Can Iowa run the table and earn a CFP berth? | College Football Enquirer
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Pete Thamel, and Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde discuss Iowa’s victory over Penn State, it’s relatively easy schedule the rest of the way, and it’s chances to end up in the College Football Playoff.
Video Transcript
DAN WETZEL: I want to talk about Iowa though, quickly. They are 6-0. They have Purdue. They are at Wisconsin. They are at Northwestern. They got Minnesota, Illinois, and [? at ?] Nebraska. Of that, only Purdue and Minnesota have winning records, 3 and 2 each. Pat, you watch this team. They are blowing out-- well they blew out Maryland. But they don't blow out many people. It's gonna be a rock fight the whole way, but could we see 12-0 and Iowa going into the Big Ten? Could they run this table? I mean, they certainly will be favored in every one of those games I would assume. I can't imagine one they're not, unless it's Nebraska if they-- I just don't see it, right. They're going to be favored--
PETE THAMEL: No at that point.
DAN WETZEL: --again. Unless Nebraska-- they'll win. They're in good shape. Pat, what are your thoughts?
PAT FORDE: Oh, they're in phenomenal shape, unbelievable shape. They've got three Big Ten wins already. They got the nice non-conference win over Iowa State on the road. And they're in the West, which is by far the easier division. So yes, I think it's extremely possible they're 12-0. Now, as you said, the margin for error is not luxurious. So you show up and you have a bad day at the wrong time, you could lose to Purdue. You could lose at Wisconsin. You could lose that Nebraska. This is so Kirk Ferentz it almost hurts. I mean, it is just them doing what they have always done and doing it maybe better than they have ever before. Which is all the old school tenets of football.
It is field position. It is turnover margin. It's defense. It's making sure the other team respects your running game even if you're running game isn't very good. But you're gonna continue to do it until you can throw a play action bomb for the winning touchdown against Penn State. To see Kirk Ferentz continually get the ball in plus territory on the other side of the 50 and still punt the ball and win a huge game doing that. Because he's got a great punter who knocks it down there inside the 5, and they go cover it. And then the crowd starts going crazy and everything goes Iowa's way at that point. It is a pretty amazing kind of defiance, almost, of the way football has been going for Kirk Ferentz to be succeeding wildly in the direction he has. Look, I give Iowa ton of credit for getting every single drop they can out of this team, but this team at some point could have a very, very hard reckoning coming if they make it to the playoff.
PETE THAMEL: I'm going to credit Pat, which I always do reluctantly on this podcast. He had a brilliant lead from Iowa City last night. When they build the Kirk Ferentz museum of fundamental football here in a drab but sensible building at the corner of straight and narrow, they should devote an entire wing to Iowa's 23-20 victory over Penn State. This was a [? Louvre ?] quality exhibition of every basic building block that has made Ferentz a Hall of Fame football coach. Congratulations. They should send that to the--
PAT FORDE: Rack that [? Sully, ?] Rack it and keep it for posterity.
DAN WETZEL: That is good. Well let me say this about the punt. This is one of the most remarkable stretches of football I've ever seen. They victory formationed before you could victory formation so they could punt it one last time, OK. And leave Penn State with 32 seconds left, and all they need is a field goal. Now the crazy part is because it's Kurt Ferentz and because it's Iowa and because Penn State's backup QB was bad, it made sense. Like this would have been the worst coaching decision in the history of coaching decisions. The idiot went for a victory formation when victory wasn't assured. Yet, because of its circumstances, you're like, its kind of smart.
PAT FORDE: Look the first premise of Kirk Ferentz football is thou shalt not beat thy self. And if you run the ball you may fumble, so don't fumble. And yes, the second part of the equation, obviously, is the fact that Penn State's quarterback had shown no ability to complete enough passes to get them in field goal range. So you do what you do. You kick it down there deep. You get the crowd on top of them and you watch Penn State melt down one more time. It was perfect Kirk Ferentz football.
DAN WETZEL: Penn State got it at the 8, but all they had to do was-- they only needed a field goal. Gave-- you chose to give them the ball back. It's incredible. And it worked.
