On Oct. 1, the Hawkeye football team lost for the second time this season. The Hawks are now 3-2 and had this second loss come at the hands of then 1-3 Northwestern. Needless to say, the game was upsetting to Hawkeye fans everywhere who came into this season with boundless enthusiasm about the team, me included.

And while the game itself and the ultimate score were disappointing beyond belief, perhaps one of the most upsetting things was the officiating of the game. But unequivocally, the worst thing about this weekend was the response of a select few fans to that officiating.

The referees for the Iowa-Northwestern game were not great. They made some questionable calls and, on one occasion, infuriated the entire stadium by appearing to miss a facemask on C.J. Beathard (the jury is still out, but the evidence has mounted in opposition of the refs) and subsequently calling a facemask against Iowa’s Josey Jewell on the very next drive. This is what led to fans throwing water bottles and other objects onto the field.

No matter how bad things get, fans should consider their response to the scenario on the field more carefully. It’s no secret that at college campuses around the country, including our own, tailgating takes place prior to games and alcohol consumption is involved, but fans should still consider what it says about Iowa and its fans when they react as they did on Oct. 1.

Sports are important. It’s so much more than a silly game.

Ignoring all the jobs and opportunities that come from the existence of sports for a moment, focus only on their emotional power. Allegiances run deep, and sports bring people together, if even for a few hours every few weekends. I love sports and all that they have done to foster and grow the relationships in my life. And beyond that, it’s fun to be emotionally invested in something simple once in a while.

But there’s a line. And throwing water bottles at referees is well past that line.

On the one hand, Iowa has always been a favorite of fans around the country to dog on. I cannot explain why pundits such as Colin Cowherd and fans of other teams, such as Minnesota, choose to despise Iowa so much. But we, as fans, cannot give them yet another reason to find fault. Good fans are passionate, knowledgeable, and they rise and fall with the team’s successes. They’re in it for the long haul and suffer through long losing seasons to get to the winning ones. Good fans don’t throw water bottles on the field at referees because they understand that it accomplishes nothing, and it only serves to potentially hurt the team they love.

But more than that, good teams don’t pretend that the referees are the reason they lost a game.

They can affect the outcome of a game. But like most games featuring bad calls, the Hawkeyes did not lose because of them. They lost because they were out-played by Northwestern, simple as that.