Iowa Beats Indiana 42-24: Indiana's Fourth Quarter is Blowing in the Wind

If the question is whether Iowa has the mental toughness to run the table, the answer is yes.

There may be teams with more players destined to play on Sunday's than Iowa has, but there is not another team in the nation that is more mentally tough than the Hawkeyes.  Iowa simply refuses to concede defeat even when all appears lost.

Iowa, earlier in the season was content to cheat fate by securing victory in the last seconds of the game, often by less than three points. 

When Iowa went up 28-24 in the fourth quarter, nobody in Kinnick stadium dared to breathe easy. Most fans figured that Indiana would probably kick a field goal within the last minute of the game only to fall short as Iowa recovered the subsequent on-side kick. Far-fetched ending for most teams, but for Iowa such an ending would make sense.

After all, Iowa survived Northern Iowa by one after blocking consecutive field goals attempts as time expired.

Several weeks later, Iowa would sneak past Michigan by two points after intercepting a pass in the last 46 seconds of the game.

Last week, Iowa pulled a rabbit out of the hat by beating Michigan State on the last play of the game with a seven yard slant.

With Iowa trailing Indiana 24-14 going into the fourth quarter last weekend's matchup had all the earmarks of following the same script as the Hawkeyes’ earlier nail-biters.       

The game against Indiana however did not appear to be following the pattern of the earlier Iowa games. Iowa seemed bent on self-destructing and finally winding up with a loss as the backbone of the team—defense and special teams—showed cracks.

Iowa’s vaunted defense gave up an opening 69-yard touchdown drive. Iowa had an eight yard punt which resulted in Indiana getting the ball on Iowa’s 35-yard line; Indiana scored a touchdown five plays later. In the last minute of the first half, Iowa fumbled a punt giving the ball to the Hoosiers at the 12-yard line. Indiana scored three plays later and went into halftime with a 21-7 lead.

In the third quarter, Iowa’s offense self-destructed and imploded in spectacular fashion.  Iowa’s quarterback Ricky Stanzi threw four interceptions into a stiff wind. One of Stanzi’s interceptions gave Indiana the ball inside the Iowa 10-yard line. Another of Stanzi’s interceptions gave the Hoosiers the ball inside Iowa 25-yard line.

Fortunately, Iowa’s defense came out of the locker room at half time with no intention of surrendering the lead. The defense not only held Indiana to just a field goal but somehow Tyler Sash managed to pick off a pass that was deflected four times for a 96-yard interception touchdown return. Despite four turnovers in the third quarter, Iowa managed to cut into Indiana’s lead to trail only 24-14.

"No need to panic," thought the Iowa faithful, as we can slowly drive the ball down field to get within three points. Once Iowa gets within three, Hawkeye fans had to be thinking that Indiana had run out of gas and that Iowa will manufacture another methodical drive as time expires to win the game in typical Iowa fashion. Well, at least I know a few Hawkeye fans that were very loudly expressing those thoughts.

I’m not sure what was more amazing in watching Iowa come back from brink, the fact that Stanzi was not lustily booed when he came out on the field in the fourth quarter, or the fact that Coach Kirk Ferentz still had him in the game.

Stanzi and the Hawkeyes however decided to improvise from the script they had used all season. Iowa quickly grabbed the lead less than two minutes into the fourth quarter after only throwing two passes for touchdowns. 

Iowa’s first pass was a 92-yard score that initially looked it would be a nice 12-15 yard gain on a short crossing pattern to Marvin McNutt. Iowa’s second pass resulted in a 66-yard touchdown by Derrell Johnson-Koulianous in which it initially appeared that the tackle would be made after only 25 yards.

Clearly, Indiana’s defense broke down on both plays.

On the McNutt touchdown, the safety appeared to take the wrong angle of pursuit. On the Johnson-Koulianous score half the secondary appeared to be playing zone and the other half appeared to be playing man-to-man.

Once Iowa got the lead, they continued to dismantle Indiana, scoring two more touchdowns in their next two possessions to win 42-24. Iowa’s third touchdown of the quarter epitomized Iowa’s philosophy of breaking the rock. Iowa had the ball on the Indiana 26 and ran Brandon Wegher five consecutive plays right up the middle for a touchdown with 7:34 left in the game. 

Indiana could have boarded the team bus at that time, as the game seemed to be over—they were emotionally spent. Some Indiana fans undoubtedly felt that their team did actually get on the bus at the start of the fourth quarter.              

The Hoosiers failed to get a single first down in the fourth quarter.   

Two of Indiana’s possessions were sabotaged by two holding penalties and one false start penalty.   

Somehow, Indiana failed to appreciate that they were throwing into a strong wind in the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers threw two deep passes which both ended up being easy interceptions for Iowa.   

Yes, Indiana's play in the fourth quarter made it seem as if they had run out of gas.

Yet, why did Iowa continue to believe they would win after committing six turnovers in three quarters? How did Stanzi remain confident after five interceptions? Why did Coach Ferentz continue to go with Stanzi?

Iowa may not be filled with superstars, but they appear to be as mentally tough in overcoming adversity as any team that is currently playing college football. Iowa is well deserving of its ranking in the BCS.