The Iowa football program is in a much different place than it was a year ago.
By Ryan Rodriguez
Iowa’s most recent memory from a football game is without a question one of the worst in the history of the program.
The sting of a nine-plus minute Spartan touchdown drive in the game’s final agonizing moments that kept the Hawkeyes literally inches away from the program’s first-ever trip to the College Football Playoff will not soon wear off for many of the Hawkeye faithful.
It cut so deep because the stakes were so high, and Iowa came so painfully close to cashing in. One year ago, this season would have seemed like a fantasy. Following season after season of stale, stagnant football, the Iowa football program and fan base is now as reinvigorated as they’ve ever been.
“The journey is not over yet, but 2015 has just had so many wonderful memories for all of us,” Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta said. “This is going to be another one of those atmospheres that’s just going to be such an incredible memory for all of our players.”
Rewind to late November of last year — Barta’s view could not have been more different.
Instead of talking about Rose Bowl trips or the College Football Playoff, Barta instead had to reinforce his decision to keep head coach Kirk Ferentz on the books after a disappointing 7-6 season.
The culmination of three seasons’ of frustration bubbling over in dramatic fashion, Iowa fans began to become disenchanted with a team that looked less and less like Iowa football each week. Ticket sales and patience with Ferentz began to dwindle as the Hawks suffered losses to the likes of Iowa State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and more.
Eleven months later, and it all feels like a distant memory.
It’s probably unrealistic to demand or even expect another 12-0 season for the Hawkeyes, but it would be a downright shame to not sit back and appreciate how these Hawks brought Iowa back from the brink of overwhelming apathy and into the national spotlight for the first time in years.
“It’s a good feeling knowing that we left the football program better than when we came in,” senior safety Jordan Lomax said. “At the same time, we’re still looking for win No. 13. We’ve got one more great opportunity in front of us.”
Lomax and fellow seniors know firsthand how much work it’s taken to get Iowa from where it was three seasons ago to where it is now.
Coming in as a freshman in 2011, Lomax’s Hawks finished a combined 26-25 over his first four seasons before its incredible 12-0 run to start the current season.
It took a perfect regular season and a near-win in the Big Ten championship game to earn it back, but Iowa finally has the respect of the college-football community.
Want to know Iowa’s biggest victory of 2015? Look no further.
“I do feel like it’s a sign of respect for them to include us in the Rose Bowl over Ohio State,” Lomax said. “I think we showed everybody that we play a hard-nosed style and that we can hang with anyone.