Two Years Ago Today...

by RossWB on Nov 17, 2009 1:07 AM CST in Iowa Hawkeyes Football

Worst. Senior Day. Ever.

Funny how much can change in just two years. Two years ago today the Iowa football team suffered arguably its worst -- or most humiliating, at least -- defeat of the last decade. Oh, there have been more lopsided defeats and there have probably even been defeats to teams worse than the 2007 Western Michigan Broncos (who were a pretty middling outfit). Many of those defeats happened during the formative years of Kirk Ferentz's tenure, when his Iowa teams played hard but frequently lacked talent and/or experience. Or they happened against bitter in-state rivals or hyper-motivated conference rivals, so it was easy to rationalize the loss by saying "they wanted it more."

But the November 17, 2007 loss to Western Michigan didn't fit any of those easy categories. It was far from the most talented or most experienced squads of the Ferentz Era, but it wasn't completely lacking in those departments, either. It featured Albert Young and Damian Sims, who had been a dynamite combination in years past. The defensive front seven was pretty well-stocked with talent and experience, too, between Kenny Iwebema, Mitch King, Matt Kroul, Bryan Mattison, Mike Klinkenborg, and Mike Humpal. It wasn't as if the team had nothing to play for, either -- beyond the standard pride of Senior Day, they needed one more win to ensure themselves a trip to a bowl game (Western Michigan didn't even have that to play for; they were just acting as spoilers).

Defeat and misery that week wasn't exclusive to the action on the field, either. The week of November 17, 2007 also saw the first news reports of a sexual assault involving Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield. Eight months later those reports would explode into a nightmarish scandal that threatened to paint Kirk Ferentz, the athletic department, and the University of Iowa administration as badly negligent and aloof at best and guilty of conspiracy and obstruction of justice at worst; it made Iowa football the leading example of "Programs Gone Wild." That was two years ago.

Today, it seems like a lifetime ago. On the field, Iowa went from a team that was pushed around by Western Michigan to a team that was a play or two away from beating Ohio State in Columbus, winning the Big Ten title, and going to the Rose Bowl for the first time in nearly two decades. That's a pretty remarkable transformation. (The fact that they did it with a team that was ravaged by injuries and missing most of its offensive leaders is even more astounding.) Could you have ever envisioned such a quick turnaround? Many of the guys who have emerged as leaders and key performers on this team were blooded in the painful slog of 2007, like Adrian Clayborn, Christian Ballard, A.J. Edds, and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos. The transformation of DJK is a great example of Iowa's turnaround in general. My enduring memory of him from the Western Michigan game is of him seemingly quitting on a play and talking to some fans in the end zone while a Bronco defensive back was running back an interception. My enduring memories of him from the Ohio State game will be of multiple clutch catches and, of course, of the rally-igniting 99-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter when hope was slipping away. He's gone from a talented but raw and sometimes immature talent to an extremely reliable target in the passing game and an explosive playmaker in general.

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Yes, he's totally checking out his runback on the Jumbotron.

But many of the top performers in 2009 would have never been predicted back in 2007. Pat Angerer, arguably the heart and soul of the 2009 defense, nearly quit football in 2007 after dealing with a serious of injuries and illnesses. Amari Spievey, one of the best cornerbacks in the conference in 2009, had washed out of Iowa in 2007 thanks to an inability to go to class. Brett Greenwood was, well, EPIC GREENWOOD back then; now he's a guy everyone was relieved to see take the field against the Buckeyes. The other defensive secondary spots were manned by the much-maligned Harold Dalton and the combination of Adam Shada (victim of the third indignity suffered by the Iowa football team that day/week, which was the betrayal of the Iowa fanbase as expressed through the boos directed at him) and Bradley Fletcher (who was burned more than a charcoal briquette back then) and there didn't seem to be much hope of better players in the program if they were the best we could send out there. (A year later, of course, Dalton was quickly replaced by Tyler "Motherfucking" Sash and Fletcher transformed himself into an NFL draft pick.)

Offensively, Iowa went from having one of the worst offenses in football in 2007 to having... well, a more timely offense, at least. Statistically, it's still not very good in most respects, but the ability of the 2009 Iowa team to come through in the clutch is almost unprecedented among other Ferentz Era teams. The 2007 team lost a pair of games in the fourth quarter (at Wisconsin and at Iowa State); the 2009 team has come from behind in the fourth quarter in four of its wins this year (and came from behind to send the game OT last weekend). A few of the faces remain the same from 2007 -- DJK, Tony Moeaki, Bryan Bulaga, Rafael Eubanks (to name a few) -- but experience and maturity have improved their performances tremendously.

Marvin McNutt owns the slant route and don't you ever forget it.

Since that loss to Western Michigan, Iowa has gone 18-6. That run has included a pair of upset wins over top-five teams (Penn State, twice), a program-best 9-0 start this year, wins over every Big Ten team but three (Ohio State, Illinois, and -ugh- Northwestern), a rare win over Iowa State in Ames, a 55-0 demolition of Minnesota in the final Gopher game ever played in the Metrodome, a dominant Outback Bowl victory, and perhaps more come-from-behind wins than in all the other years of the Ferentz Era combined. And while all six of those losses have been painful in their own way, there's something to be said of the competitive spirit that's been on display in all of them as well. The 2007 Western Michigan game was the fourth game that year that Iowa lost by nine or more points -- none of the six subsequent losses have been by more than seven points.

The journey of 2009 is far from over -- a 10-win season is still in our grasp, there's some Gophers to destroy, a big bronze pig to keep, and a bowl game somewhere warm to win -- but on this day, the anniversary of one of the darkest and most depressing moments in recent Iowa football history, it's worth taking a moment to stop and think about how far we've already come in such a short period of time. The pain of losing the de facto Big Ten Championship Game to Ohio State stings, but it feels a hell of a lot better than the ache of losing to Western Michigan and being lost in the college football wilderness.

Kenny bled to get that pig back, man. Floyd is ours, dammit.

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Lest we forget

I remember that loss well as I flew in from Colorado for a funeral that day. What a depressing afternoon.

The leadership of last year’s seniors shouldn’t be forgotten, either. After losses to Pitt and MSU, that season so easily could’ve tanked. I like to think that leaders like Kroul and King played a large part in preventing that ship from sinking, especially considering the horrors of Nov. 17, 2007 weren’t very far removed.

We could so very easily be discussing our prospects of playing a second Pizza Bowl had last year’s team folded. Instead, they worked through it and laid the ground work for the one of the longest winning streaks in school history. Nov. 17, 2007 seems such a long, long time ago.

by Pubes in Pink Urinals on Nov 17, 2009 5:10 AM CST via mobile reply actions

nice write up, can you link the DJK pic to a youtube of the KR for TD @ OSU?

this place smells like feet. i’ll bring a can of lysol next week.

by pfac51 on Nov 17, 2009 6:50 AM CST reply actions

Awesome post!

That game was definitely the nadir for me as a fan.

by HawkeyeRecon on Nov 17, 2009 8:43 AM CST reply actions

The Western Michigan game

That game and the nine months that followed it may have represented the darkest period in Iowa football in 30 years. Even after the 1999 and 2000 seasons you could see improvement. The line was getting tougher, we were getting closer to wins, you could start to see the beginnings of the success we saw in 2001 (although I don’t think anyone could really have predicted what happened in 2002).

I remember sitting at L/H KS in a light misting rain watching the open practice in 2008. Pakibomb and Nate Guillory were competing for the starting running back position, Mossbrucker and Murray both displayed a remarkable ability to pull field goal kicks outside the upfrights and JC6 routinely one-hopped ball after ball to the wideouts.

When you think of where the program was at that point it makes the last two seasons that much more amazing. Again, we were possibly at the lowest point in Iowa football in the last 30 years. Last Saturday we were disappointed about losing an overtime game on the road to the four-time defending conference champions while starting two redshirt freshmen in the offensive backfield. Even with that loss we have a chance to win this weekend, keep Floyd and play in a BCS game. And that’s the expectation at this point.

I’m not saying that we lack perspective or that we shouldn’t be disappointed. I’m just saying that it’s worth remembering how far this team has come and how much more promise they have ahead of them.

by Abbas_Cincinnatus on Nov 17, 2009 8:47 AM CST reply actions

I remember, I was there.

I was shaking my head and muttering something to the effect “Western Michigan??? How can we lose to Westeren Michigan when a bowl invite is on the line?”

Simply baffling and very depressing.

by Stay thirsty, my friends. on Nov 17, 2009 8:51 AM CST reply actions

Western Michigan

Was definitely the most painful game I’ve ever had to watch the end of at Kinnick. It made it worse that I thought it would be my last game as a student, but then I decided in May of 2008 that I couldn’t live with that thought. I feel that I made the right choice to take the victory lap and get to see Shonn Greene and the amazing season that was 2008.

They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!

by recoveringfratguy on Nov 17, 2009 9:10 AM CST reply actions

Heh.

The WMU game actually did wind up being my last game as a student; it didn’t seem all that wise to stick around and go for a third degree back then. Of course, knowing what I know now… sigh.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for my last game in Kinnick, though.

by RossWB on Nov 17, 2009 10:36 AM CST up reply actions

Yeah

The five year plan was a gutsy call (especially with the JC6/SDS QB controversy at the beginning of the season). After those four close losses last year, I was painfully evaluating my decision to go for the victory lap, but the Penn State game and Tampa were pretty sweet memories to leave college with.

They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!

by recoveringfratguy on Nov 17, 2009 10:49 AM CST up reply actions

Not getting to see the PSU game last year still haunts me a bit.

Although being at the MSU game this year has taken away some of that pain.

by RossWB on Nov 17, 2009 10:52 AM CST up reply actions

I have similar sentiments with MSU this year

I got offered a last minute ticket, but turned it down to go spend my birthday with my family in Northern Iowa. I think that game is the best game of the KF era (even over the Cap One Bowl), mostly because of the hostile environment and it being a night game. Seeing “The Catch” in person in Orlando is a great memory I will never forget, but getting to see Sparty get McNutted in person would have been a far better memory for me.

They took the bar, the whole fucking bar!

by recoveringfratguy on Nov 17, 2009 12:31 PM CST up reply actions

I'm happy. Ferentz makes me happy.

2006-2007 was the abberation. 2001-2005, 2008-2009 seems more and more like the norm. Competitive, solid teams that are in the fight for the conference crown, finish in the top half of the conference, and play in bowl games year-in year-out. Ferentz built that, and he and all the kids who have worked to get us to this level deserve all the credit in the world.

The only reason I’m sad is because god dammit we were so close.

Brunettes not fighter jets

by rockyh on Nov 17, 2009 10:31 AM CST reply actions

This.

It still stings for me too, but think of it this way… Toilet Paper (of is that too obvious and inane of a nickname for Pryor???) is gonna shred like 1-ply at Kinnick next year. We’re gonna be a better, even more seasoned team, and we’re gonna be seeing red (… literally). Kicking the shitty out of the Bucks next year may be one of the most satisfying wins in program history… but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

/O'keefe'd

by Smokin Herb Grigbsy on Nov 17, 2009 1:45 PM CST up reply actions

As nasty as that game was.....

….I am still owed the money for that game ticket from my best friend. He went to the game and told me he would get me my money the next week when he got paid. He never ponied up and I hate that game so much that I can’t bring myself to ask for it due to the mere mention of it makes me want to vomit.

I learned a great many things in the Marines that helped me as a football coach. The Marines train men hard and to do things the right way, just as a football team must train. - Hayden Fry

by NileKinnickIronman on Nov 17, 2009 5:32 PM CST reply actions