There may be worse losses in the Kirk Ferentz era as it relates to what it meant to certain seasons, but Iowa's loss to Minnesota this Saturday is certainly a low point.
Before the game, there were debates as to whether or not this year's Minnesota team was the worst in the Big Ten since the 1981 Northwestern team. The amount of points Minnesota had given up in just the first half of their three Big Ten losses was more than 100 points and their offense was the worst in the Big Ten.
Yet Iowa lost to these Gophers, falling to 5-3 with an arduous November slate still to play.
After eight games, you typically know what kind of football team you have. As it relates to this year's Iowa team, the likely reality is that they are just an average football team. They have yet to win on the road, losing to two bad squad's as well as the loss to Penn State, who may be the worst 8-1 team in the history of college football.
Iowa's defense couldn't get off the field in the fourth quarter, but it was the offense who failed the team on this day, something we have been saying since November of 2010.
When you have a rusher that puts up 252 yards, the third highest single game total in school history, you should not lose a football game. When you take into account the other 13 games in Iowa history where it's running back topped the 200-yard mark, they are 12-2. The other loss was at Northwestern in 2005, another game where Iowa led by double-digits in the fourth quarter and where the opponent successfully converted an onside kick.
Iowa had been stellar in the redzone this year, scoring on 26 of its 27 trips. In this game, they were just 3 of 6, missing a 24-yard field goal, a 43 yard field goal and a fumble on a blindside blitz sack. Each of those miscues was very costly in a game that you lose by one point.
When you put up nearly 300 yards in the first half, you should score more than seven points. Iowa didn't and it lost the game.
While Iowa's defense is challenged from a personnel standpoint, something we knew would be the case back in January, they allow the opposing quarterback to get far too comfortable. Is it a coincidence that opposing quarterbacks put up one of their best games of their respective seasons when they play Iowa?
Look at this year; Steele Jantz had a game for the ages and has since been benched. Matt McGloin was solid against Iowa, by far his best game. Marqueis Gray has been abysmal this season throwing the ball, completing less than 50 percent of his passes. Against Iowa? 11-17. Indiana's true freshman looked good...and so on.
Once upon a time, perhaps you could get away with the base defense Iowa played. But today's quarterbacks are a different breed. They run the spread offense in high school and have been making quick decisions and hitting underneath routes for years before they get to college. Where Iowa's defense is willing to take its chances plays right into where today's quarterbacks are strong.
That's not to pin this game on the defense; they played their best game of the season through three quarters. But it was the onside kick recovery in the fourth quarter that broke Iowa's back...it's also the second straight year where Minnesota has recovered an onside kick against Iowa to propel them to a victory.
This was also Iowa's 5th straight road loss and James Vandenberg is now 0-4 on the road as Iowa's starting quarterback.
Iowa sits at 5-3 with back to back home games against Michigan and Michigan State. It's very hard to pick Iowa in either one of those games right about now, and I have felt bad about the game at Purdue since the middle of summer. The game at Lincoln looks downright scary right now. The thought of Rex Burkhead slamming into the Iowa defensive front? Yikes.
Iowa needs one more win for bowl eligibility, and this program really needs those 15 bowl practices. We all know they returned the fewest starters of any Big Ten team, so that developmental time is paramount for this club.
Right now, it's tough to be optimistic about any one of these final four games.
