He spun away from defenders ... when he wasn’t running over them ... or speeding by them.
Shonn Greene for Heisman?
“Man, I don’t know about that one,”
he said after updating the Iowa football record book with a huge performance in a 38-16 win Saturday against wobbling Wisconsin at Kinnick Stadium that put the Hawkeyes solidly in the bowl picture.
At 5-3, one more win for Iowa the next four games would meet NCAA postseason qualification for a team whose losses have been by a combined nine points.
“We’re on track, that’s the best we can hope for at this time,”
said center Rob Bruggeman, a significant part of Greene’s big day.
The junior tailback who continues to leave open the notion of turning pro after the season, rushed 25 times for 217 yards and four touchdowns against a defense once known to solidly defend the rush.
He tied Nick Bell for the sixth-most rushing yards in a game in Iowa history. Bell accomplished the feat against the Badgers in 1989.
Greene’s 217 yards was the first 200-yard game by a Hawkeye since Albert Young totaled 202 against Northwestern in 2005. His four touchdowns and 24 points tied school records.
And afterwards, he thanked his line — and then former Minnesota coach Glen Mason for comments he made last week on the Big Ten Network that basically said Wisconsin would have a better rushing offense.
“He was a coach, right?”
Greene asked. “Well, I don’t think he should be a broadcaster anymore, but hey, he said it.”
All Iowa players saw the tape.
“It was something about Wisconsin’s running game, and how it was going to be better than ours,”
Bruggeman said. “I thought it was slightly derogatory towards our offense.“
“He gave them the edge in the running game, and that doesn’t usually sit well with offensive linemen.”
Even coach Kirk Ferentz saw the tape.
“I’ll be sending a thank you note,”
he said.
Of course, he also thanked Greene by comparing him to previous Hawkeye stars.
“My scope’s pretty small, but he’s right there with anybody,”
Ferentz said. “We’ve had so many good guys, starting with Ronnie Harmon. He really did so many dynamic things for us.“
“Shonn is really playing at a high level. I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a back playing at such a high level.”
Greene scored on runs of 12, 34, 52 and 34 yards while becoming the first to exceed 200 rushing yards against Wisconsin since Minnesota’s Laurence Maroney rushed for 258 in 2005.
“It’s either a no gain, a gain for 15 yards or a touchdown,”
said Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema, a former Iowa player and assistant coach, whose team fell to 0-4 in the Big Ten Conference for the first time since 1996. “Two touchdown runs were a really poor display of tackling and support at the line of scrimmage.”
Greene’s highlight run came in the second quarter, a 34-yard touchdown scamper that included a spin from one tackle and breaking two others before running into the end zone. Smaller defensive backs were defenseless against the 235-pounder.
“I’m like 'Whoa, did he just do that?’ when I saw the replay of the run on the video board,”
Bruggeman said.
Greene’s 52-yard run came on a draw play, on which he collected a big downfield block from receiver Andy Brodell.
His final touchdown came on a rarely used pitch sweep, where like the draw, Greene out-ran defenders to the end zone.
“I don’t know if it was speed, or what,”
said Greene, who has 1,154 yards on 177 carries with four games remaining.“I just tried to run as fast as I could. I don’t know if it was fast enough, but I got to the end zone.”
Greene had plenty of support, including linebacker Pat Angerer’s 16 tackles and two interceptions, against first-time starting quarterback Dustin Sherer.
“I love having Pat back there behind me,”
defensive tackle Mitch King said. “He’s keeps us energized.”
Like Greene energizes the offense.
Heisman anyone?
“It’s like Brad Banks,”
Ferentz said. “Nobody knew who Brad Banks was in August, and he finished second (2002) in a very close ballot, and he did it because he played well for 12 games.“
“That’s how you win awards.”
