Future

This victory was a major victory for the Hawks. Shonn Greene got the National Player of the Week Award and Norm Parker got the Defensive Coordinator Award. It generated buzz everywhere and Iowa was even declared the National Team of the Week. It completely turned their season around and somewhat made up for their other losses. Now they can look to go 8-4 and have a very good season. If they do finish strong and win the next two games, they will look for a good bowl bid and set themselves up for next season when they should be very good. I was looking at bowl projections and one expert had them in the very good Outback Bowl against South Carolina, and the other had them in the Champs Sports Bowl against Virgina Tech. I don't know if they predicted different records or what but that's a huge difference. If they win the bowl game, depending on what bowl game it is, they could start next season out in the top 25 rankings and become the team they were a few years ago. And if Shonn Greene does decide to return next year, though doubtful, they would be a team to reckon with and would possibly be one of the strongest Hawkeye teams we've seen in a long time. And it all started with this win. This win showed it was possible to do and that this was a great team with missed oppurtunities. It gave the confidence and hope all across the state to be able to do great things and now has high hopes for what's to come.

Miracle

It couldn't be done. That's what everyone thought about Iowa beating Penn State. If you look at my last post even i said it. Penn State was ranked number 3 in the nation and Iowa was unranked. Penn State was dominating everyone and was undefeated while Iowa had lost 4 games. But on that cold afternoon, everything felt different. The Iowa players were pissed and you could tell. They had lost 4 games this season by a combined 12 points and they were sick of it. A good family friend had talked to defensive tackle Matt Kroule on the phone earlier in the week and he had told him that all the players were pissed off and were ready to play and win against Penn State. And that's exactly what they did. In the first minute you could tell the mood they were in after they burst through the line to crush the quarterback, Daryll Clark, two plays in a row. On the second hit they managed to knock the ball loose and though it looked like Iowa got it in the endzone for a touchdown, Clark had somehow managed to get it back. They punted but Iowa got it on the 35 yard line with great field position. And two plays and two great runs later, Shonn Greene ran it in. The game was looking great. Then Penn State finally started playing. They drove on Iowa over and over again but Iowa wasn't giving up anything only allowing field goals. Then Iowa had two turnovers, a fumble and an interception, that gave Penn State great field position both times and led to 10 easy points for them. It wasn't looking good at 16-7 when in the 3rd quarter, Ricky Stanzi found DJK in the endzone on a long pass. Penn State scored again on the next drive to make it 23-14. Then Iowa struck again in the fourth quarter to make it 23-21. With about 6 minutes left in the game, Penn State started driving again until Iowa managed to stop them on their own 35 yard line. They went to punt but an Iowa defensive player somehow brushed by the punter drawing a bogus roughing the punter flag giving Penn State the first down. All of a sudden, a game that Iowa had a sure shot at, just got harder to win and everyone thought it was over. Penn State continued to drive and got in field goal range. Iowa's only hope was for a turnover, or hold them to 3 points so they only needed a touchdown to win. That's when Tyler Sash picked off Clark and it was a whole new ball game. This time Iowa began driving. On 3rd and 14, Stanzi through an incomplete pass that drew a pass interference flag and gave them a first down. Then they got in field goal range and made the field goal a lot easier after Stanzi completed a pass to DJK on the 15 yard line. After two more runs by Greene to get in premium position for the kick, Daniel Murray came out. There was six seconds on the clock and he was ready. After a timeout by Penn State to ice him, he kicked a perfect kick right throught the uprights. 24-23. Penn State was stunned. Iowa fans started to rush the field but there was still a second left so they had to be forced back off the field so Iowa could kickoff. Iowa kicked a squib kick that was perfectly covered and they ended the game. Iowa fans and players rushed the field once again and the celebratin began. They had done it. They had done the impossible

Hawkeye Penn St. Preview

Well i'm about to leave for the Iowa game and thought i would give a preview before i left. Penn State is 9-0, and iowa is 5-4. But like i've already said, 12 more points and this is a different season with a 9-0 Hawkeye team. Both defenses are very good with Penn State's a little better if you look at the stats. Penn State's defense had given up an average of 11.1 points a game and Iowa has given up 13. Offense is a little different though. Penn State has a very dominant offense averaging more than 225 yards rushing and 230 yards passing a game. That is very diverse and also a lot of yardage. The Iowa offense on the other hand is a little banged up with star Shonn Greene having some problems with his ankle and also a few problems with the O-line. Seth Olsen might return from a sprained ankle and his backup, Andy Kuempel, is probably not going to play because of a shoulder injury. This is not the game to be banged up. But even with that, a few experts who pick who's going to win have picked Iowa as the victor since they are two very close teams, and Iowa needs the win.

Illinois

Well don't really want to talk to much about this game. It sucked. That pretty much wraps it up. We lossed if you couldn't tell or didn't already know that. It was a key game for both teams but Illinois won, propelling them ahead and holding Iowa back. This was a much needed game since it is probably one of the easiest games they have left. Now they have to play undefeated Penn State next week. They also have to play Purdue, Minnesota. Minnesota is also a very good team and will be a very hard win, but they should win easily against purue. Now if they do what's expected, which is to lose to Penn State and Minnesota but win against Purdue, they will be 6-6. That's as good as last year which wasn't good. If they had just won the illinois game they would have at least been 7-5 and possibly better. But the hardest part about this loss (minus the fact that i hate illinois) is that it was by 3 points. 3 POINTS. They had missed a field goal ealier in the game and failed to score a touchdown twice in the redzone and had to settle for fieldgoals. It was an easy win, a sure win. Yet somehow they managed to let it slip through their fingers and they lost it. Sure their errors for a "young" team and its just helping them learn. But we won't have a lot of our good players for long and fans are wanting results now. Iowa's last 9 losses have been by 3 points or less. That means we gain a few more points every game and we're contending for the national championship. That's the hard part of accepting this loss.