Tom Petty was wrong.

The waiting is not the hardest part. The hardest part is waiting, only to see your beloved team self-destruct repeatedly and blow a chance to notch a solid opening week win after a long off-season of discontent and anxiety.

It’s hard not to feel disappointment, considering the last time we checked in with our Hawkeyes, they were racing up and down the field in San Diego, making blue blood USC look like a hapless tomato can.

Saturday against Purdue though, the fits and starts far outweighed the oohs and ahhs.

Weirdly, despite the outcome, I came out of the game quite bullish about this Iowa team’s future.

Specifically, some of the problems that held Iowa back from competing for a Big 10 West title the past few seasons appear to be trending better. The run game, minus the brutal fumbles, (one of which was caused by an Iowa offensive lineman) notched 195 yards and 5.4 yards per carry. By contrast, in last year’s win over Purdue, Iowa rushed for 102 yards and an anemic 3.1 yards per carry. If Iowa can rush for around 200 yards in most games, they will win the majority.

I was also pleasantly surprised at the ferocity of the young defense. They hit hard and did a nice job bottling up the Purdue run game until late in the fourth quarter, when they ran out of gas after being put in poor situations due to penalties and turnovers. Purdue was held to 107 yards on 3.9 yards per carry, less than Iowa and not much better than they did a season prior in a loss. Believe it or not, pass coverage was also better this season against Purdue than last, David Bell’s heroics notwithstanding. The Hawkeyes gave up 327 yards in the air in 2019, compared to 282 this past Saturday.

Special teams were rock solid again, and it’s probably not a stretch to say that first-year punter Tory Taylor was Iowa’s most outstanding individual performer this past week. He can be a huge difference maker and help Iowa win the field position battle, a key factor in Ferentz-style football.

And then we come to the elephant in the room: the play of young Spencer Petras at quarterback.

I believe Petras would be the first to tell you he didn’t play up to his potential. He missed several wide-open receivers running free in the secondary, he put too much power on what should have been touch passes and he overthrew several deep balls. That said, the kid has an absolute cannon for an arm, does not appear to get happy feet in the pocket and demonstrates good competitive fire and grit. Once again, it’s instructive to compare the position in the 2019 and 2020 games. Last season, Nate Stanley was 23-33 for 260 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception. Saturday, in his first-ever collegiate start, Petras was 22-39 for 265 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. So Petras basically put up identical stats – and one less interception – than a senior, three-year starter against the same team. I’ll take it. And those trying to compare him to Jake Christensen? Three words: C’mon man.

The cold truth is Iowa lost because they beat themselves. For most of the afternoon, at least after a sluggish start, they looked to be the more talented, bigger, faster, better team than Purdue.

Iowa’s brand is to play fundamental, mistake-free football. And when they don’t, they lose. One red zone turnover is tough to overcome. Two is impossible. And that’s not even mentioning the uncharacteristic 10 penalties for 100 yards.

If either of those end zone drives that ended in turnovers had been touchdowns instead, Iowa wins. If both ended in mere field goals, Iowa wins. I am always one to give the opponent credit, and Purdue played smart, inspired football. But the eyes don’t lie, and the eyes say Iowa had more talent.

Going forward, I don’t see Iowa being outmatched physically or skill-wise by the majority of its opponents. Wins are there for the taking, if the Hawkeyes can just get out of their own way.

Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht and @12Saaturdays