I had a strange thought on Friday night as Drew Steven’s 2nd FG attempt sailed through the uprights to give Iowa a 3 point lead with just under 6 minutes left. “Do we think the defense can hold them?” It’s a thought that I haven’t had in a while, a long while and I think it says a lot about a couple of things. First, how far has this offense come since week 2 that I, even momentarily, thought that it might be better off to let Rutgers score quickly to get the ball back in Gronowski’s hands, and second,
how far has the defense fallen off that I would ever doubt their ability to stop Rutgers from tying it up or, god forbid, taking the lead.
I don’t think any of us expected Rutgers to slice and dice through Phil’s defensive schemes the way they did in the first quarter (and things certainly settled down in the 2nd and 3rd quarter, but the go ahead TD had come on an uncharacteristically short (7 plays, 3:55) Iowa drive, and it felt like Athan Kaliakmanis was going to pull a Connor Cook and pick the Iowa defense apart 5-7 yards at a time, draining the clock and leaving Iowa with little chance to answer. For the first time in nearly a decade, I found myself doubting Phil Parker’s unit’s ability to put the team on it’s back and win a football game. So when Max Llewellyn got a piece of AK’s arm and he unleashed the mother of all wounded ducks into the middle of the field, it felt like time slowed down. The ball disappeared out of the camera’s frame and just floated, and floated, and floated some more until Jaxon Rexroth appeared out of nowhere to snag it just moments before it found turf. I swear to whatever god you happen to believe in, I experienced that pass in slow-motion, so when the elation hit, it hit hard.
6 plays and 2 minutes later, it was over (figuratively speaking). Iowa had managed to go on the road and win a shootout (at least in terms of Iowa football) by finding offensive competency. They covered the spread, beat the over, and handed a Rutgers team that is going to surprise somebody this season their first loss. The offense won a game, on the road, in the B1G. Re-Mark-able.
The Sleeper Awakens
It’s been a helluva 4 week stretch for Mark Gronowski. I think it’s fair to say that there was an awful lot of concern coming from all over the fandom after incredibly disappointing outings against UAlbany and Iowa State, but he’s know got two straight games with 66.7% completion rates, north of 175 yards passing, and 3 total touchdowns. Most importantly, he appears to have finally found the swagger that he had at SDSU, best evidenced by his, albeit tame, taunting of the Rutgers crowd after he sauntered into the end zone for his 2nd rushing TD of the night.
Gronowski is finally starting to look like the guy we saw in any number of highlight reels we all consumed in the days/weeks after his signing was announced. He may not be all the way there yet, but I can say this for sure, his mobility and toughness change the entire tone of the Iowa offense, and let’s be honest, there were, at minimum, 3 more drops by the WR corps that would have made his passing totals look a lot better. Imagine, if you will, if we were talking about a game where an Iowa QB went 15-18 for 245 yards and 3 total TDs? How would you feel about that? I’m guessing you’d feel pretty good. I mean, Iowa managed to put up 31 points with just 18 pass attempts. Gronowski’s abilities create an imbalance in the offense that, for the first time in a very long time, is actually a benefit, and those abilities create serious mismatches for opponents, especially in the red zone. Oh, and don’t look now, but for the moment, Mark is Iowa’s leading, active, rusher.
Wetjen Ascending
I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I’m really enjoying the Kaden Wetjen apology tour. Since his disastrous performance in Ames, this kid is lighting the world on fire. 2 games, 409 AP yards, and 3 TDs. I know that I’ve moved away from clips in general (sorry, I just don’t have the time to put them all together), but I have to include this one, if for no other reason than he made this look incredibly easy.
I mean, he ran 104 yards completely untouched, the only person that had a legitimate shot at taking him down was TJ Washington. Sure, he should have got out of bounds on the punt return that ended the 1st half, but I’d bet a fair amount of money that most of you weren’t yelling “GET OUT OF BOUNDS” as he weaved his way closer, and closer, to paydirt (I know I wasn’t). He wants to score every time he touches the ball and it feels like it’s possible whenever the ball finds it’s way into his hands (well, except for that end around that Rutgers was absolutely sitting on).
We’re Not There Just Yet
I have to admit, after last week’s victory over UMass, I just couldn’t find anything to write that hadn’t already been said by Jerry or Nick, and with the short week, I decided not to force it. I didn’t think anyone would be that interested in another “Kirk Ferentz broke the unbreakable record” post, and, if I’m being honest, nothing I saw in the UMass game made me feel better about this Iowa team. Yeah, there were some great plays, and it’s always fun to watch Iowa win, but beating a bad team that was being held together with bailing wire and duct tape didn’t feel good.
This win, even with all of it’s flaws, felt good. This game was fun to watch, and it’s been a while since I have truly enjoyed watching an Iowa football game. Yeah, this team is flawed, and yeah, it’s probably a decent bet that Indiana is going to kick their teeth in and ruin homecoming, but for one glorious Friday evening, it was fun to watch the Hawkeyes, and not in a Sicko kind of way.
I don’t know how to judge Indiana’s win over Illinois because I don’t know if Illinois is actually good. Moreover, before Illinois, Indiana hadn’t beaten anyone that Iowa wouldn’t have beaten in the first 3 weeks of the season. I can say this though, Indiana can put up points in a hurry, and if the Defense has another quarter like they did to start on Friday, this game could be over by halftime, and they’re bringing the #3 defense in the country with them. Kinnick is a tough place to play, and we’ve seen Iowa answer the bell against tough opponents before, so let’s hope they can find some of that ol’ Kinnick magic and take that next step that we’ve all been waiting for a very long time.
One more thing before I get out of here, what Rutgers did at the end of the 1st Quarter was amazing. Seriously, that might have been the classiest thing I’ve ever seen from an opposing fanbase.
As always, GO HAWKS!!!
