What if UNI makes that FG?

[storminspank]

Would Iowa be 6-1 right now? Or does that loss set Iowa on a different path?

I sit and think just how improbable blocking BTB FGs was and how it might have quite literally saved the season... Not just having the chance to be undefeated, but avoiding something far worse.

I still have a hard time wrapping my melon around the end of that UNI game.

 

[reamkore]

Would Iowa be 7-1 right now? Or does that loss set Iowa on a different path?

I sit and think just how improbable blocking BTB FGs was and how it might have quite literally saved the season... Not just having the chance to be undefeated, but avoiding something far worse.

I still have a hard time wrapping my melon around the end of that UNI game.

im not sure, im too bust thinking about michigan state. What if fred russell didnt get hurt in against ISU in 2002?

id say we would be 6-1, just looking at the poise of the team. they way we rebound from all adversity from game to game and play to play.

 

[BradMillerTime]

Then another 7-6 season i would suppose...

 

[trhawk]

We could still be in a good position. It wouldn't be the first time a team lost to a 1AA team and bounced back.

Remember after Michigan lost to App St, they were 2nd in the Big Ten.

 

[DreamSeason]

I think that the UNI game was being watched by God... and God is obviously a huge Iowa fan. Consider the fact we are the only team to block TWO field goals in a row... and at the end of the game with <5 seconds on the clock?

Destiny my friend.

 

[W4hawks]

I'm guessing if we lost that game we would be ranked around 73 right now. Thats also assuming we would be 7-1 haaa.

 

[CardHawk43]

What if Stanzi doesn't throw 25 pick 6's and the Iowa D goes 40 consecutive quarters without giving up a rushing touchdown? Would we be ranked in the top two or three?

 

[iapunk]

How do we know that either one of those field goals would've been good? I'd like to think the first one was going to be wide right and the second would've never had to happen.

 

[xlakehawk]

This team has proven it's ability to bounce back from adversity pretty darn well, don't you think? eg: Big 10 road games.

 

[masoncityhawkeye]

If they made that FG I would have never forgiven you for wearing that UNI t-shirt

 

[VanMan1]

Anyone know what the true trajectory either of Hallgren's kicks would have gone had no Hawkeyes had put a paw on those balls? No one knows for sure what would have happened. Hallgren is a pretty sure kicker, though the holder is a true freshman punter who was playing in his first game since graduating from Cedar Falls High.

 

[kpd63110]

11-1 Big Ten Champion trip to the Rose Bowl! UNI will win the FCS national championship. They are better then 1/2 the teams in the FBS!

 

[hawkeyebob62]

Would Iowa be 6-1 right now? Or does that loss set Iowa on a different path?

I sit and think just how improbable blocking BTB FGs was and how it might have quite literally saved the season... Not just having the chance to be undefeated, but avoiding something far worse.

I still have a hard time wrapping my melon around the end of that UNI game.

Good question. I certainly, after the UNI game, didn't expect a 35-3 win over Iowa State. I really didn't expect to beat Arizona, except it was a time-zone trip for them. Penn Stat? You gotta be kidding. I was looking at a 14-point--MINIMUM--loss. I NEVER knew WHAT to think about Arkansas State, and UM was almost as much of a puzzle simply because they are obviously improved from last year but still very inexperienced.

Wiscy is the game that has me thinking we ARE definitely a VERY good team (as opposed to just "good"). They owned us for a quarter and a half, but you can't really even tell what adjustments we had to make to take over the game. It just sort of happened.

A few other things along that line:
--UNI was played with a makeshift line, an incomplete secondary and an unresolved RB
situation. As well, until their loss to SIU, UNI has looked to be a dominant FCS team...
--Everyone keeps saying, "We just get garbage interceptions, not 'coverage' interceptions!"
There is a reason we are getting interceptions. There is a reasonfor our defensive
schemes. We blitz when Norm knows it will work, not because we have a few extra guys
with a little time on their hands playing LB or DB. This defense CAN be scored upon...just
not very much, and not when the game is on the line.
--Ricky Stanzi is the most resilient QB I have ever seen. That rubs off on his teammates.

So...in conclusion...we would be 6-1!

 

[Bohawk]

I think we'd be giddy thinking about Rose Bowl possibilities and every once in a while someone would throw out a "damn...just think if UNI would have missed that FG". It would be very similar to 2002.

 

[JayWebb]

IIRC, if UNI made that 1st fg there would still have been a couple of seconds left on the clock. So if that was the case, I'll say UNI kicks off, and Paki goes from goat to hero by running back the kickoff for an 85 yd. touchdown. Hawks win 23-19.

 

[ThunderHawk]

The question is intriguing but irrelevant. It happened as it did, and could not have happened otherwise.

 

[tubahawk]

Spank,

That's a scary situation to consider. I think you could safely argue it crushes our confidence. How badly is the question. I don't think we have the fortitude to come back in the Penn State game with that UNI loss hanging over our head.

I do think we sill beat ISU, Arizona, and Ark St.

Wisconsin is the tough one for me. I think we do pull off a win, just becasue Ferentz's teams improve through the season and he would have them back on track by then.

If we had dropped the UNI game, I think this team is 5-2 at this point in the season.

 

[HawkeyeDVD]

It is what it is.

 

[ThunderHawk]

That UNI game set the tone for the season. It sent a couple of messages to the players: First, even if you're playing bad, if you keep pushing, you can come back. Second, if you focus relentlessly on doing your job on key plays when the game hangs in the balance, you will succeed.

So far this season, this team has made huge plays when they absolutely had to. That mindset started with blocking those kicks.

 

[spudhawk]

I think there would have been an epic meltdown fanwise, but the team would have bounced back the next week and still whipped ISU. I am not sure we still would have beaten Penn State. The coaching staff would have come under even more scrutiny with that loss and this season could have been more like 2005 - 2007 than last year or 2002 - 2004. Iowa's margin of error is so razor thin games like that can make or break an entire season. It is still defining us nationally to some extent. We are seven weeks away and it is still mentioned on every broadcast on TV. We now have two impressive road wins and we won't get away from it all season.