Well that was fun.

For the first time since the strangest Big 10 season in memory launched, Iowa fans saw the team they’d been hoping to since last winter’s thorough dismantling of USC in the Holiday Bowl.

A cynic might point out that since 2015, “good” Iowa seems to only show up once the pressure of competing for a Big 10 title is out of reach. But hey, it’s 2020 and there is enough cynicism and snark to go around. Let’s just enjoy the good things we have while we have them.

It really shouldn’t be a surprise that Iowa came out and played its best game of the year. Typically, the Hawkeyes come out of the gate a little slow – but usually have margin for error playing lower level, non-conference opponents. Jumping directly into Big 10 play – against two programs that have recently vexed the Ferentz brain trust – apparently was too tough, too soon.

But not so Michigan State. I’ll admit, I was a bit worried about Iowa native Rocky Lombardi bombing the Hawks out of Kinnick the way he buried Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines. Saturday, however, both the defensive line and secondary came to play, flying around the field and making Rocky look more like Glass Joe.

That isn’t super surprising – lost in the angst of two close losses to start the season is the fact the Iowa defense has outperformed expectations. Remember, the defense was replacing more starters and was considered the bigger question mark heading into 2020 than the offense. Through three games, however, the Hawkeyes are ranked 15 in scoring defense across all of college football.

The improvement from week two to week three on the other side of the ball is the story of the game. While I continue to harbor some doubts about Brian Ferentz as an offensive coordinator, you must acknowledge that the man learns from his mistakes.

After his pass-happy attack against Northwestern sputtered and failed to produce points, he went back to the tried-and-true balanced ground-and-pound attack Iowa is known for, to great effect against the Spartans.

Tyler Goodson and Mekhi Sargent regularly ripped off four or five yards on first down runs, putting the Hawks ahead of the chains and opening up the entire playbook. As noted in this column last week, establishing a legitimate run threat puts an inexperienced quarterback at ease and allows the play action passing game much more effective. Once the run is established, then the younger Ferentz’s propensity for a non-predictable, multiple attack becomes deadly.

It was smart to feature the short passing game early as well. Petras spread the ball around to multiple receivers and backs, was forced to work on his touch (progress made, more needed) and generally eased into the game. You could see his confidence growing as his completion percentage and team points piled up.

Most importantly, last Saturday it looked like the Iowa Hawkeyes were having fun. This poses a bit of a chicken-or-egg question. Did relaxing and having fun lead to lots of scoring or did putting up points and finding offensive success lead to the team relaxing and having fun?

I suspect it’s a little of both, but it was sure nice to see the bounce in the players’ steps and less tension on the sideline.

Against Michigan State, the Iowa offense looked much more like the team we saw in San Diego. Really, there is no reason Iowa shouldn’t be explosive on offense. The Hawkeyes feature three quality Big 10 running backs, physical tight ends that can run routes and make tough catches, tall and lanky wideouts, diminutive speedsters, possession receivers and nearly everything in between. Going forward, the focus must be on building Spencer Petras’ confidence and experience level so he is comfortable using those tools.

This is a lot of positivity, and we haven’t even touched on Iowa special teams – which perhaps put in the best day of all three phases. Charlie Jones is a revelation at punt return, bringing some Tim Dwight-type swagger and fearlessness. Tory Taylor might be Iowa’s MVP thus far this season, and at some point his incredible punting is going to turn a game around for this squad.

It is unlikely we will see the offense, defense and special teams all clicking at full power in every game remaining. But for one Saturday, at least, it gave us a glimpse of the ceiling for this Hawkeye team and that ceiling is very, very high.