By Todd Brommelkamp/KGYM Radio
IOWA CITY – Kirk Ferentz struggled to find the word he was looking for.
It was chaperone.
He was forgiven by his questioner. After all, it’s not too often the Iowa head coach finds himself answering queries from the media at 2:30 AM local time.
He wasn’t the only one at a loss for words in the early morning hours. Quarterback Spencer Petras needed an assist from a member of Iowa’s Sports Information staff to locate “repertoire” on his tongue. Receiver Nico Ragaini stumbled when explaining the meaning behind Iowa’s mantra this week: Mow your own lawn.
“As you sit there focused on (your neighbor’s lawn) and how it looks and your lawn gets to be, I don’t know what to call it, not a very good lawn,” he said.
The Hawkeyes weathered three rain delays totaling three hours and 56 minutes to defeat Nevada, 27-0, inside a Kinnick Stadium that, by game’s end, had a few hundred fans left to cheer the team off the field.
The first delay struck at 8:36 PM and lasted only 80 minutes. Two more delays followed before the clocks read 0:00. There was no celebratory playing of “In Heaven There is No Beer” by the Hawkeye Marching Band. The band was allowed to leave before play resumed for the final time.
Most of the west side of Iowa City had to have noticed the four loud booms that turned out to be fireworks. They were discharged during the second delay which began at 10:05 PM and lasted until 11:55 PM. Once loaded, the pyrotechnics were a safety hazard in the rain. They also needed to be fired before the permit to use them expired.
Shortly before midnight the game resumed for a second time. Nevada threw an incompletion after the 110-minute delay. Iowa was flagged for being offside on the next play, shortly after a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.
At that point the delays had totaled 190 minutes. Players killed time in the locker room playing cards. Some spent time on their phones engrossed in various games. Receiver Arland Bruce declined to eat, preferring to feel light. Others indulged in sandwiches.
How surreal was the scene? After the third – and longest – delay ended shortly after 12:30 AM the Hawkeyes took the field (for a third time) to “Back in Black.” Perhaps a few families at the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital enjoyed the late night concert. Maybe they didn’t hear. A few neighbors surely did.
The game ended at 1:39 AM, well after “last call” at most downtown Iowa City drinking establishments. [Author’s note: Dave’s Fox Head Tavern is not located in said area.]
As for the details, all that mattered in the end was Iowa won. It wasn’t pretty but the Hawkeye offense amassed 337 yards. Freshman Kaleb Johnson rushed for 103 yards and two scores. Through its first two games Iowa had averaged roughly 57 yards on the ground.
Petras, Iowa’s much-maligned quarterback, completed 14 of his 26 passes for 175 yards. He was sacked three times but did manage to connect with Bruce for one touchdown pass.
Iowa cut its grass. Its players stayed focused and executed when it mattered most.
The clock reads 3:05 AM.
At least Ferentz didn’t have to worry about his players getting in too much trouble on a Saturday night.
Saturday night came and went somewhere in the third quarter.
