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
Brendan:
While it was indeed a big win for the Hawkeyes in the Orange Bowl, to call it bigger than any win in the Hayden Fry era would at the very least be subjective and at the very most uninformed.
One should remember that when Coach Fry came to Iowa, the program had been dismal for more than 20 years. Victories over Nebraska and UCLA in the early Fry years served notice that there was indeed a new sheriff in town and things were going to be different.
And even though it wasn’t a close final, the final regular season game against Michigan State in 1981 that sent the Hawks to their first Rose Bowl in more than 20 years was arguably more important to the program at that time than this game was to this program in this era.
Nevertheless, comparing big games in different eras is a slippery slope. For those of us who were among the throngs that swarmed the Kinnick Stadium turf waving roses after the Michigan State game in 1981, I’d quibble with last night’s great win being the biggest wince the 1959 Rose Bowl.
Mike Morsch
UI class of 1982
Executive editor
Montgomery Newspapers
Fort Washington, PA
I watched the game here in the desert, scared, hopeful, happy and then estatic. I was hoping that the paper here, The Desert Sun, would have at least close to the size of article that it had for Ohio State, who played a Pac Ten team. Am I a goof-ball or what? I am going to try to send this article to the sports editor and see what happens. There are alot of Big Ten people down here, especially for the winter. The address, incase someone wants to do the same and add to it is… sports@thedesert.com It has been great to see the Hawkeyes on TV.. and also on the Big Ten Conference channel. Go Hawks!!!
The Atlanta Journal Constitution sports writer, Jeff Schultz, thinks the Hawks’ victory last night was significant. In today’s AJC, Schultz said it better than most:
“Tech lost to Iowa 24-14. The Hawkeyes were smarter, disciplined, tougher, more physical and, in this game, better prepared and better coached. The score would’ve been more lopsided but the defense held the Jackets in it, even equaling the offense in touchdowns.”
Congratulations to the entire program!
Dean Dort
UI Class of ‘66, College of Law ‘69
While I remember, like Mr. Morsch, being at the Michigan State game that sent us to the Rose Bowl in ‘81 as being a huge game for the overall program. I think Mr. Morsch touched on the correct significance of this game when he said “…more important to the program at that time than this game was to this program in this era.” At that time we were trying to get out from under the title of “worst college fortball team in America” as Sports Illistrated called us in the early 70’s. This Orange Bowl victory with the exposure that major college athletics gets puts the Iowa program and the Big Ten in the minds of not only every recruit but every freshmen looking for a great school with a great football prograam to be part of. So at this time, I would consider it the most important win in Iowa history to keep us on par with the other top programs in the country and keeps us moving forward.
I would also point out that the Big Ten conference which has been called weak this year was only 14 points away from being 7 – 0 vs the rest of the country. Not too bad for a weak conference.
Doug Carlo
UI Class of ‘92 MBA
One significant fact is that a BCS win and final top 10 finish helps you in recruiting. Top athletics want to go to top schools.