PASADENA, CA – Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s words rang loud and true back in home state of California, especially for the out-of-town team. With just over two minutes to go in Iowa football’s 20-17 loss to UCLA, Lamar’s lyrics blared through the speakers at the Rose Bowl.
The Bruins were facing 3rd-and-8, just one first down away from sealing victory, and Lamar, while from Compton, wanted to make sure there was a clear difference between the team from Los Angeles and the one from Iowa City.
“They not like us.”
A simple four-word phrase that delivered a gut punch. Just seconds later, after the Bruins converted on a 9-yard pass, any vacationing Hawkeye fan could feel the blow. The Iowa squad didn’t resemble the team on the opposing sideline, nor did it look anything like its dominant defenses in recent memory or the explosive offense of two weeks ago.
Unlike UCLA, there would be no three-game win streak for Iowa, nor a boast of a dynamic ground game, nor the comfort in knowing it could stop the run. These boxes remain unchecked for the Hawkeyes as a 10-win season vanishes. What remains isn’t a void, but rather the dissatisfaction and discomfort of inconsistency, of having not the slightest idea whether Jekyll or Hyde will emerge from the locker room.
Mitch Fick of KGAN pointed out last week how over the last five Novembers, Iowa has gone 18-2.
“It’s really where things are decided and where things get separated,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said when Fick gave him this stat at his Tuesday press conference. “Again, I go back to the consistency, the details. The better a team understands that the better a team will become this time of year.”
Those words must’ve missed the flight to LAX on Thursday.
This month, Iowa has already reached half of that loss total after two games – one that flashed its highest peak and another that illuminated the lowest valley.
From piling on 329 rushing yards against the Badgers to conceding 211 to a Bruin team who was averaging barely more than a third heading into the contest. The same applies to other points in the season. For instance, the Washington game against the Michigan State game the following week? Or who can forget the Illinois State contest vs. the Iowa State heartbreaker even earlier? This is the roller-coaster this Hawkeye team is on this season, sending fans through nauseating loops that nearly make them beg for an early exit.
Yet this team still has three more contests to play – Maryland, Nebraska, and a bowl game. The ride isn’t over, but if the Hawkeyes want to avoid any turbulence, they can’t keep messing with the operator levers.
Tackling shouldn’t be a week-to-week thing, but the Hawkeyes have had two of their last four weekends spoiled by ineffective arm tackles and opposing running backs doing their best Marshawn Lynch impression. Neither should giving up chunk plays, but the Hawkeyes yielded 14 of them to the Bruins on Friday – five pass completions of 15 or more yards and nine rushes of at least 10 yards.
The issues of consistency seem to stem from the defense, which is so confounding considering the return of key players from last season. The absence of linebacker Jay Higgins in the second half didn’t do Iowa any favors, but that can’t be an excuse. The Hawkeyes weren’t pointing to travel, the time change, or the Friday kick date as reasons for their defeat, and neither should they direct the finger at injuries.
UCLA had a bottom-three offense and defense in the Big Ten in terms of points per game this season, and Friday’s contest is sure to increase these numbers. The Bruins shouldn’t have to be looking for the Hawkeyes to pad their stats. It should be the other way around. In a typical Hawkeye November, Iowa should be picking up steam, stacking wins on top of wins as it heads down the stretch to the postseason. Blame it on the warmer weather, but this month just doesn’t feel the same.
“It’s tough. It’s fun in a way, but it’s exhausting in a way, too,” Ferentz said of November football back on Tuesday. “I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Tough? Check. Exhausting? With another cross-country trip to Maryland in two weeks, double-check. Fun? Not exactly, especially with a bye week to let emotions linger.
Sitting at 1-3 in road conference games this season, Iowa will have some soul-searching to conduct before it heads east. Any Kirk Ferentz-coached team shouldn’t be defined as inconsistent, but that could be the fate of this year’s group.
As UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers kneeled out the clock as fireworks shot overhead, the voice of Lamar was replaced by Bruin fans joyously singing the classic line from Steam’s 1969 song, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”
“Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye.”
As a Chicago White Sox fan, I’ve yelled this line to plenty of opposing pitchers after they’ve departed the mound. For most of the season, UCLA looked like they were emulating the 2024 White Sox, but has the mimicker shifted to Iowa? If a potential 8-4 season counts the same as 41-121, then I guess so.