With a surprising 24-23 victory over No. 3 Penn State on Saturday, the Iowa football team became bowl-eligible and gained some much-needed confidence in close games.
But the Hawkeyes might have done even more than that: They are in position to earn a spot in a New Year’s Day bowl game for the first time in three years.
If the Hawkeyes win their last two games — at home against Purdue on Saturday and at Minnesota on Nov. 22 — they could be the third or fourth bowl choice from the Big Ten. If Penn State and Ohio State get into BCS bowls, Iowa and Michigan State would be the probable candidates for the two Florida-based Jan. 1 bowls — the Capital One Bowl in Orlando and the Outback Bowl in Tampa.
It doesn’t hurt that representatives of both those bowls were on hand in Iowa City on Saturday to watch a stirring comeback against one of the nation’s premier defenses and a zany post-game celebration by Iowa fans.
“We told the team last Sunday that this year’s team will be decided mainly on the next three weeks …”
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “This is a great way to start that three-week cycle.“
“We’ll see where we end up. We’ve got two more games to play.”
Those two games appear to be extremely winnable. Purdue is 3-7, out of the bowl picture and playing out the string in its final season under Joe Tiller. Minnesota is 7-3 but seemingly fading after two straight defeats, including a 29-6 loss Saturday at home against Michigan.
At the very least, the Hawkeyes (6-4) are in line for a berth in the Champs Sports, Alamo or Insight Bowl.
“It’s like tonight we got our bus ticket,”
said Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, who caught seven passes for 89 yards in Saturday’s win. “Now we’re playing for a plane ticket.”
The other positive to come out of the upset was a major boost in confidence for a team that has lost four games this season by a combined margin of 12 points.
“This helps a lot,”
said junior linebacker Pat Angerer, who was involved in 12 tackles against Penn State.
“I don’t think we ever doubted ourselves. We thought we were going to win this game. I don’t think I ever thought we were going to lose. We never considered ourselves underdogs.”
Ferentz said he hoped it provided “tangible evidence”
to his players that they can win the close ones.
“They believed in themselves the full 60 minutes, fought hard right to the end,”
he said. “Anything short of that and we have no chance.”
