YES

Why wouldn’t fans rush the field after an exhilarating win like the one this past weekend?

At home, facing one of the toughest teams in the Big Ten, there is no reason to fault those who let their excitement spill over the barriers and onto the playing surface to celebrate with the boys who brought them victory.

Every week, there is another professional football player who orchestrates a perfect ensemble of two-steps after getting his one tackle for a year on special teams. This is looked upon as a reason to celebrate, so why not let the fans join in on the fun?

Last year, the Hawkeyes beat Wisconsin behind an amazing running effort by Shonn Greene, and again the fans couldn’t hold themselves back — me being one of them.

I’ll admit I rushed the field for that game, a game that had little significance over the season. It was all in good fun, and it was a memory I, as well as most everyone else that was out there, will have forever.

Gone are the days of taking down the goal posts after big wins. Storming the field has become the last outlet for fans to celebrate with the team. With such a divide these days between fan and athlete, even at the college level, it is comforting to know that anyone can run out after a big win and throw his arm around Ricky Stanzi or Adrian Clayborn and bask in the thrill of victory.

Now, to justify the rush of the field after the Michigan game. With only Northwestern, Indiana, and Minnesota coming through Iowa City the next few weeks, this was the students’ last chance to throw caution to the wind and feel that brand-new turf beneath their frozen toes.

So what if so-called powerhouses such as USC and Ohio State don’t rush the field after a big win? In my eyes, it just shows how jaded those teams are by their level of success.

Iowa is known nationwide for understanding how to have a good time, and rushing the field is just an extension of that spirit.

— by Jake Krzeczowski

NO

After Iowa’s Homecoming victory over Michigan, the Hawkeyes stood 6-0 for the first time since 1985. This, perhaps, explains why a sea of misguided fans sporting the Black and Gold scampered onto the field as if they were Washington and had just upset USC.

They were not Washington, however. The fans had run onto the field after their then No. 12-ranked Hawkeyes defeated unranked Michigan in a home game.

I understand, Michigan is Michigan — the Maize and Blue, Hail to the Victors, 11 national championships, and the most wins in Football Bowl Subdivision history.

And Iowa is Iowa — a team that is more or less an afterthought in the pantheons of college football legend.

But take away the names and look at the game for what it was. An undefeated team, ranked 12th in the nation, playing at home against an unranked team that lost the previous week to another unranked team.

If Iowa is ever going to be taken seriously as a national power, then Hawkeye fans need to cease and desist with this small-school mentality.

So we beat Michigan. So what?

We were supposed to win the game. Rushing the field makes us look like the underdogs, like we just accomplished the impossible.

When it comes to winning, coaches are always telling their players to “act like we’ve been here,” meaning don’t celebrate like you’ve won the Super Bowl after scoring a touchdown or sacking the quarterback.

Someone needs to pass the message onto our fans.

I understand Iowa fans are excited. This looks like the best team in a while. Our team’s talent is precisely why we shouldn’t behave like we did. We are a better team than Michigan. We won, and barely, when we should have laid into the Wolverines.

If I were a fan of a perennial power such as Ohio State or Florida, I’d have watched Iowa fans pour onto the field and thought to myself, “They clearly don’t think their team is on our level, so why should we?”

— by Sean Morgan