I won't step on my dear colleagues' analysis below, but it's Iowa. You know what you're getting. We've seen this movie every season for nearly 3 decades. Great defense, immaculate special teams, and an offense that peaks out at workmanlike. 8-4, win a bowl, beat the rivals, rinse, repeat.
Let's recap last year's Hawkeyes squad that went, surprise surprise, 8-4 with wins over their rivals (minus El Assico!) and a bowl win.
What were the expectations?
Transient Buckeye: I mean, out of all the teams in the Big Ten, Iowa's got to be one of the easiest in terms of expectations. You can pencil the Hawkeyes in for 8 wins, plus or minus one, every year. You can assume that they'll have a solid defense, good special teams, and an offense that at least theoretically exists. Fun is not part of the package when it comes to expectations for Iowa football. If your team is playing Iowa, you expect that you're in for three hours of the viewing equivalent of a root canal without novocaine. If you are an Iowa fan, you expect that you're signing up for this experience thirteen times each year.
Kind of...: If you really believed that 1) Mark Gronowski was a difference-making dual threat QB, and, less plausibly, that 2) Iowa was going to turn him loose, then your expectation might have been "national title sleeper." Otherwise, yeah, the expectations were the usual. Good, not great. Lots of one possession slugfests, etc.
Biff: Iowa is the college football version of Grandpa Simpson’s quote about Johnny Unitas. This is mostly a compliment.
AlmaOtter: ^ this is our new OTR writer, Biff. Everyone say hi to Biff! Biff comes to us from The Internet, but also Minnesota. Biff has given us a very good Simpsons gif. Be nice to Biff.
So, how'd it go?
Transient Buckeye: It pretty much played out according to the script. By Iowa standards, the offense was surprisingly watchable, at least at times. They handled almost everyone at or below their own weight class, with several of those wins coming in dominant fashion. The Iowa State loss, in hindsight, was a bit of a dick-trip. They lost to the three best Big Ten foes they faced. But nobody who played Iowa last season enjoyed the experience. Their four losses were by a combined total of 15 points. They were 1-2 scores and/or defensive stands away from having one of the best seasons of Kirk Ferentz's tenure. Horseshoes, hand grenades, etc., but Iowa was closer to being a playoff team than they were to being a middle-tier Big Ten team last year.
Kind of...: Not all 8-5 or 9-4 seasons are created the same and this was clearly Iowa's best post-Covid team. But, yeah, close losses to two CFP semifinalists are still losses. Neither was a night game, and a little Kinnick magic might have been enough, who knows?
Biff: The watch still aligned to the haircut but the offense was better in the grinding, inexorable fashion you’d expect. 4 conference losses were all to ranked teams by a combined 15 points. There were blowout wins over FBS teams. Iowa was very good.
What were the highlights?
Transient Buckeye: Iowa demolished the other three points of the Quadrangle of Hate by a combined score of 118-19. That's very un-Iowa-like, but it's impressive all the same. They also capped off their season with a win over Vanderbilt in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Ordinarily, I wouldn't celebrate a team beating Vanderbilt in a bowl game (kicking a puppy, and all that), but when that Vanderbilt team is quarterbacked by Diego Pavia, I'll happily make an exception. Well done, Hawkeyes!
Kind of...: Yeah, going thermonuclear against the rest of the Quadrangle has to be the chief highlight. Also, don't discount the win over Penn State. PSU had already hit the skids, but there's a weird PSU/Iowa dynamic and I'd wager money Ferentz cares more about beating PSU than he lets on.
Biff: It’s mostly been covered but for me personally, I enjoyed watching Jerry Kill’s Wunderkind get sent off to his inevitable future as a backup for the Ottawa Redblacks.
And the lowlights?
Transient Buckeye: The lowlights mostly fall under the heading of "what could have been." Iowa hung with Indiana late into the 4th quarter, missing a late field goal that would've given them the lead with 2 minutes left. Indiana went the length of the field in 30 seconds to score the game-winning touchdown. Iowa also had a late 4th quarter lead on Oregon at Kinnick Stadium, only to have Atticus Sappington give a dramatic re-enactment of To Kill a Hawkingbird in the game's closing seconds. They had a very impressive first-half performance against USC in the Coliseum, only to follow it up with a dud of a second half that saw the Trojans storm back and win.
Kind of...: The Indiana and Oregon losses were of the "valiant in defeat" variety and definitely now lowlights. But losing to in-state rival Iowa State for a second straight year (and third time in four years)? Ouch. Also, we all know Iowa is hot garbage on the West Coast, but they did have USC down 14 at one point. Beat the Trojans and the Cyclones and there's a real CFP argument at 10-2/7-2...
Biff: El Assico.
Any memorable and or absurd moments?
Transient Buckeye: How dare you, sir! This is Iowa football. Nothing as interesting as "memorable" or "absurd" is permitted to exist here.
Kind of...: Agreed. This was a good, solid Ferentz season. That goes on a shelf next to the other good, solid seasons. This is Iowa. If there's no drought, and it doesn't rain too much, is harvest really memorable from one year to the next? Come on.
Biff:
