MIAMI — When Brandon Wegher reached the end zone late in the fourth quarter to put Iowa ahead of Georgia Tech by 10 points, there was a feeling in the air not felt by Hawkeye faithful in years.
This 24-14 victory over the Yellow Jackets is so significant, I don’t even know where to start.
First of all, I don’t think there’s any questioning that this is the biggest win in Kirk Ferentz’s 11-year coaching tenure. Go ahead. I dare you to name one bigger.
Maybe some of those other wins like beating LSU in the 2005 Capital One Bowl or the Michigan State win last October or either of the Penn State victories the past two seasons have been more memorable. But not bigger.
This is a BCS bowl game we’re talking about. For a team that didn’t win its conference, this is as good as it gets.
In fact, I’ll take this one step further: This is bigger than any victory in the Hayden Fry era, and is probably the biggest win in Iowa football history since winning the 1959 Rose Bowl.
To put that into perspective, Dwight Eisenhower was our country’s president the last time Iowa won a game of this magnitude.
From a Big Ten perspective, this is gigantic. This perception of the Big Ten being a bad BCS conference died Tuesday night inside Land Shark Stadium.
The conference that became a national punching bag went 4-3 this bowl season, and won its three biggest bowl games with Iowa winning the Orange Bowl, Ohio State winning the Rose Bowl, and Penn State winning the Capital One Bowl.
Is it the best conference? Not necessarily. But anyone who continues to diss the Big Ten after this Orange Bowl was never going to give the conference the credit it deserves.
But most importantly, this win sets up remarkably well for the Hawkeyes going forward. In all likelihood, this team could be fifth or sixth nationally when bowl season is officially over. This would be the highest ranking Iowa has ever had under Ferentz.
And look at all the guys who contributed to this win over the Yellow Jackets that are coming back. Quarterback Ricky Stanzi will be back. So will defensive end and Orange Bowl MVP Adrian Clayborn. Actually, that entire front four along the defensive line returns next season. So does the entire secondary.
So do everyone who scored a point for the Hawkeyes on Tuesday — Marvin McNutt, Daniel Murray, Colin Sandeman, and Brandon Wegher.
As much of an annoyance as I find preseason rankings, the fact of the matter is they exist, and next August, Iowa should be a top 10 team preseason, if not top 5.
What makes this win over the Yellow Jackets so satisfying is how Iowa won. The Hawkeyes set the tempo with the game’s first 14 points, while the defense continuously got three-and-outs. Not to mention how Georgia Tech’s playmakers got shut down, and how Iowa won the time of possession battle, keeping that vaunted Yellow Jacket offense on the sidelines.
Folks, this is going to be a good team for quite awhile. All those tough road games Iowa played this season are against teams that all have to come to Kinnick Stadium in 2010. Think about that for a second.
And with the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes both winning BCS bowl games this January, anyone who hasn’t circled the date of Nov. 20 on their calendars already might want to do that.
There’s plenty to think about in the coming months and the future is bright. But I would offer this advice: Enjoy the ride because right now, because this might be as good as it gets.
Or maybe it does become the start of something bigger.
— by Brendan Stiles
