It’s time for another edition of “Spencer’s Sunday Thoughts” – a weekly column focused on college football headlines in Iowa, the Big Ten, Big 12 and beyond. Here’s what’s on my mind this week:
I said earlier in the week that this game was a “must-win” for Iowa, not in the sense that the season is on the brink and players will be benched, coaches would be fired if they lost, but a “must-win” in the sense that Iowa on paper was so much better than Wisconsin and you need to beat the teams that you’re supposed to beat. Well, Iowa did just that and then some last night.
Three first half turnovers by the Badgers helped Iowa build a 17-0 lead after one quarter and a 23-0 lead at the half on the way to their first shutout victory of the Badgers since 1996, and the first shutout win in Madison since 1929!
Defensive lineman Bryce Hawthorne got an interception off of a tip drill, while Aaron Graves nearly (and probably should have) had a pick six. The defense held Wisconsin to just 209 total yards of offense, while the Hawkeyes also racked up 210 rushing yards against Wisconsin’s supposedly improved run defense, with Kamari Moulton, Mark Gronowski and Xavier Williams (x2) finding the end zone in the win.
Speaking of Gronowski – he did not have an injury designation for the game, starting and playing fairly well despite very clearly not being 100%. His interception in the first half was not a good play, but with how bad Wisconsin was playing in the game it was evident that Iowa could survive this game without Gronowski needing to be Patrick Mahomes.
As for Wisconsin – here’s how I will summarize this game for them. After last season’s 42-10 loss at Kinnick Stadium they let Iowa live rent free in their heads for an entire offseason – doing 42 pushups, 42 stair runs, etc. because they expected to compete with Iowa and wanted to win this rematch with the Hawkeyes. Not only did they not compete, they actually lost by a bigger margin this season compared to last season. Anytime your team has more Unsportsmanlike Conduct fouls than points, it’s probably a bad sign.
There are about $25 million worth of reasons why Wisconsin probably won’t fire Luke Fickell, but the longer they keep him around the deeper the hole for the Wisconsin program will get. I can’t imagine Iowa fans are crying many tears over the state of the Badgers program, but cutting bait with Fickell (and possibly Athletic Director Chris McIntosh) seems to be the most logical decision.
Well, the good news for the Cyclones is that they only gave up 140 rushing yards this week as opposed to the 260 they surrendered to Cincinnati last week, but they still couldn’t get the job done as a team and lost at Colorado in a close game.
All stats aside, this game will be remembered for a while by Cyclone fans for a pass interference call on Colorado that wasn’t that went from a potential go-ahead score for Iowa State, to a turnover that got the Buffaloes the ball back in a crucial moment. On the play, Rocco Becht targeted tight end Ben Brahmer in the end zone, with Brahmer getting taken down by Colorado’s Ivan Yates. A flag was thrown, but was eventually waved off, and an interception by Tawfiq Byard stood, nixing an opportunity for Iowa State.
Controversial calls aside, missed opportunities were again the “words of the day” in this one for Iowa State, as the Cyclones punted on five of their first six drives of the game. Rocco Becht did not have a great game, completing just 18 of 33 passes for no touchdowns and an interception, while running for only 31 yards. Abu Sama carried the offense on the day, running for 177 yards and two touchdowns, averaging about seven yards per carry, but it wasn’t enough in the end. Defensively, the Cyclones’ injured secondary let Buffaloes QB Kaidon Salter, who had been very, very inconsistent so far this season, throw for 255 yards and a couple of scores in the win.
The Cyclones hit their second bye week having lost two straight, and need to use the time to find some answers on how to get back on track. Iowa State is now 2-2 in conference, and while not completely out of the Big 12 race, need to find a way to make a quick turnaround with games against BYU and Arizona State right out of the chute after the bye.
Big Ten Notes:
Holy cow, where do I begin?
First – anyone doubting Indiana at this point is just willfully ignorant. On Saturday, the Hoosiers went in to Autzen Stadium and beat Oregon, the third ranked team in the country (at the time) by double digits. The Indiana defense held the Ducks to just 81 yards rushing and picked off Dante Moore twice, while Fernando Mendoza threw for 215 yards and a score. Roman Hemby added two rushing touchdowns as Indiana improved to 6-0 and is firmly in the Big Ten title discussion and I think needs to be taken seriously as a CFP contender, too.
How fired is James Franklin? The answer – VERY. ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting that Penn State has fired their head coach after a second straight loss as a three touchdown favorite. I asked, purely as a hypothetical, on Friday’s show “what if Penn State lost to Northwestern at home?” – well, it happened. Not only did PSU lose the game, but they lost Drew Allar to a season-ending injury – so now Penn State comes to Iowa City this week without their head coach and with a freshman quarterback as the starter.
Other quick notes:
What got into UCLA? Remember when this team didn’t have the lead in a game at any point this season? Now, they’ve jumped out to leads in back-to-back games and have won two in a row. It might just be a fleeting moment in Westwood, but the Bruins look a whole lot better than they did under DeShaun Foster.
Nebraska won a close game! The Huskers survived a three-interception day from Dylan Raiola and rallied to win at Maryland with a touchdown reception from Dane Key in the final minute. Nebraska’s got an interesting one at Minnesota this Friday night.
The best QB few are talking about just might be Demond Williams from Washington. Yes, it was against Rutgers, but Williams was incredible against the Scarlet Knights on Friday in Seattle. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 402 yards and two touchdowns, while running for 136 yards and two more scores in the win. The Huskies travel to Michigan and host Illinois the next two weeks, so we’ll see how he performs against two challenging opponents.
What stood out to you in week seven? Send me an email – spencer@kgymradio.com or find me on social media to continue the conversation.
Spencer Wagen is the host of “Spencer on Sports”, weekdays from 4-6 PM on 1600 ESPN. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @SWOnTheRadio
