Tuesdays with Torbee

Finding things to be excited about amid a pandemic, and the requisite semi-quarantine lifestyle it engenders, is not easy.

If you are one of the millions working from home, avoiding bars and restaurants and generally hunkering down, you know the struggle. Every day – whether weekday or weekend – feels essentially the same. You get up a little late, think maybe today might be a good day for a shower for a change, pull on a pair of sweatpants (and a dress shirt if you have a Zoom meeting,) drink some coffee, attempt to work, listen to some podcasts, browse Twitter, attempt to work, eat a snack, yadda, yadda yadda – rinse and repeat. Day after day.

It certainly isn’t hell, but it may be a form of purgatory.

But this week, at least for Iowa Hawkeye football fans, feels just a tad different, doesn’t it? Do you have maybe just a bit of a spring in your step? For the first time in more than nine months, it’s GAME WEEK!

This season there won’t be the usual slow burn build-up to big games that matter. It will be Big 10 foes only, right out of the gate. If that doesn’t get your adrenaline going a bit, I question your commitment to football fandom.

With that in mind, I am taking off my sad sack 2020 pessimist hat and putting on my chipper optimist hat and listing things I’m excited about this football season.

· A star is born? I know, I know – it is patently unfair to heap gigantic expectations on first-time starters, particularly at the quarterback position. But it’s hard not to salivate with anticipation at the prospect of Spencer Petras being much more than just a game manager. As has been noted approximately ten bajillion times, this is the kid that broke all of current NFL quarterback Jared Goff’s high school records. In addition, he was the guy chosen by Ken O’Keefe and Kirk Ferentz over fellow recruit Zach Wilson, who has only led BYU to a 5-0 start, #12 ranking while putting up 1,641 passing yards and a 12-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio through five games. So, pardon my giddiness to see what young Petras can do behind a stolid offensive line and with perhaps the best cadre of receivers in the Ferentzian era.

· Solidarity leads to success? To say the off-season was tumultuous is a ludicrous understatement. Between the global health crisis and the allegations of racial strife from within the football program, it’s been a spring and summer like no other. At its apex, there was serious concern that a complete leadership change might be in the cards. Fortunately, at least to me, it appears both Ferentzes, Gary Barta and other leaders of the organization instead took the criticism to heart and are earnestly working toward change. By most accounts, this has led to increased unity and brotherhood among the players and coaching staff. There is no sugarcoating the fact some percentage of minority players in the Iowa program, at times over the years, have felt either mistreated or apart from the rest of the team. However, it appears from recent player comments that the path forward to a more inclusive, more cohesive and culturally accepting program has been identified and progress is being made. I am anxious to see how this translates to on-field play. The optimist in me believes what could have been a weakness (distrust, strife) has been turned into a strength (unity, solidarity, belief.) A unified, talented football team is a dangerous football team.

· Time to beat Bucky? For most of my youth – more than a decade of which was spent as a Badger fan in Madison – the Iowa Hawkeyes absolutely owned the Wisconsin Badgers. Most games were blowouts, and the Badger faithful lived through four presidential administrations (including a pair of two-termers!) without seeing their team win. The current skid to the beer-bloated mammals to the north is not nearly as dire, but it does need to end. Iowa is too good of a program to remain in Bucky’s shadow. I am calling my shot for 2020 – this year the streak is broken. Come late afternoon on what is sure to be a frigid Dec. 12, our four-year nightmare will be over. (Note to self: DON’T make a political analogy here, Tom hates it!)

There you go – three things to be optimistic and excited about as we head into the backstretch of 2020. What could possibly go wrong!?

Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht and @12Saaturdays