Stand by your man
And show the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man
--Tammy Wynette
Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta decided to double down on his embattled, throwback coach in the midst of a turbulent season. Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh took the opposite tact, throwing .700 winning percentage coach Paul Chryst out like so much spoiled Wisconsin dairy when Bucky started its Big 10 campaign 0-2.
It is likely unwise and unfair to declare last Saturday’s 96th iteration of one of college football’s oldest rivalries a final referendum on which AD made the right call. But I have a feeling Barta had one of his signature sly grins as Jump Around blared over the Kinnick speakers, Hawkeye players rushed to secure their brass bull and Iowa fans leaped in the cold night air.
For now at least, old school patience paid off with the longest-tenured coach in college football besting one of the shortest-tenured. It is also fitting that this contest might have set the game of football back at least a half-century, with Iowa managing a two-touchdown win mustering only a measly 146 yards of offense. Three yards and a cloud of dust would have been a minor miracle on most snaps from these two moribund offenses. During the post-game show Saturday evening, Big Network’s Mike Hall noted Iowa was the first team to win a game despite gaining less than 150 yards in the last 100 years. Take that, Red Grange!
OK, maybe that is a little unfair. Iowa and Wisconsin just might have the two best defenses in the Big 10. However, nearly every big play that mattered Saturday came from defense and special teams, with the Iowa offense finding just enough juice inside the red zone to take advantage of short fields brought about by the aforementioned.
Iowa has now won its last 13 straight November Big 10 games, the last defeat a close two-point loss to these very same Badgers up in Camp Randall. The magic number now is 15 – if the Hawkeyes push that November win streak to 15, it will very likely capture a consecutive Big 10 West crown. That is worth playing for, even if the prize is a date with a Big 10 East heavyweight in Indianapolis.
It feels right that a team with a stone age, primitive approach is nearly untouchable once the leaves are gone and the temperature plunges. As the snow fell through the lights Saturday afternoon and the north end zone lunatics harried the Badgers into a punt from their own end zone, you could feel the energy. When Cooper DeJean fielded that punt and ran it back to the 18-yard line, setting up the Hawkeyes final touchdown of the day, the atmosphere was as electric as anywhere else in the country.
That’s how we like our football up here: gritty, grindy and more than a little ugly. There was an old school Kinnick vibe after Petras burrowed in that final TD via quarterback sneak. The ancient brick walls reverberated the I-O-W-A chant over and over, long after the ball was reset for kickoff. Honestly, it felt a lot like the 2004 Iowa-Wisconsin game.
Speaking of throwbacks, I can’t decide if Cooper DeJean reminds me more of Nile Kinnick or Tim Dwight. I know, I know – it’s totally unfair to put the pressure of expectations on a small town Iowa sophomore who is only getting his first real extended run of play now. But you can feel it, can’t you? When he’s back to receive a punt or screaming down the sideline as a gunner, something incredible feels like it could happen. That is Dwight-esque.
I also think that in the years to come, the struggles of the 2022 offense will take a major backseat to the greatness of the 2022 defense in fan memories. Sebastian Castro hits like Bob Sanders’ long-lost brother; Jack Campbell is as good a linebacker as Iowa has seen; almost every guy on the defensive line can maul and harass quarterbacks; all Riley Moss does is intercept passes. There are no weak spots.
At this point, I’m sure some readers are rolling their eyes at my irrational exuberance over a flawed 6-4 team. That’s fair – this isn’t an astonishing, all-time great, fun Hawkeye juggernaut. But damn if they aren’t oddly entertaining, in a “wait, how are they doing that” way. I mean, winning games via safety or when virtually unable to block? You can’t say it isn’t unique.
Finally, regardless of what stage of Ferentz fatigue you may find yourself in, you must admire his steadfast, unwavering commitment to doing it his way. When Iowa is losing, we call it irrational stubbornness. When they are winning, it is steadfast determination. And Kirk Ferentz would just say “that’s football.”
In the middle of howling fan outrage and mocking national experts, Barta doubled down on his coach and Ferentz doubled down on his players. When asked how after the Ohio State beat down he remained positive, and even predicted Iowa would bounce back, he responded:
“I couldn't sign off on that three weeks ago, four weeks ago, but you bet on people, and you bet on people that you've been around and see how they respond.”
It is a steady, measured and yes sometimes exceedingly frustrating type of patience. But damn if it doesn’t sometimes pay off beautifully.
Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht
