By Jordan Hansen | [email protected]

Over the past three games, Iowa has allowed just 23 points. All have been wins.

There are a lot of reasons for this, of course, but you really don’t have to look very far to see the root cause. The Hawkeyes front seven — linebackers and defensive line — have played lights out. This is not a slight against the secondary, of course, which harbors a Thorpe Award winner, but more a compliment to just how good the guys in front of them have performed.

The rapid shift started during the Michigan game, looked brilliant in an Illinois shutout, and came home to dominate Nebraska on Nov. 25, winning 40-10.

“It was just a good job by everyone up front,” Iowa middle linebacker Josey Jewell said. “We took the gaps away and put people where they didn’t want people.”

From the beginning of the game, it was pretty obvious who was imposing their will on whom. The stalwart Iowa defense did everything it could to make Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong uncomfortable and to take away aspects of his game.

Again and again, the defensive line got the push it needed, allowing the linebackers to pick up the pieces. Armstrong’s throws were hurried and extremely inaccurate — he completed a horrendous 13-of-35 passes for just 125 yards and a single touchdown. He was sacked once and also hurried on (officially) three occasions, but he seemed desperate throughout the game.

It also involved a number of different players. Iowa rotated four defensive tackles and three defensive ends, as it has most of the season. They were fresh throughout the game and provided the extra punch the Hawkeyes needed. By the middle of the third quarter, the Nebraska offensive line looked shakier and shakier.

It was cold, Nebraska was tired, and it pretty much quit. Give the front seven some credit for that.

“We had a plan, and we stuck to it,” defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson said. “There’s no special formula we have, no special sauce. It’s just doing what we do best, which is doing all the little things right.”

But it’s been a simply incredible shift. After giving up 599 yards in an ugly loss to Penn State at the beginning of the month, Iowa’s average yards given up per game to that point was 402. Per game.

Over the last three games?

Just a hair over 205 yards per game. Keep in mind two of those last three games were against teams currently ranked in the top 15 of the College Football Playoff Rankings.

That’s nothing short of incredible.

“I don’t know if we could have gone any lower than we did three weeks ago,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We had a tough loss to open the month, but what these guys have done, day in and day out, the past three weeks, it’s been really amazing to watch.”

Somehow, the team managed to stick together, and it’s paid off. The Hawkeye defense right now looks just as good as it was last season, which is saying a lot. That group was one of the best defensive units Ferentz has ever put on the field.

While the offense may not quite be up to the Rose Bowl standard of last season, the defense is back.

Iowa is playing its best football of the season right now, and it’s not even close. The team didn’t accomplish every goal it set for itself this year. It didn’t get to the Big Ten Championship. It didn’t have another undefeated season.

But it has finished strong, which the Hawkeyes have to be proud of. And while there is no doubt whether it was a team effort from every facet of the game — it started with the defense, which in turn started its turnaround with huge contributions from its front-seven.

“To bounce back, it’s not like we put a new scheme in. We didn’t get new players,” Ferentz said. “But the guys have redoubled their efforts, and again, we’ve got really prideful guys.

“I’m just really proud of them.”

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