Hawkeyes move on to Purdue after sloppy loss
The Iowa media gushed last week about the Hawkeyes’ chances for a special season, comparing the 2018 team to some of the championship squads in years past.
But reality trumped perception last Saturday in State College, Pa., and Iowa (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) fell victim to its own mistakes and ineffectiveness on offense in a 30-24 loss to Penn State.
Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley was totally out of sync, completing just 19-of-49 passes, throwing costly interceptions and badly missing open receivers. Defense and special teams kept the Hawkeyes close and gave them a chance.
“Obviously, you would have like to have played better, but you can’t do anything about it now,” Stanley said Tuesday. “I’m trying to move on to Purdue.”
Iowa’s offensive line didn’t help Stanley, allowing pressure much of the day and giving up three sacks. Stanley had been sacked only six times in the first seven games.
Center Keegan Render said the linemen are “just picking ourselves up and realizing that, ‘Hey, we’ve got four more opportunities to go out there and prove that we’re a good offensive line’.”
Stanley banged his right thumb against a teammate’s helmet in the second half at Penn State and had it taped for the final series. When he met with the media on Tuesday, he kept his right hand in his sweatshirt pocket, leading to speculation that he might not be able to play this week at Purdue (4-4, 3-2).
“I’m just going with the flow,” Stanley said.
Asked whether he’ll play Saturday, Stanley said, “That’s the goal. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz later said Stanley threw the ball well at Tuesday’s practice and is good to go this week.
But all things considered, the outcome at No. 14 Penn State could signal the start of a losing streak for Iowa.
With a trip to improving Purdue on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2) and a home game against Big Ten West-leading Northwestern the following week, Iowa, which came in at No. 16 in Tuesday night’s first College Football Playoff rankings, faces the possibility of dropping three in a row after a 6-1 start. If that happens, the Hawkeyes would fall out of contention to win the division and out of the national polls.
Going into last week’s game, the Hawkeyes had won three straight over lower-tier teams, which built momentum but possibly false hope. Now Iowa has to deal with a Purdue team that upset Ohio State two weeks ago and has some dangerous playmakers on offense.
Iowa lost to Purdue last season at home on the heels of a stunning 55-24 victory over Ohio State. But Ferentz prefers to focus on this year’s matchup and not past results or what the future holds.
“That’s really all we can control right now,” he said. “You aren’t worrying about anything else at this point. And it’s pretty simple, the more you win, no matter what happens, it’s better.
“Wasting time on that (big picture) stuff, it’s great for the fans and the media. But it’s not really productive for players and coaches to focus on that. Because it’s going to change anyway.”