It wasn’t long ago this season when No. 17 Iowa (9-2; 6-2 in B1G play) was considered one of the top teams in the nation at No. 2. The week Iowa climbed up to the second-ranking in the AP Poll, Iowa suffered a tough home loss to Purdue 24-7. One week later, Iowa suffered a 27-7 road loss at Wisconsin.

There was still plenty left to play for as the Hawkeyes still looked to secure their first B1G West Division title since 2015. Since those two losses, Iowa has had three consecutive wins at Northwestern, Minnesota at home, and Illinois at home.

After the 33-23 win over Illinois on Saturday, Iowa running back Tyler Goodson described the team’s mentality process and how they pushed their way to three big wins:

“This season has been phenomenal for us. Those 2 – Wisconsin and Purdue – they outplayed us,” said Goodson. “We didn’t play very well, but the courage of this team and the character of this team just shows we’re not worried about those losses. We can overcome any adversity that comes our way…we’re always going to fight back and continue to fight until we get what we want.”

Now, the Hawkeyes have a chance to get to 10 wins during the season-ending showdown with Nebraska.