Iowa Hawkeyes 2009: We've Only Just Begun...

After Iowa’s first two possessions, the going got tough, at least from Iowa’s side of the ball. But as the Iowa faithful are wont to say, "a win is win, no matter how ugly."

Ugly it was. Nonetheless, Iowa won the game, 24-21 over visiting Arkansas State, to start the 2009 football campaign at 5-0, 2-0 in Big Ten play.

According to Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz during his post-game interview, there are no “bad wins.” Any win is a good one. 

This game, sandwiched in between the Penn State game in Happy Valley and the Michigan game next weekend, had all the potential to be a “trap” extravaganza for the Hawkeyes. 

After the thrill of the victory over the Nittany Lions, 21-10, and the explosion of media attention, coming down to earth had to be hard.

For Ferentz and company, getting this victory allows Iowa breathing space as well as room for improvement in preparation for a Michigan team next weekend in prime time who will want to redeem themselves by beating the Hawkeyes on the road. 

The Wolverines lost in overtime to Michigan State, 26-20, at East Lansing, suffering their first defeat of the season.

Being flat against Arkansas State will allow Iowa coaches the needed leverage to motivate their charges for next week’s important showdown against Michigan.

This season, Iowa is making up for the close losses of last year: four games lost by a total of 12 points. Luck was not with the Hawkeyes in 2008 early on, but Iowa is making up for it this year, winning close ones at home.

The only other unbeaten in the Big Ten at this stage is Wisconsin. The Badgers are perfect on the season after defeating the Minnesota Gophers on the road. This from a team that was expected to be mediocre at best and probably is in the final analysis.

Wisconsin’s undefeated status will no doubt end next weekend when the Badgers must journey into The Horseshoe to play Ohio State on the road. 

After the dust settles Saturday night, Oct. 10, Iowa will more than likely emerge all alone, unbeaten, at the top of the Big Ten standings and probably ranked in the AP Top 10.

This was all made possible by hanging on to defeat a persistent Arkansas State football team.

Iowa scored on its first two possessions with Ricky Stanzi firing on all cylinders. Moving Iowa briskly down field on the first scoring drive, Stanzi delivered a pass to Trey Stross for a 33-yard touchdown reception. Iowa was up, 7-0, after two minutes and 44 seconds.

The Hawkeyes' second possession was equally as impressive. Stanzi found Marvin McNutt and launched a 41-yard touchdown pass.  It was a thing of beauty.

Iowa led 14-0 by the end of the first quarter. Stanzi remained perfect on the afternoon and the Iowa fans settled in for a blowout.

But beauty quickly deteriorated into a beast and the assured smiles began to fade as worry lines replaced smug confidence.  

After being dominated by the Iowa defense early in the game, Arkansas State began to assert itself. With less than five minutes left in the half and starting from their own 11-yard line, the Red Wolves began to howl.  

Arkansas State advanced the ball down field first with a 16-yard pass completion from Corey Leonard to Taylor Clements. 

That moved the ball to the Red Wolves 35-yard line. Then, Reggie Arnold rushed for 26 more yards, moving the ball to the Iowa 39-yard line. 

The 89-yard drive ended with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Thompkins to make the score 14-7 at halftime.  

At the break Iowa had amassed 223 total yards, with 167 of those yards coming during the first two drives in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Arkansas State turned the tables, picking up 138 yards and bringing their total yardage for the first half to a more respectable 169 yards.

In the second half, Iowa started on a positive note when Tyler Sash intercepted a Corey Leonard pass. It was Sash’s fifth interception of the season. It led to the third Iowa touchdown pass from Stanzi to McNutt: a 43-yard reception. The Hawkeyes went up 21-7 and Iowa fans relaxed again.

Iowa’s offense then began to sputter. Instead of putting the Red Wolves away, Iowa’s inconsistency allowed the Wolves to hang around. Regardless of their rank and reputation, Arkansas State played a good game and worried the Hawkeyes to death late into the contest.

One turnover by the Hawks was particularly damaging, as Demario Davis picked off a Stanzi pass and returned it 75 yards for a score. That reduced the Iowa comfort zone to seven as they held a 21-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.  

Immediately, Iowa’s Stanzi connected on a 37-yard pass play to McNutt. The drive stalled, though, and Iowa had to settle for a field goal by Daniel Murray to add three more to the lead, going up 24-14.

But Arkansas State hung around long enough to make things really interesting, hogging the ball for approximately eight minutes and driving 68 yards on 17 plays before finally scoring on a touchdown pass from Leonard to Trevor Gillott with two minutes left to play. The Red Wolves moved to within 24-21.  

McNutt hauled in the onside kick for Iowa. The Hawkeyes managed to hold onto the ball until less than 20 seconds remained on the clock. Leonard could not connect with anyone on his final two passes and Iowa escaped with another victory.

The Wolverines will bring plenty of game with them next Saturday as they take the field at Kinnick Stadium.  But No. 12-ranked Iowa should put together all the offensive pieces and really test the Wolverines' suspect defense. The Michigan team dropped out of the AP Top 25 with their loss to Michigan State.

For Iowa, a victory next Saturday will mean starting the season 6-0, which they have not done since 1985. To date, they are on a nine-game winning streak, which began with their Penn State victory on Nov. 1, 2008.

After the Michigan game, Iowa has two critical road contests against Wisconsin and Michigan State, followed by two home games against Indiana and Northwestern.

While there is much that can happen in the next five weekends, Iowa has real potential to put together a record-breaking season, barring illness or injury to key players.

So whether beautiful or ugly, Iowa accepts all the wins they can muster, hoping to find themselves alone atop the Big Ten Standings next week and all the weeks thereafter...