Iowa among USA TODAY Sports’ Week 7 college football ‘winners’

Iowa’s Week 7 contest against Washington felt like a big one for the trajectory of the rest of the season.

The Hawkeyes entered after a frustrating second half and blowout loss at Ohio State and with two losses to their name already.

As Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz discussed afterwards, there was going to be a big difference between falling to 3-3 or bouncing back and improving to 4-2.

Sure enough, Iowa delivered its best performance of the season in a 40-16 victory over the Huskies. Iowa’s win was so impressive that it earned national kudos from USA TODAY Sports.

Paul Myerberg included the Iowa Hawkeyes among his Week 7 college football “winners.”

Iowa scored 40 points in a very nice win against Washington, and if you don’t think that’s a big deal you might be unfamiliar with the Hawkeyes’ recent history. Iowa hadn’t scored 40 points against a Big Ten opponent since dropping 51 points on Maryland on Oct. 1, 2021.

Last year’s team scored a grand total of 131 points in 10 league games, counting a shutout loss to Michigan for the Big Ten championship. While helped by a couple short fields in the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes are clearly better on this side of the ball; that makes them a threat against just about every opponent the rest of the way. – Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports.

Though Iowa fans were smarting after the Hawkeyes’ blowout loss inside the Horseshoe, Saturday was a nice reminder that Ferentz and Co. have a penchant for responding to adversity.

“Yeah, it ties in with what I said. Losing, it seems like the older you get, the more distasteful it is. Mary said that, like, 40 years ago. She said to me one day, ‘It seems pretty simple. If you guys win, everything is good, and if you lose, everything sucks.’

“It really hasn’t changed. I know fans get upset when we lose. I get that….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/iowa-among-usa-today-sports-204544757.html

Author : Hawkeyes Wire

Publish date : 2024-10-13 20:45:44

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