Iowa fans had been looking forward to Friday's game against Nebraska since the game was announced in early September 2010. They had been looking forward to it with great passion.
Apparently the Iowa offense chose to overlook it entirely as it was its own worst enemy.
Here's a quick summary:
-Iowa had run just 36 plays with 11:25 to play. Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead had 38 touches himself at that point and had also out gained Iowa's entire offense at that point (174-157).
-James Vandenberg was just 8-16 for 83 yards at that point and Taylor Martinez had thrown for over 160.
That's about all you need to know. The box score will not represent how poorly the Iowa offense played on this day. They couldn't make a play or get out of their own way. Sure, Marcus Coker was not 100 percent, but who is this time of year? Burkhead wore a boot at times this week leading up to the game.
It didn't help that Mika'il McCall did not make the trip or that Jordan Canzeri had an injury. But apparently a 70-percent Coker is better than a 100-percent anyone else.
Some may point a finger at the Iowa defense, but they did more than enough through two and a half quarters. This was a failure by the offense (sound familiar?). In the third quarter with Iowa down 13-0, the Hawks had 2nd and 2. They wound up punting and there were no penalties. Iowa also chose to punt twice in the first half when the offense had the ball fourth and long inside the Nebraska 40.
If there is one word that describes this game for me, it would be stale. Perhaps that's also a word that sums up the 2011 Iowa football season more than any other.
The offense never found consistency this year from week to week. The defense was undermanned up front and still played well enough for this team to win nine football games; they lost in three overtimes and to Minnesota by one-point.
The offense was expected to be the highlight and it turned out to be the most frustrating aspect. It ended the regular season with it's lights turned off, the engine barely running.
How can you have a running back turn in the 4th best single season rushing total in school history, a wide receiver have more than 1,200 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns and quarterback throw for 23 touchdowns to just five interceptions and scratch out just seven wins against a very manageable schedule and it not be on the defense?
We just saw it.
When this program gets an empty play on first down, more often than not it's a sign to cue the punt team. We've heard other teams talk about how predictable Iowa's offense has been through the years, and they are right.
However, the Iowa offensive line won its battle of the line of scrimmage on Friday, but the skill positions players could not make plays when it mattered.
In 2011, this offense mostly beat up on the cupcakes and barely fired on half its cylinders on the road or against good to great defenses. There weren't many great defenses on the schedule, just two of them in fact and Iowa lost those games (at Penn State and home vs Michigan State) by double digits.
Here's how I see it; if Iowa didn't have one of the more favorable schedules in recent memory they may have been a sub .500 football team. Per the NCAA stats, Iowa had the 55th 'toughest' schedule out of 120 teams in the FBS coming into the Nebraska game.
Is the program at another crossroads point? Is there a need to mix things up on the coaching staff? Is there a need to tweak things philosophically on offense and defense? Is a seven win season cause for great alarm?
Those are just a few of the questions Iowa fans are asking right now.
There will be plenty of time to dissect this season and we'll certainly do that over the course of the next nine months.
Iowa will have a bowl game to play, likely in Dallas or Houston and against a Big 12 opponent with a high powered offense. My guess is there won't be a great deal of excitement surrounding that one.
Sure, Iowa fans will watch the game, some will go to the game and everyone will cheer the Hawkeyes to win.
But after it's over, September of 2012 will feel as though it's five years away as this will be a long, long off season.
