Troubles brought Hawkeyes closer together
TEMPE, Ariz. – There was a school of thought that three weeks of off-field turmoil would turn Iowa into a distracted football team in the Insight Bowl.
Turns out all of the troubles only made the Hawkeyes more determined, only galvanized them as a team, only made them enjoy Tuesday night’s 27-24 victory against No. 14 Missouri even more.
That cloud that hovered over the Hawkeyes when two players were suspended and two more left the program earlier this month? It was nowhere to be found inside Sun Devil Stadium.
That notion that Iowa couldn’t overcome the absence of two of its biggest offensive playmakers? That was long forgotten while the Hawkeyes celebrated their third consecutive bowl win to finish 8-5.
“The guys who wanted to be here were here,” Iowa junior strong safety Tyler Sash said. “We had a couple good weeks of practice and we were all about business.”
But it was hardly business as usual in December for the Hawkeyes.
They entered the month with fresh wounds from three consecutive defeats to wrap up the regular season. Then senior Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, the school’s all-time leading receiver, was suspended after a Dec. 7 arrest on multiple drug-related charges. In the week that followed, Iowa officials announced running backs Brandon Wegher and Jewel Hampton were transferring and Ferentz suspended running back Adam Robinson for the Insight Bowl.
To top it off, Robinson was cited on the eve of the game for marijuana possession.
None of it ripped the Hawkeyes apart at the seams.
“It didn’t push us apart – I know that,” quarterback Ricky Stanzi said. “It definitely brought us closer together.” 
Linebacker Jeff Tarpinian said the Hawkeyes used the off-field issues as a rallying point.
“There was a lot of negativity floating around, but it was all external,” Tarpinian said. “Internally, we were just focused on having a great month of preparation and focusing on what we could control as a team, as a defense, as a unit. We had a great month.”
It didn’t hurt that Iowa also got major production from the players who filled the voids. Freshman running back Marcus Coker carried 33 times, set a school bowl-record with 219 yards rushing and scored a pair of touchdowns on his way to earning the game’s offensive most valuable player award. The receiver committee of Colin Sandeman, Don Nordmann and Keenan Davis combined for six receptions for 87 yards.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was tossed a question late Tuesday night about whether it was nice to just be back coaching a football game given what his program went through in recent weeks.
“I have been focused on the players who have been out there on the field every day,” Ferentz said. “(We’re) just thrilled with all the guys, the job they did on this trip from start to finish, from the time they got off the plane to the end of the game here. They have done a great, great job. That’s where my thoughts are.”
Ferentz’s thoughts certainly weren’t on the Robinson situation. The sophomore led the Hawkeyes with 1,775 yards rushing in the past two seasons, but his future with the program appears in limbo after Monday night’s citation in Des Moines.
Iowa athletics director Gary Barta said in a statement Tuesday that he and Ferentz were “both extremely disappointed to hear the news” but wouldn’t comment further until they returned to Iowa City. The topic came up again in the postgame news conference.
“Gary made a statement today, and I really don’t have anything to add to it,” Ferentz said. “I have been kind of occupied with this game, as you might imagine. It’s been a busy day. It’s really not paramount on my thoughts now. I’m going to go home and enjoy this win.”
Category: Iowa Hawkeyes Football
Couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome. They played hard, came out firing and NEVER GAVE UP. Nice to be reminded that there are players on this team that value the opportunity that they were given through being a Hawkeye. GO HAWKS!!!
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Instead of all the talk about Robinson and DJK, we should be focusing on guys such as Vandervelde. A local Davenport guy who is incredibly tallented and smart. Tyler Sash, another Iowa guy, who is always there on every play and on the Leadership Group.
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Congratulations to the seniors and the entire team and staff. I’m happy for them and that they could wrap up the season on such a positive note.
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As I said earlier in the month when a number of our part-time fans had given up on the Hawks,and Coach Kirk, “That sound you hear are all of our fair weather fans jumping off the Hawkeye bandwagon.” with quotes such as, “Ferentz can’t coach.”, Ferentz can’t motivate.”, etc. It’s amazing how much he improved in a month. The true fans never gave up. These young men never gave up on themselves. I loved the quote from Tyler Sash, “The guys who wanted to be here were here.”
That sound you now hear are all of our fair weather fans jumping back on the Hawkeye bandwagon.
Go Hawks
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One who criticizes objectively is no more a traitor than he who wears rose colored glasses is an enabler.
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BoM6715
Yeah but putting all the blame on the coaches is redicilious. That’s like putting all the blame on a teacher because a student earned a C.
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ljhawkeye
Yeah, I’m sick and tired of our Fair Weather fans. Some of them will never be happy unless Iowa wins the National Championship.
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No part time fan here, season ticket holder for 40 yrs. I’m happy for the seniors and the good kids that may have gotten lost in all the mess this year. BUT…
For the first time in 40 yrs., I’ve never felt this disappointed in a Iowa team. Where theres smoke, there is fire. I used to think that with all the hypocrisy and crooked programs that have creeped into college football the past few decades that Iowa was the one exception and bright light. And up until this year I believed Ferentz was capable of delivering a NC. Not anymore.
Kids will be kids and stupid kids (a.k.a. Robinson, DJK, Wegher, et al) will be stupid. I hold Ferentz accountable to the extent that the program can do all it can to prevent this kind of thing. I do suspect they had a significant drug problem this year. Who is player development guy??? I don’t expect the staff to be with these spoiled brats 24/7. My disappointment is more football related.
Bottom line, they played inconsistently this year and that rests with the coach and his staff. NW, Wisc. and OSU are on to Ferentz and his mediocre game plans. They know what we’re gonna do. The offense is stale. I love Norm Parker but as difficult as this is to say, he’s gotta go or transition someone in. Ferentz is loyal to a fault. Special teams was horrible this year and so was the play calling. I could go on and on. I expect no coaching changes. I’ve accepted that Ferentz and co. will continue to deliver a team that is mid-to-upper finishers in the Big 10/12. Thats it. Period.
And PLEASE stop the NFL crap. Theres no way this guy lasts as a head coach in the NFL. As for Barta, thats a whole other story. The man baffles me to no end.
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HawkRealist
Your a Realist? Whatever! You do realize that college football is the hardest sport to win a National Championship? You do realize that most pre season Top 10 teams don’t finish in The Top 10. Every program is out there busting there a.s.s. trying to get better. College football if everyone finish where they were expected to finish.
I don’t put much into pre season expectations. The 2009 Hawks weren’t playing this season. I’m not a fire all the coaches type of guy, when the team hits adversity. The coaches can’t play on the field. Football truly is a game of inches. If Wisky QB Tolzien misfires on that 4th and 4, Iowa wins.
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If everyone finished where they were expected to finish, the sport would be boring. I do remember when fans wanted Tom Davis fired, because we couldn’t get Deep into the Tournament. They got their wish and now our basketball program has been irrelevant for awhile! All I’m saying is be careful for what you ask for.
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Great job Hawks!
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Proud of all you guys who were suited up last night. You never gave up. Go Hawks.
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Are you gonna call me a part time fan.
We score 17 pts against Northwestern and lose. Illinois scores 47/48 points against them and wins. We almost lose the game, yet Wisc scores 70 pts against them. 3rd and 19 we give up 24 yds, and dont blitz. 24 seconds left in first half we take a knee. We send Reisner in motion, stops next to Stanzi and we run up the middle, who doesnt know that. I could go on and on……
Run the ball and run again and pass on 3rd down.
Iowa doesnt play football, they play pattycake. Win some lose some, when they could be a powerhouse and National Champs.
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Hawkeyed
Again another fan whose sitting on his Lazy Boy, thinking he’s the best coach in the world!
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Coach, you deserve a nice few days to relax at home in Iowa City, or where ever you would like to take your family! Thanks for a great bowl game, your leadership, and your results. GO HAWKS!
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Nearly everyone, including some Iowa fans, were “dissing” the Hawks. Hawk haters came out of their creepy holes. But Iowa came out fighting and played for 60 minutes. Missouri played for 55. That’s how Iowa won all those games in ’09. I’m very proud of how this shorthanded team and this tough-minded coach ended the season with pride, glory and class.
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The enablers will let them off the hook again. It was amazing what an occasional blitz will do. It was amazing what a safe pass on 3rd and short will do. Very conservatively, this team should have at least been with 10 wins with a LITTLE ingenuity. They didn’t need Norm to call a blitz once in awhile. Several games before the Wisky game, it was very noticeable that the punt return team was disregarding the fake. I was only surprised in took someone so long to do it. You create your own breaks. We got some breaks in this game that we didn’t get earlier. We seemed to want to win. Puts even pressure on refs to make a right, but a controversial call. The undisputed evidence wasn’t there.
I’m not dissing the Hawks and the win. Just pointing out that the coaching seemed to want to win bad enough that it likely caught on with the players. Why would a 1st round draft pick ever want to risk injury with a program that took no risks and once the top 10 ranking was gone there was little to play for.
Ferentz is wrong. It wasn’t about the players. IT WAS about the coaches giving the players hope.
My guess is that Ferentz absolutely deep down hated Hyde reversing field and risking a fumble or a loss. But he did congrat him afterwards.
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Ilhawk
Your not dissing the Hawks and the win? Yeah whatever! Missouri scored 2 touchdowns against Iowa blitzes. And no you don’t always create your own breaks. Look at the end of the Pin Strip Bowl. Syracuse didn’t create the break for the salute penalty. Since when did coaches make plays on the field? Did Urban Meyer all of the sudden forget how to coach this year?
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It was a fun game and a good solid win, but I can’t help wondering if a loss might not have been better in the long term. The points made critical of KF and KOK are well taken. There were so many awful coaching errors this year it was embarrassing.
A loss might have forced KF to evaluate what he can do to improve the coaching staff and game time decision making process. Not to say I’m not happy with the win but long term, how will it improve the team?
That said, great effort. Fun game. Sash is an animal. Nice work O-line, D-line and Coker!
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I thought it was a very class act for whoever called for Stanzi to take a knee on the final play with the ball on the one foot line. You don’t always see that in college football these days. I hope a home and home series is scheduled between Iowa and Missouri. Forget going to Arizona when you can get on a bus and go a couple hundred miles to play a meaningful non-conference game. Columbia is a great college town, too.
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This season was a very interesting ride for fans and the Iowa staff and players alike. I don’t think that we fans realize completely the amount of work it takes by the Iowa staff to recruit and develope the talent of the players we see on the field. We don’t completely understand the complexities of the gameplan, player abilities and health, and the opposing teams strengths. We forget some of the in-game injuries and mistakes that impact the flow of the games. We most certainly do not comprehend the enormous amount of effort, pain, sweat, and blood that the players put into practice and game play.
I can appreciate the frustration of ardant fans who so deeply desire a National Championship by our Iowa Hawkeyes for I desire it too. That would be such a wonderful accomplishment for the staff and players. It would be a great source of pride for all Iowa fans. I am a realist in that I know that a NC will only become a reality as a result of significantly hard work and extreme good fortune by well prepared coaching and high level execution by talented players. Some day all of the pieces of this puzzle may come together, maybe not.
Whether they do or not, I will always support the Iowa Hawkeyes with positive thoughts in my head and affirming comments on posting boards like this. I do not think that I am so smart that my opinions or comments will do anything to improve the play of my Iowa Hawkeyes.
Thanks for the enjoyable season and good luck in the future.
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Its been a great week! HAWKS VICTORY!! and a HUSKIES VICTORY or do I mean a Husker loss…..Looking forward to a 2011 Legends division if that will remain the name of it..
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