this is chosenchildren's work with my comments bolded and a bit of regular text at the end:
Here is my definition: Any game in which Iowa leads by 7 points or less in the 4th quarter or trails by 7 points or less in the 4th quarter. I think this is a fair way to look at it.
A couple of examples: In the 2010 Orange Bowl, Iowa leads 17-14 during the 4th quarter. Georgia Tech has numerous chances to take the lead. The Iowa defense holds, and the Iowa offense scores a late, game-clinching touchdown. That to me was a classic close game.
In 2009, Iowa plays Wisconsin in Madison and is tied 10-10 entering the 4th quarter. Iowa ultimately wins 20-10. A classic close game (same applies to the Penn State game, when Iowa trailed 10-5 entering the 4th quarter, but won 21-10 with a late surge).
Based on this criteria, here is the ten year record:
2001 This was mostly an overachieving team that shouldn't have been in many of these games
24 Penn State 18
14 Purdue 23
28 Mich St 31
28 Wisc 34
14 ISU 17
19 Texas Tech 16 Record: 2-4
2002 Best regular season by far of the Ferentz era and possibly most talented team (2009 is the other)
29 Miami Ohio 24
31 Iowa St. 36
42 Penn St 35 (OT)
31 Purdue 28 Record: 3-1
2003 again an overachieving team but had a very good defense, this team handled poor teams.
10 Michigan St 20
30 Michigan 27
10 Ohio St 19
27 Wisc 21 Record: 2-2
2004 Overachieving team with loss of 5 TBs and first year starting QB
17 Iowa St 10
6 Penn State 4
23 Purdue 21
29 Gophers 27
30 LSU 25 Record: 5-0
2005 The first real underachieving team of the Ferentz era- first team to play with a target on its back- was obviously overrated with the performance of the defense, one of top Ferentz era offenses
20 Michigan 23 (OT)
27 NU 28 This game will live forever in infamy- another example of Staff not burying a less talented team
20 Wisky 10
24 Florida 31 Record: 1-3
2006 Again an underachieving team, couldn't reload at WR and Tate was hurt for entire campaign
20 Syracuse 13 (OT) No Tate- Manson at QB
27 ISU 17
28 Indiana 31
24 N. ILL 14 No Tate- JC6 at QB
21 Wisky 24
24 Texas 26 Record: 3-3
2007 this team was lucky to win 6 games, This year should have been the year that coaching shined, and it didn't- notice what game is not a close game Western Michigan
13 Iowa St 15 Absolute worst loss on this list. I don't care who was at QB this was a terrible loss, terrible offense and poor gameplanning on defense at the end.
13 Wisky 17
10 Illini 6
34 Mich St 27 (OT)
21 Gophers 16 Record: 3-2
2008 the tide begins to turn after a disastrous start
20 Pitt 21 Iowa wins this game if Stanzi plays 2nd half- loss to make team better
17 NU 22 Again Iowa loses from ahead, bad turnovers, not too many coaching blunders here.
13 MSU 16
24 ILL 27
24 Penn St 23
22 Purdue 17 Almost a loss from ahead, was almost escorted out of the stadium at this game. Record: 2-4
2009 Probably 2nd most talented team in Ferentz era and most dynamic defense
17 N. Iowa 16 poor offensive gameplan limited by no known TB at time, offensive line injuries, and miracle finish.
21 Penn St 10
24 Ark St 21 Iowa stuggles to hold off an inferior opponent, long passing game working lets run into 9 man fronts.
30 Mich 28 Didn't have an answer for running game, again do nothing on offense and let an opponent in a game they had no business being in
20 Wisky 10
15 MSU 13
42 Ind 24 (trailed 24-14 in 4th qtr)
10 NU 17 Loss of Stanzi was too much to overcome along with poor officiating (Wegher TD)
24 OSU 27 (OT)
24 Tech 14 Lack of 2nd half offensive adjustments plus a rick6 made this closer than it should have been Record: 8-2
2010 Should have been in discussion for most talented team, another let down with a target on the back- that is at least partly and most likely a coaching issue
27 Arizona 34
38 Mich 28 This doesn't belong on this list. Iowa was never truly threatened in this game, and once again offense goes into 3 and out mode with a big lead
30 Wisky 31
18 Ind 13 lets throw fades into double coverage, lets not try to run the ball when defense is dropping 8 at the snap in the red zone
17 NU 21 No team understands Iowa better than the Mildcats. Terrible loss, but should have seen it coming
17 Ohio St 20
24 Gophers 27
27 Mizzou 24 Record: 3-5
OVERALL RECORD IN CLOSE GAMES: 33 WINS, 26 LOSSES
.559 WINNING PERCENTAGE
RECORD IN OVERTIME GAMES: 3 WINS, 2 LOSSES (60% WIN PERCENTAGE)
Conclusion: Iowa plays well in close games under Ferentz, and wins their fair share under this coaching staff. Ferentz has coached about 150 games at Iowa, with 40% of them being close games decided in the 4th quarter (really an amazing statistic).
2010 was frustrating, but not an indication of any type of trend.[/QUOTE]
This is a lot of research, but the truth is that Iowa plays to the level of its competition. That is a coaching problem. Iowa had and has playmakers but too often they are leashed when Iowa gets a lead of 8 or more. This season was bound to happen with that philosophy. How many of these close games should have been close?