It’s fitting Senior Day and Thanksgiving coincide every other year for the Iowa football team, and, well, the rest of college football. But it’s especially special this year considering the Hawkeyes honoring a senior class that was a huge part of last year’s 12-0 regular season, Big Ten Championship, and Rose Bowl trips. The latter of those two didn’t turn out how we wanted them to, nor has this season to date.
How does winning the final two games of their Iowa careers sound?
Thanks Desmond King for putting your name on the map for doing a great job covering Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry in the Outback Bowl. Thanks for every pick six in your career. Thanks for picking up ball carriers up and driving them into the ground. Thanks for returning kicks and punts in an electric fashion. Thanks for icing the Iowa State game last season. Thanks for setting the tone against Tyler Boyd and helping put your team in a position to kick a field goal against Pitt. Thanks for beating Michigan. Thanks for being the best cornerback in Iowa history.
Thank you C.J. Beathard for forcing the issue and giving us a hell of a ride. Thanks for sticking in the pocket in relief of Jake Rudock at Pitt. Thanks for your hair and the dank memes. Thanks for leaping over the pylon at Indiana, playing with one groin, keeping an eye on the clock getting out of bounds so Marshall Koehn had time to hit that 57-yarder. Thanks for having a brother who makes sweet music. Thanks for dealing with injuries, inconsistency, and limited options on offense this season. This season hasn’t been what we all wanted for you, but thank you for everything — we want nothing more than two more wins for you, because you’ve given us a lot, and we appreciate it.
Thank you George Kittle for being the best run blocking tight end in the country, coming out of nowhere and catching a bunch of touchdowns at the end of last year, and giving us an awesome Sports Illustrated cover. Thanks for being the red-blooded American male we all love, and thank you for (hopefully) being on the field Friday.
Thanks LeShun Daniels, Jr. for being a bruising runner with speed, for learning how to split carries effectively without letting an ego get in the way, and spurring the loudest I-O-W-A chant I've ever heard with a big run against Minnesota last season. Thank you for being a strong Iowa running back.
Thanks Jaleel Johnson for eating people against Michigan and being a force at the line for over two years. Thank you for a tremendous senior season and thank you for boosting your draft stock so we won't have to hear Cowherd talk about the lack of Hawkeyes selected to play in the NFL.
Thanks Anthony Gair for being reliable and playing pretty damn well against Michigan. Thanks (and sorry) Greg Mabin for often being a scapegoat. Truth is, you’re an entertaining guy and not so bad, after all. Hopefully you're on the field Friday, too.
Thanks Riley McCarron for stepping up in the passing game when literally no one else has, and we appreciate you helping void disaster last week against Illinois.
Thanks Ron Coluzzi for being the best. Thanks Faith Ekakaitie for the fumble recovery to seal the Wisconsin game and start a Big Ten West title run, and thanks for acting in a mature manner when accidentally being held at gunpoint.
Thanks Cole Croston for stepping in when needed and quietly having a nice career. Thanks Steve Ferentz, Ryan Ward, and Mitch Keppy for doing a thankless job.
Phew. Thanks seniors, beat Nebraska.
I don’t see it as my place to talk about recruiting on this website or in general, because I know next to nothing about the ins-and-outs of every situation, so I’ll keep this note short. DJK is all grown up, everyone.
We’ve joked around in the past about the estranged wide out’s Twitter comments on everything, but this is totally worth sharing in addition to two posts from this morning — JPinIC’s state of the union on recruiting and Ben’s wrap-up of Kirk Ferentz’s recruiting-heavy Tuesday presser.
Eno & Iowa pic.twitter.com/uIbSLPvDqe
— DJK (@DJKoulianos15) November 23, 2016
Thanks for being you, DJK.
Former Hawkeye quarterback Drew Tate had to provide a urine sample after his Calgary Stampeders earned a trip to Sunday evening’s Grey Cup against the Ottawa Redblacks. There was a problem — as Tate wasn’t able to provide the necessary non-diluted fluids.
The answer to the problem, as is applicable to most situations in life, was beer.
Tate lives close to the stadium. They went back to the house. The refrigerator opened. One California long neck popped, then a second, then another. The free-spirit Texan prefers his brews to have hops and some kick, and so the three Lagunitas IPAs didn’t stand a chance. Once the third beer – with 6.2% alcohol content in each of ’em, no less – was drained, Tate’s head was right and his bladder full.
He and The Pissman returned to McMahon [Stadium]. Another sample provided. Crisis averted.
Everyone in Calgary won Sunday: the Stamps, those hopeful of a dynasty, heck even The Pissman got what he wanted.
Thankful for Drew Tate, likely even more thankful for Lagunitas IPA.
Expect a primer for Iowa-Purdue wresting either Friday or Saturday. That match is scheduled for noon on Sunday in West Lafayette. Speaking of Purdue, our friends at Hammer and Rails have to be pretty excited, yeah?