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:
It’s a line we have heard quite a bit, especially in the last few seasons of Iowa Football – “An ugly win is better than a pretty loss” – and boy was that true for the Hawkeyes on Saturday as they pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat and beat the Spartans at Kinnick Stadium.
If it weren’t for the defense and the incredible Kaden Wetjen – this game might have been a lot different. The offense was non-existent for well over three quarters – and Iowa was getting badly outplayed by a Michigan State team that entered Saturday 0-7 in conference play. Quite a few people on my social feed equated the impending doom of a Senior Day loss to a bad team to that of the Hawkeyes’ loss to Western Michigan in 2007, a few referenced the loss at UCLA last season – or more fittingly, the loss in East Lansing last year to the Spartans. Regardless of what you compared it to, the vibes were not great, the boo-birds were out, and Iowa fans were straight up not having a good time.
As we have seen before, though – Iowa found a way – scoring the final 13 points of the game after Michigan State got two touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 17-7 lead. A chip shot field goal from Drew Stevens got the scoring started in the final quarter, with a Kaden Wetjen punt return setting up the game-tying score – a touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Jacob Gill on a perfect pass and catch in the north end zone. The Iowa defense got a stop, and then Gronowski helped set up the game-winning field goal from Drew Stevens on another great throw and catch to Reece Vander Zee for 29 yards to the Spartans’ 25 yard line.
For as bad as the offense started, they came alive when it mattered most – outgaining Michigan State 159-26 in the fourth quarter, with Gronowski going 6-10 for 117 yards and a touchdown in the final frame. A solid finish to what was largely a forgettable day in his final game at Kinnick Stadium, and the last one for 27 other Iowa seniors.
No one’s excusing how poorly the Hawkeyes played on Saturday, and they will need to play a lot better against Nebraska on Friday to win on the road over the Huskers – but a win is better than a loss, no matter how ugly that win was.
This looked like the Iowa State team from the first five games of the season. The pass offense was clicking, they got out to a fast start – leading 17-0 at halftime and their defense kept a talented Kansas offense in check for the game, only giving up one touchdown pass on the day, and winning the turnover battle.
Rocco Becht was back on track – throwing for 241 yards and three touchdowns – two of them going to Brett Eskildsen, and Carson Hansen had a strong day running the football against a porous Kansas defense, gaining 120 yards on 22 carries, averaging 5.5 yards a tote.
The most important thing for the Cyclones after the last two weeks – is that they found a way to get back on track. Through their four game losing streak, we kept hearing from Matt Campbell that they were closer than they were further away from figuring things out, and winning that TCU game was a spark they needed to get back on track.
Nothing’s guaranteed, but if Iowa State goes to Stillwater and takes care of business against Oklahoma State – an 8-win regular season isn’t the worst thing in the world, even if it doesn’t meet the lofty expectations for the year.
Big Ten notes:
It looks like the Big Ten will certainly get three teams (Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon) into the CFP after this week, and that might be about it.
After discussion this week of whether or not Oregon could lose to USC and still make the 12-team field, the Ducks went out and took care of business against the Trojans at Autzen Stadium. Dante Moore threw for two scores – both to Kenyon Sadiq – while the run game of Noah Whittington and Jordan Davison continued to do their thing. Jayden Maiava had a solid game, but threw two picks in the loss for USC, while Makai Lemon caught two TD’s and threw(!) a touchdown pass in the game – which all but eliminates USC from playoff contention with a third loss.
Could Michigan have something to say about that playoff discussion? The Wolverines are 9-2 after beating Maryland 45-20, and now get a crack at #1 Ohio State in “The Game”. As we all know, the Wolverines have won four straight in the series – and a win over the #1 team in the country might be enough to get them into the field. The Buckeyes had little trouble with Rutgers on Saturday, but played without leading receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate.
Is Penn State the best win for the Hawkeyes this season? Maybe, maybe not – but the Nittany Lions have been playing better football lately – as evidenced by their 37-10 beatdown of Nebraska. Kaytron Allen and Nic Singleton each scored two touchdowns, with Allen passing Saquon Barkely on the school’s career rushing list in the game. Penn State’s big day running the football (231 total yards & 5.9 YPC) could be a good omen for the Iowa offense on Friday in Lincoln.
Lastly – how about Wisconsin? The Badgers have beaten ranked teams in their last two home games, and have a very real shot of beating Minnesota this week to get to 5-7. I thought it was a mistake to announce Fickell was returning next season with how terrible Wisconsin looked for much of the year, but the team hasn’t quit on the season – and their defense has played very well over the last couple of weeks. Time will tell if bringing him back was truly the right decision, but the Badgers have gotten better as the season has gone on, there’s no doubt about that.
National Notes:
Not too much crazy happened on the national stage this week – most of the SEC played “cupcakes’ this week, so there was little drama across much of the CFP top-25. Notre Dame had the biggest eye opener of the week – with the Irish absolutely crushing Syracuse 70-7, while Utah gave up 472 rushing yards as a team to Kansas State, but still survived 51-47. Joe Jackson (not shoeless), ran for 293 yards on 24 carries and three TD’s in that one.
The “All Chaos Conference” (aka the ACC) struck again – with Pittsburgh derailing Georgia Tech’s hopes for an ACC title berth with a 42-28 win. Now, Virginia, Pitt and SMU are tied for first and it looks like Virginia and SMU will play for the ACC crown in Charlotte if both win this week.
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
