Tuesdays with Torbee

Shortly after Drew Stevens knocked in a short field goal with 1:11 seconds left in the first half of last week’s rivalry game between Iowa and Iowa State, giving the home standing Hawkeyes what seemed at the time an insurmountable 13-0 lead, I decided to try and beat the rush and hit the restroom before halftime.

Standing in line, an older Cyclone fan was muttering in frustration about how “Matt Campbell just wants to be Kirk Ferentz so much. He’s just going to be conservative, try and hang around and hang around and hopefully find a way to win at the end. It will never work.”

Well, score this one for the Ferentz-wannabe Campbell, I guess, because Iowa State did manage to out-Iowa Iowa, riding stellar second half defense and just enough offense – not to mention a preposterous 54-yard-field goal from a freshman field goal kicker playing his first college road game – to squeak out a Cyhawk win sure to stick in the craw of every Hawkeye fan for eternity.

I wasn’t even angry or upset at the final gun. Indeed, for approximately 59 minutes and 51 seconds, I never seriously thought Iowa State would actually win last Saturday’s game. Heck, from my angle in the northeast corner of Kinnick stadium, I thought the game-winning kick was blocked and started cheering, only to dimly realize all the other Iowa fans around me were in stunned disbelief.

So much of that game was a complete anomaly. Iowa rushed for more than 200 yards. It held its opponent to under 90 yards rushing. It ran more plays on offense, had more first downs, a better third-down conversion rate and fewer penalties than the Cyclones. In the past 20 years, the entirety of the Kirk Ferentz Iowa era, the Hawkeyes have a 71-2 record when leading by 8 or more points at any point in a game.

Long story short, this was a game Iowa gave away due to a litany of poor decisions, inconsistent quarterback play, untimely and uncharacteristic defensive lapses and – yeah, I’ll say it – bad luck.

None of that means you, Hawkeye football fan, shouldn’t be upset.

Originally, I was going to lead off this week’s column saying that dropping this eminently winnable football game was proof that under Ferentz, Iowa would never have an opportunity to reach the College Football Playoffs. In the bitter aftermath, it felt like a massively squandered opportunity. But while the path is now much, much narrower and any wiggle room for error is out the window, there remains a flicker of hope. After all, the 2002 Iowa Hawkeyes in somewhat similar fashion blew a commanding first half lead at home to the Cyclones, losing in heartbreaking fashion, only to subsequently reel off nine straight wins, capture the Big 10 with an undefeated record and head off to the Orange Bowl ranked #3 in the country. That team would have been a playoff contender.

So no, the season is not over. But there is plenty to worry about.

Let’s start with the giant elephant in the room – there is growing evidence that starting quarterback Cade McNamara, a former Big 10 champion and CFP participant, may be at least semi, if not fully, damaged goods. In his postgame press conference, Ferentz admitted he was still working his way into “game shape.” Now whether that means physically, mentally or both, I don’t know. But it is concerning.

McNamara’s quarterbacking thus far in 2024 has looked disturbingly similar to my golf game: that is, very good and effective at times and then suddenly, perplexingly, terrible. Lack of consistency and streakiness – not to mention poor decision making leading to turnovers – is not the right recipe behind center for a team with playoff aspirations.

Despite McNamara’s inconsistency, Iowa certainly would have still managed a victory if not for head-scratching, and somewhat out-of-character coaching decisions.

The most egregious was leaving your 225-pound heat seeking missile of a running back on the bench twice while trying to punch in from inside the opponent’s five-yard line in the first half. Kaleb Johnson finished the game with 187 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns. Neither of those rushing touchdowns, however, came in the first half when he was inexplicably AWOL deep in the red zone. No one will ever make that make sense to me.

The second was Kirk Ferentz chasing points via a two-point conversion attempt up 19-7. Very un-Ferentzian and a critical error that allowed the last-ditch, desperation field goal to win rather than tie the game.

While we are criticizing the coach, I also have beef with both his decision to not use a timeout prior to Iowa’s last punt and his lame answer when questioned about that decision post-game. In case you don’t recall, when asked why he opted for a penalty rather than timeout he responded, “I didn’t think yardage was very significant at that point in the field.”

Say what? This from the guy that puts field position at the top of the “must-win” list? I kind of think a 59-yard field goal in front of a howling hostile crowd might have been more challenging than the 54-yard one that went in, so yeah, five yards are “very significant.”

And lest you think I’m a Monday morning quarterback, I was calling for the timeout before the flag came out of the referee’s belt.

As maddening as the cavalcade of errors, misfires and inconsistencies are, I’m trying my best to remain positive. This team’s offense is miles better than last year’s dumpster fire. For the most part, the offensive line played well, particularly in the explosive run game. Outside of two (backbreaking) big plays, the defense bottled up and frustrated a solid Iowa State offense all day.

This team remains undefeated in Big 10 play. Let’s hope for a 2002 redux.

Postscript: I realize in my reciting a litany of Iowa errors, I neglected to give the Cyclones any credit for their play. While it’s true Iowa did outplay them for long stretches of the game, you must tip your cap to their ability to hang in despite a roaring crowd, multiple penalties and a tough Iowa defense. In this aspect, Matt Campbell really does show Kirk Ferentz-like tendencies. And that’s as much nice stuff I can say about Cyclone football without vomiting.

Follow me on X @torybrecht and the 12 Saturdays podcasts @12Saturdays.

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