowa State by two and Wisconsin by four.
The Hawkeyes won a total of 19 games over the past three seasons. Had they won the close contests, or even half of them, the record would have been significantly better.
In addition, Iowa has not done well in avoiding upsets the past three seasons, losing eight games in which they were solid favorites. The most recent was to Western Michigan in the final game of last season that knocked the Hawkeyes out of a bowl berth.
That defeat came at Kinnick — one of the six losses Iowa has experienced over the last three years in a stadium where victory was once a lock.
It’s easy to see why the Hawkeyes were exceptionally good in 2004-50-06 and only ordinary the last three years.
Let’s hope the 2008 Iowa team can win close games, avoid upsets and protect the home turf. If it can do that, we’re in for an enjoyable season.
Editor’s Note: Wine Online is authored by George Wine, long-time sports information director at the University of Iowa who is now retired living in nearby Coralville.