Well, you said to name one...
Look, in regards to last year, there was no excuse for a loss at home to Northwestern, just like there was no excuse for such a lousy performance against Indiana. It’s not like the Hawkeyes were playing the world-beaters, and it’s not like the game was over after locking Ricky Stanzi to his ankle injury. Of course not having the leader and No. 1 quarterback matters, but 1) Iowa was still winning when he got knocked out, 2) Northwestern also lost its starter, and 3) IT … WAS … NORTHWESTERN.
This is a team that sputters and coughed against Eastern Michigan, one of the five worst teams in college football, and this is a team that can’t score without it being wrapped in a nice gift-basket. If Iowa really was a national title-caliber team, it would’ve pounded away on the mediocre Wildcat D and come up with a point over the final 50 minutes. Pat Angerer and Jeremiha Hunter did their part, combining for 27 tackles, but the offensive line that did such a great job against Indiana struggle to get the running game going and James Vandenberg was miserable in place of Stanzi. And that’s it. That’s the difference between an all-timer of a season and being among the mere mortals. Again, though, Iowa better be playing some heads-up ball this Saturday, or things could get ugly.