The Iowa Hawkeyes waltzed into Evanston and, without doing much, left with a 7-2 record and more or less control of their College Football Playoff destiny. The Hawkeyes are one step closer to controlling their CFP destiny, which is becoming much more of a reality every single week.
Nonetheless, Iowa relied on an elite defensive performance, allowing 286 total yards, paired with timely scores and stops, to move to 7-2 on the year. It wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be.
Winning in the Big Ten is hard enough. For the Iowa Hawkeyes, a win to get to 7-2 sets the stage to run the table and let magic happen. It’s up to the Iowa Hawkeyes to make it happen.
Phil Parker had a plan and won
Entering the game, the Iowa Hawkeyes knew that they would be facing a backup quarterback after starting quarterback Aidan Chiles was ruled out. The game went about as expected, with a backup quarterback under center against Phil Parker’s defense and the Hawkeyes.
On the day, Nicco Marchiol managed to go a respectable 24-for-32 for 181 yards and a touchdown, without interceptions, but he struggled to find any success downfield, which led to constant third-and-long situations for the Wildcats.
Iowa got too conservative
Iowa won the game and all, but I think things got a little bit conservative in the second half. Iowa was up, but the Hawkeyes seemed to go into a shell of themselves, which left something to be desired. This team and offense have more to offer, but I can understand today’s game plan.
The Hawkeyes were up early. Things were in control. Iowa was able to play the type of game it wanted to play. It was boring. It was ugly. It wasn’t many points. But it was an Iowa win. At the end of the day, Kirk Ferentz doesn’t care about much more than that.
L.J. Phillips has arrived
It took until now, but L.J. Phillips, the Hawkeyes’ prized transfer portal addition, made an impact, but boy, did he ever. Tonight, Phillips was Iowa’s top back on offense, and he made the most of his carries, going for 128 yards on 21 carries.
He provided Iowa with a big running back who could run downhill, creating problems for the defense. This was the outing many expected from Phillips, and it is something I expect to see moving forward from the Iowa offense.
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