Saturday I did something I hadn't done in a very, very long time: I actually went to an Iowa football game as a spectator. Long ago, in the far distant past Father Cigar actually got season tickets for a few years until it became clear that my sisters were totally disinterested in football and I, being a young man, suffered through one too many frigid Minnesota games in November and became more interested in staying warm and running around and reading books than football (this was before my brother came along, if I remember correctly.) After that, I didn't really start to get into football until high school and then I spent college covering Saturday shifts down at the Art Museum because I didn't have tickets to the games and after that, I ended up working the games.
So, it had been a long-ass time. How long? Well, the last time I remember going to a game at Kinnick, Matt Sherman was quarterback and I have no idea what was going on that game but people were not happy with him.
All in all though, it was a great experience. We lucked out and got nosebleed tickets in the South Endzone which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because thanks to the enormous new jumbotron, we were in the shade the entire time. I can't imagine what it would have been like to sit out in the sun because it turned into a blisteringly sticky and hot day. The view was great, the wind whirled through now and again and it was a pretty nice place to sit and watch the Hawkeyes play.
I was optimistic going into this game. Yes, losing to Northern Illinois stung. But given the inexperience of our quarterback, I felt like things could have been a lot worse than they actually were- and the first half was a pleasant surprise, both in terms of offense production and points so I was hoping for four quarters of a similar experience with this game.
Nope. Instead, the first half was plagued by dropped passes and although we were moving the ball, we weren't finishing drives. Rudock, I continue to like. He's got poise, moves well in the pocket and showed a couple of times during this game that he can run if he has too. I think if we're going to continue to move the ball east to west, it'd be nice to see some variety in play calling. I kept thinking throughout the game, 'man, they should throw a reverse at them.' (Really, it'd be nice to get people over the middle for passes and the occasional threat downfield for Rudock, but if we're going to see a flea flicker now and again, I think a reverse could be a nice curveball as a posed to curl routes and slants to the outside. If you wanted to get really crazy, you could try a double reverse.)
The first half was pretty dismal but they came out the second half swinging and start putting points on the board and apart from a brief period at the end of the third quarter where Missouri State threatened to make game of it (a pick six and a TD brought the game to 21-14 going into the 4th) the defense held on and the offense put one more touchdown on the board to ice the game and pick up the win.
The fan commentary around me was less than pleased.* People seemed frustrated because they were expecting a shit-stomping blowout and didn't get one and I could understand their frustration a little bit. The first half of this game seemed to be a reversion to the more pedestrian, plodding ways of last year. The offensive tempo was non-existant and the pace was slower than it had been against Northern Illinois. A lot of this was rectified in the second half but the swinging pendulum was frustrating to see, yet in the end it produced a win so it was hard to argue against. I think if we're going to really use no-huddle, we should pick up the pace even more than we are. Don't get me wrong: after last year, it's beyond refreshing to see that the offense can move the ball. But the defenses we've played thus far haven't been Big Ten caliber and we had a lot of trouble getting points on the board. You could be pleased with 80-90 plays and 300-400 yards of offense a game but you could also be forgiven if you say, 'veni, vedi, frustra obtinuit.' I came, I saw, I got frustrated.
*Some idiot was also moaning about the 18K cops ruining the experience for the students and 'that's why they didn't show up.' First of all- I was pretty impressed because really and truly, I saw six cops in my general vicinity the whole game. 2 at the gate and 4 that came wandering up to our section to either get some shade or check things out. Given what I know about the effort and the amount of manpower local agencies provide to make games safe and secure for everyone, the footprint was remarkable for how light it was. Apart from when they took the field at the end, I could hardly tell that there were cops at the Stadium at all. Second of all- the students are fickle, that's why they didn't show up. They got spoiled by success (as a lot of other fans have) and don't remember too many lean years. I remember being excited by trips to the Sun Bowl and beating Iowa State. But I also remember going to the Rose Bowl in 1991. OK, we lost but we got there at least.
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