Editor’s note: Torbee was vaguely aware that he should write a “Tuesday” column on Monday, despite it being a holiday. But between Labor Day libations, grilling ribs and entertaining, he failed to do so. He offers his (semi) sincere apologies.

One of the things that makes college football so fun is being able to revel in the misery and missteps of your rivals.

Yeah, yeah I know: it is highly immature and probably moderately pathetic to let the athletic exploits of the teenagers and barely 20-something college students who play for your favorite team serve as fuel to mock fans of other teams whose teenagers and barely 20-somethings screw up. I acknowledge this truth while hypocritically enjoying the practice myself. Sue me.

At any rate, it was with much glee (and some snarky Tweets) that I watched Iowa State ineffectually mud wrestle a mediocre UNI team into a third overtime when the Cyclones snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by literally fumbling their way to a win. It was with equal mirth that I watched “national title contending” Nebraska fail to cover the spread against a plucky South Alabama squad. The black shirts are baaaack! And I just bet Northeast Western Louisiana Tech is shaking in their boots if, that is, they have the courage to schedule the mighty Huskers. The weekend of mockery actually started on Thursday, when Minnesota barely held on to beat the plucky South Dakota State Jackrabbits, indicating that the rodent boat might still be held together with duct tape and wishful thinking.

Can you even imagine the ignominy of losing to an FCS squad from one of the Dakotas? I shudder at the thought!

The danger of publicly shaming other fanbases prior to your own team’s official season kickoff is self-evident. If you throw too much shade, and YOUR team poops the bed, you are going to get a tremendous amount of blowback.

So it was with no small measure of irritation (and probably far too little self-reflection) that I watched the Hawkeyes struggle to build a big halftime lead over the Miami RedHawks Saturday evening. I didn’t even look at my Twitter feed after tiny-but-mighty freshman quarterback Brett Gabbert staked his team to a 7-3 lead on a super nice pass early in the second quarter.

Let me be clear. I was never really worried Iowa would lose. The eye test alone showed - despite some up-and-down play - the Hawks dominating the line of scrimmage, making significant strides in the run game and featuring a bevy of legitimate wide receiver threats with a salty senior quarterback able to spread the ball around. But still, weird and bad things happen – especially in September.

Thankfully, the rust got shaken off and halftime adjustments let Iowa take advantage of their “bigger, faster, stronger” nature on the way to a stress-free second half of domination. I have little palate for crow, so I thank the Hawkeyes for keeping my plate clear of the avian delicacy, at least on this first Saturday of the season.

I took a fair amount of critical blowback from my initial column of the year. “Why so negative before a single play has been made?” I was asked. Fairly, I might add.

And my roller coaster of emotions Saturday provided the answer.

I think it’s because I feel this Iowa team has Big 10 Championship potential that I’m so nervy this season. I felt during that shaky first-half Saturday night - where Iowa looked superior, but didn’t exactly prove it on the scoreboard – the ghosts of failure past haunting my Hawkeye heart.

Will there be a punting fiasco a la Wisconsin 2018? Maybe watching the offense sputter with its best player on the sideline like Northwestern last season? Getting burned by Purdue wide receivers after dominating in the trenches?

I know, I know, I’m doing it again! And I really am not trying to be a Buzz Killington here.

But now is the time for Iowa to exorcize those demons and live up to its billing as the toughest team in a rough-and-tumble Big 10 West Division.

I will leave you with a little nugget from Chad Leistikow’s Tuesday column (my Gannett colleague actually met his Monday deadline!) that makes me think this time, it might be different:

Stanley said coaches preach the importance of that type of lock-step leadership, as was demonstrated by the 2015 Hawkeyes that achieved a 12-0 regular season. Winning the West, like that team did, is an attainable goal for the 2019 Hawkeyes.

But a slip-up Saturday would be costly.

“A lot of the older guys,” Stanley said, “really realize how special this team can be.”

A senior quarterback exhorting his team to take no one – not even godawful, pseudo-Big 10 program Rutgers – for granted is a good thing.

This team can be special. Now we wait, nervously, to see if it will be.

Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht and @12Saturdays.