“It hurts, yes, but worse things could happen,” Angerer said as he discussed the dismaying-to-some, crushing-to-many turn of events that occurred Saturday in Kinnick Stadium.
“We’re not dead. No one is dead,” Angerer continued. “We’re not at war. We’re not away from our family and friends. It’s a football game. It’s pretty small when you think about the big picture.”
Still, it was easy to understand the acute disappointment in Kinnick Stadium, evidenced by an eerie silence that hung over the lingering fans after a
17-10 loss to Northwestern.
Bear in mind, Iowa had not lost a football game in 371 days. It had pulled out games in amazing ways over that period, with blocked punts, blocked field goals, last-minute drives, 86-yard returns of ricocheted interceptions. A feeling of destiny and invincibility had sprouted up around this team.
When it all disintegrated Saturday, it stung.
And you couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the Hawkeyes didn’t lose more than just one game Saturday. You kind of wonder if their magnificent, dizzying, largely improbable, totally unpredictable season didn’t completely unravel on one play three minutes into the second quarter.
They had built an early 10-0 lead and seemed headed for their 10th victory of the season when quarterback Ricky Stanzi rolled right on that familiar bootleg play, twisted awkwardly in the end zone to avoid Northwestern’s Corey Wootton, lost his grip on the ball and crumpled to the turf as the Wildcats’ Marshall Thomas fell on the ball for a touchdown.
Goodbye shutout. Goodbye momentum. Goodbye Stanzi for the rest of the game and probably longer. Goodbye all semblance of offensive production for Iowa. Goodbye 13-game winning streak. Goodbye national championship hopes.
It is not, of course, the end of the Hawkeyes’ chances of winning the Big Ten title and playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 19 years.
But you kind of wonder what their chances are going to be without Stanzi, who has been sharply criticized at times but might now fully be appreciated for what he gives this team. It’s that old absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder thing.
“Guys take for granted what he gives us,” wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos said in an especially somber postgame interview. “He brings so much poise, so much leadership. When he went down, it was like, boy, we never imagined what it would be like without him in the game.”
Johnson-Koulianos seemed to take the loss harder than almost anyone. He had a faraway gaze in his eye and was badly in need of a perspective transfusion from Dr. Angerer.
“You know, I don’t even know where I’m going to go or what I’m going to do now,” DJK said. “It’s been so long since we lost. This is so unfamiliar.”
Johnson-Koulianos admitted he had gotten caught up in the Bowl Championship Series fever, the idea that Iowa actually could win a national title,
“Now that dream is all gone,” he said. “The best we can be is 11-1.”
Yes, but 11-1 would get the Hawkeyes to the Rose Bowl.
And most of the Hawkeyes are convinced — at least outwardly — that they can get there with redshirt freshman quarterback James Vandenberg, whose entire portfolio before Saturday consisted of six plays in mop-up duty against Iowa State.
“He wouldn’t be here is he wasn’t capable of making the plays,” receiver Marvin McNutt said.
“Vandenberg is a good guy,” defensive tackle Christian Ballard said. “This was really his first time in the fire. I expect him to grow and get better. I think he’s going to be great. He’s going to be a great quarterback. We have a lot of faith in him.”
As Angerer noted, “All we can do now is look forward and continue to fight.”
“I’ll quote Johnny Cash when I say this,” the former Bettendorf star added. “We’ve been through the fire before and we can take a whole lot more.”
Marvin Sellers wrote on Nov 12, 2009 3:50 PM: