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Iowa football: Chasing the best bowl game still a worthy goal
By Tom Brew
Published:
There are still a few far-reaching scenarios where Iowa can win the Big Ten West, but they’re so unlikely that they aren’t really worthy of discussing. But that doesn’t mean the Hawkeyes don’t still have a lot to play for.
At 6-3, the Hawkeyes are already bowl eligible, but it would be nice to win out and grab the best bowl game possible. And winning out, of course, would mean taking a few more rivalry games that matter with Northwestern, Illinois and Nebraska still on the table.
These past two weeks have been difficult. The Hawkeyes were looking right at a very special season, but narrow last-second road losses to Penn State and Purdue have ended the lofty dreams they’ve had.
It hurt that much.
Quarterback Nate Stanley didn’t play well in the Penn State loss and had a bad interception at the end. He took a few shots from the fan base, but his teammates had his back.
“We didn’t play well as a whole offense (against Penn State), and Nate gets a lot of the brunt of it,” Iowa center Keegan Render said of Stanley, who was just 18 of 49 passes with two interceptions against the Nittany Lions. “But I think he came out (Saturday against Purdue) and just kept his confidence going. We weren’t in the best spots sometimes — we were fighting from a deficit — and the moment just never got too big for him.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of noise on Nate, but he did a good job just bouncing back from it and realizing, hey, one game doesn’t define him.”
Stanley was much better against Purdue, throwing for 275 yards and a touchdown — and no interceptions. He put the Hawkeyes in position to win before the Boilermakers marched down the field for a game-winning last-second field goal.
“I liked the way Nate came back and battled this week,” Iowa tight end Noah Fant said. “Especially, he probably won’t tell anybody, but I’m sure that his thumb wasn’t feeling the best. He had it taped up and everything, but he battled through it — delivered some great balls out there. He’s just a competitor, and he’s a great leader for us. I feel like he responded, big time, and put us in a good opportunity to win the game.”
Hopefully there’s more to come from Stanley, starting with Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. ET home game against Northwestern (5-4, 5-1), the Big Ten West’s leader. The Wildcats have been really good on defense allowed only four passing touchdowns, with six interceptions, in conference play.
Stanley’s thumb didn’t seem to be an issue at Purdue. It shouldn’t be an issue going forward.
“He’s a rock,” said Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson, who caught Stanley’s 4-yard touchdown throw Saturday. “There’s no high. There’s no lows.
“He’s going to come back. He’s going to compete. That’s who he is.”
Northwestern has had the Hawkeyes’ number lately, winning the last two meetings, including a 17-10 overtime loss last year where the offense struggled to score points. Hopefully, there will be more of that this week.
Tom Brew has been a recognized reporter in Big Ten sports for decades. Among other projects, he writes about Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.