Iowa Hawkeyes: A Storybook Football Season...

Once upon a time…

On Jan. 1, 2009, all eyes settled on televisions in family rooms across the great and noble state of Iowa. Turkeys roasted, prime ribs sizzled, or hams baked—tradition determining the menu while happenstance dictated the day’s many football matchups.

Choreography of the various games rested with the BCS [Bowl Championship Series] whose membership promised to deliver an ultimate contest between the No. 1 ranked team and the No. 2 ranked team in the country while keeping the bowl system intact. 

Sometimes the promised matchup has actually happened...But not often according to the outspoken critics of the highly controversial system.

The other bowls—those not favored with a BCS Bowl designation—are filled with teams based on predetermined quotas assigned by mathematical and conference ranking equations. This is the complicated compact binding conferences to this confusing scenario year after year.

So it came to pass...The Iowa Hawkeye Football team was designated to play the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Outback Bowl on the first day in January of 2009, in Tampa, FL, where the sun was shining and the grass was green...

Iowa, who had won five of their last six games and whose mighty arsenal included Doak Walker trophy winner, Shonn Greene, as the best running back in the nation, were actually favored in this contest, unlike all other Big 10 team bowl contenders.

The Gamecocks, coached by Steve Spurrier, came out flat, stayed flat, and were generally a non-factor in this game that Iowa won, 31-10. The game wasn’t even as close as the score. 

Iowa’s defense collected on five turnovers as the South Carolina team seemed to leak errors starting with their first possession.

The SEC team never recovered from the all out assault Iowa mounted. The Hawkeyes finished 9-4 for the fourth time in the last seven seasons. 

What should be patently obvious is that at the end of the season, Iowa was the best team with the most momentum in the Big 10. However, improvement does not seem to have a weighted correlation in the mathematical calculations used in the rating system of the BCS...Which is why a playoff in college football is necessary and inevitable. 

Nothing else will ever work...The time has come.    

Iowa’s offense was led by Shonn Greene, who gained 121 rushing yards on 29 carries and scored three touchdowns in the process. He was named the game’s MVP. 

This marked his 13th consecutive game of garnering over 100 rushing yards. He tied an Iowa school record by scoring 120 points this season.

The offense settled and matured behind his leadership throughout the year. Greene led the way with brilliant running and consistent play. As the Gamecock defense zeroed in on Greene, quarterback Ricky Stanzi and a corps of receivers ripped the game open with an impressive 147 yards through the air.

At the conclusion of the game, Shonn Greene announced that he would not be returning to Iowa for his senior season—he would be entering the NFL draft. 

This did not come as a surprise to his Coach, Kirk Ferentz, to his teammates, or to the Iowa faithful. It seemed inevitable that the talented running back turning 24 this year would look to improve his fortunes in the NFL.   

Ferentz was complimentary of Greene’s character, stating that, “I am probably prouder of the way he has handled his acclaim...It’s a great story and we had a team of great stories.”

Iowa’s four losses came at a total of 12 points as Stanzi became acclimated as the starting quarterback. The defense has been solid all year and, of course, Shonn Greene has more than lived up to his end of the bargain.

So far, out of all the bowl games played, Iowa is the only Big Ten team with a victory...sad commentary, indeed, on the once mighty teams of the heartland.

So as the sun sets on this glorious victory in the land of Tampa, the Iowa faithful have celebrated their victory in their fashion, eating glorious meals served on mother’s china, or eating in hotel’s near the beach—all the while pleased with another sensational season under the leadership of coach Kirk Ferentz.

But in the distance are persistent rumblings from the Evil Empire. It has taken Shonn Greene as expected and tolerated by the gentle folks back home. But rumors surface and sportscasters actively speculate that the Cleveland Browns will come courting Mr. Ferentz and whisk him away to fame and glory in NFL Land.

Such speculations have emerged each year Iowa, against all odds, does well.  Nonetheless, the prospect of losing Ferentz does not sit well with Iowa fans for they know that the coach will never find peace and happiness as the Evil Empire chews and spits out coaches with regularity.

Coach Ferentz, they understand, should remain in the hallowed halls of Hawkeye Land, where he is treated as a god whose words are heeded and whose work is respected.

There is honor in creating special works of art with raw material most storied programs would ditch—in finding the right people and treating them with dignity and respect, allowing them to grow and develop as players, as coaches, and as human beings...

That is what Ferentz does and what works for him in the land where cream always rises to the top…