Out of Towner: Iowa Squeaks By UNI
Iowa Squeaks By UNI In Dramatic Fashion
By: Jackson Pixley
Here I sit in front of my computer at 10 a.m.(hung over of course) still shaking my head in disbelief. How in the hell did the Hawkeyes ever pull off yesterdays win? I'm absolutely dumbfounded. If there is anybody reading this who had their heads buried in the sand all day and night or who for some unspeakable reason do not have ESPN, let me recap the final minutes of yesterday's game.
Up 17-16 in the final minutes, Iowa's prevent defense (I hate prevent defenses) allowed the UNI Panthers to drive the field quickly setting up a 41 yard field goal attempt on first down with just 7 seconds remaining. I've never felt such tension in a stadium in my entire life by the way. The kick is up... Blocked! Blocked! Holy shit! We win!
But wait, after further review, the ball never crossed the line of scrimmage and was recovered by a UNI player after teamates tell Hawkeye Jeremiah Hunter to get away from the ball. Oops. UNI's ball with one second left for yet another field goal attempt. Shit. And the kick is up... Blocked! Blocked! Mayhem ensues, Iowa wins. In fact, in a karmic twist it is none other than Jeremiah Hunter who blocks the second kick.. I don't even have to be a good writer to make that story interesting. You can't make that shit up.
Now, for those of you blinded by faith Hawkeye fans whose team can do no wrong, you may want to stop reading here. It's gonna get ugly. Still here? Okay. The fact of the matter is that our beloved Iowa Hawkeyes looked terrible yesterday. Just awful. They didn't deserve to win that game. Don't get me wrong, nobody is more glad than I am that they won(with the exception of Jeremiah Hunter, of course), but if they play that way next week they willget trounced by ISU. That, my friends, is not something I am prepared to handle at this stage of my life.
The 1st half Iowa totalled a dismal 104 yards of total offense and showed very little on the defensive side of the ball either. Stanzi overthrew every target and the offensive front five couldn't have opened a hole wide enough for a baby squirrel to slip through. I was speechless at the end of the first half as I read the scoreboard. UNI 13, U of I 3.
The second half started out great, for about thirty seconds. After a fumble recovery on the kickoff, Stanzi gave it right back a few plays later, dropping the ball himself. (please reference my Sept. 4th blog about what Stanzi should avoid doing this year.) After another UNI field goal, Iowa's offense did finally get into a rythm though, courtesy of the Stanzi to Moeaki combination. Moeaki finished the day with an impressive 10 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown would finally put the Hawkeyes in the lead 13-10 with 13:18 left in the game. Stanzi would finish up with an acceptable 242 yards on 22 of 34 with the one TD.
The biggest problem I saw on offense had to be the lack of, well, anything by the offensive line. If they can't figure out how to push a I-AA team enough to open up some running lanes, things are going to get pretty tough this season. Let's hope the return of James Ferentz and Kyle Calloway next week to the starting lineup will alleviate some of those problems.
The defensive front faired no better. UNI's Pat Grace picked apart the Hawkeye secondary most of the game. And I thought the secondary played pretty well. But if you were to give me 6, 7, even 8 seconds to find an open reciever I'm pretty sure I could deliver the ball too. There was absolutely no pressure all day. None. So after watching your line get nowhere near the QB for most of a football game wouldn't you, as a coach, maybe think about blitzing once in a while? Once even? I sat there every play just waiting for them to throw something new at UNI's offense and nothing happened. I might well have been waiting for Norm Parker to grow a third leg. Next week we are going to need to see a lot more of what made Iowa's Defense one of the best in the country last season.
Now that I've gotten all that off of my chest, let's focus on the good part of yesterday's game. We won. In stunning fashion no less. I am convinced I had more than one mini-stroke yesterday and was physically and mentally exhausted leaving Kinnick Stadium. It turned out to be a near perfect Saturday though and really reinforced my decision to move back to the great state of Iowa. And if that game wasn't a wakeup call to player's and coaches alike, nothing short of an alarm clock shoved up the ass will do.
Tune in Friday for some good ol' fashioned Cyclone bashing and smack talk from yours truly as we preview the September 12 matchup against hated in-state rivals ISU. Until then, Go Hawkeyes!!!
Questions, comments, and hate mail can be sent to jackson@iowahawkeyes.net.
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