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:
What a rollercoaster of emotions this game was. For a good chunk of it, it felt like the game would end up like the Indiana loss a couple of weeks ago – one that fell firmly into the “what if?” category for Hawkeye football. That’s because Iowa kept beating itself, and giving a Penn State team that entered the week on a massive tailspin chances to exit that spiral.
Whether it was a Mark Gronowski interception on the third play of the game to Penn State a short field, Koen Entringer lining up offsides on the ensuing drive on fourth & goal to give the Nittany Lions another shot at the end zone, or two missed field goals from Drew Stevens – including a really bizarre decision from Kirk Ferentz to actually try a 66-yard field goal right before halftime that got blocked and returned for a touchdown – the Hawkeyes were handing this game to Penn State on the highest quality of silver platters.
It does feel a little strange to say that Mark Gronowski played a great game, because in terms of passing the ball, things were not good. The Hawkeyes’ QB finished 10-16 for 68 yards with an interception in the win – numbers that could have and probably should have cost them the game, but that’s not what happened. Instead, Gronowski made clutch plays on the ground – running for a season-high 130 yards and two scores to help Iowa secure the victory.
Gronowski popped a 38-yard run on a drive Iowa needed to have, right after they fell behind 21-10 to Penn State early in the third quarter – he’d finish that drive off with a rushing touchdown to make it 21-16. His two biggest plays would come in the fourth quarter – a 67-yard run on a two-play touchdown drive that gave the Hawkeyes the lead for good, and a 14-yard keeper around the left side in the closing minutes to seal the win. There’s still plenty to work on for the offense, but having a quarterback that can make clutch plays when needed is huge for this team and Gronowski did that on Saturday.
The Hawkeyes also don’t win this game without the play of Xavier Nwankpa & DeShaun Lee. Nwankpa – who talked this week about the atmosphere at the 2021 game between Iowa and Penn State, a game he attended while on his official recruiting visit, – played the best game of his Hawkeye career with an interception, a forced fumble and 10 total tackles. Lee had an incredible interception in the second quarter, and broke up Penn State’s desperation pass in the fourth to help seal the win.
Drew Stevens had a couple of “lows” in the loss, with a missed kick and a blocked kick, but he did make two field goals on the night which pushed him past Nate Kaeding for the most made field goals in program history.
Iowa has won two straight, and has a chance to make it three in a row going into their second bye week if they take care of business against Minnesota on Saturday. There’s still football to be played, but I think Iowa is rounding into form as the season goes on, like they have done so many times under Kirk Ferentz.
Big Ten notes:
I said going into the week that the three best teams in the conference (Ohio State, Indiana & Oregon) would not be tested this week. Turns out, I was right.
The Buckeyes got an elite passing performance from Julian Sayin as they blanked Wisconsin 34-0, Fernando Mendoza turned in a four-TD performance as the Hoosiers took down Michigan State 38-13, and Oregon scored 42 points in the first half as they routed Rutgers 56-10.
How about Minnesota? The Gophers won their sixth straight game over Nebraska with a 24-6 victory on Friday night. Darius Taylor had a huge game, while Drake Lindsey continues to play good football at QB for PJ Fleck and company. Meanwhile, the Huskers couldn’t run the ball and couldn’t protect Dylan Raiola – giving up nine sacks on the night. Woof.
And let’s not forget UCLA – the Bruins have won three in a row since their 0-4 start, rallying to beat Maryland on Saturday 20-17. UCLA goes to Indiana this week for what’s definitely become a more interesting matchup as the weeks have gone on
National Notes:
There’s chaos aplenty in College Football – especially this week. Of the 11 unbeaten teams that entered the week, five of them lost – including #2 Miami, #5 Ole Miss, and #7 Texas Tech. There are now just six undefeated teams left – Ohio State, Indiana, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, BYU and Navy(!)
What stood out to you this week? 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
