Having had the benefit of watching and of course 20/20 hindsight. Just a few less free rushers and a couple tds vs. Fgs vs Mich and Wisc.... maybe not 5-0, but a West title, trip to Indy...yes.
An avg to above avg oline(interior oline) by Iowa standards, with this defense....
I dont know man. I would've taken 9-3 in a heartbeat prior to the season. That said, having watched them all.... the interior oline...thus the poor protection vs Mich, PSU and lack of running game...
Just missed by a couple pieces, a couple yards, a catch here and there, a td vs a fg just a few more times....
Having seen it all play out, it just feels like we were so close....
I'll happily take 10-3 with a bowl win and a top 15 finish. A West title, even with a loss to OSU, would have been awesome. It felt soooo close.
It was close. But the whole season was close. In the end it probably evened out.
Iowa was on the ropes against ISU, trailed most of the game, finally got the lead but KF did his best to blow it with clock management but ISU made a critical mistake late and it cost them.
Iowa was on the ropes vs Minnesota too. They were a dropped pass from one of the conference's best WRs away from pulling even with Iowa late.
Nebraska's beleaguered defense dominated Iowa for 3 quarters and all the momentum was on their side. Then the D got their second wind and somehow Nate pulled them out of the fire and 3 did what 3 does.
Its pretty crazy to think how incredibly close this team was to 11-1 or 12-0 but also how dangerously close they were to being 7-5 or 6-6.