The Hawkeyes heard me. They heard me getting bored with the season, with low scoring, uneventful games, with losses racking up and the memory of the Penn State game fading.
They knew I was gearing up for another average season, nothing special, nothing too terrible and a bowl game somewhere that probably wasn’t going to be very warm. They saw me already looking toward next year, finding out who would be coming back and getting excited that the quarterback would have more experience.
I was always going to cheer for my Hawkeyes but the latter part of the season seemed to be passing by without much fanfare and finishing off without any flare. That was until Saturday, when The Ohio State University made its return to Kinnick Stadium.
I was unfortunately unable to go to the game due to a craft show, but my husband still went along to occupy our seats. With the magic of technology, I turned the game on my phone only to see it was delayed and didn’t get started until after we already had a pick-six and were up 7-0. My first thought was, yes, it won’t be a shut out.
The Buckeyes next possession saw them marching down the field quite easily for a score. Since they were the number six team in the nation, my expectations for the game were not high. I always know not to count out the Hawks, I have seen too many amazing games for that, but as a 20 point underdog, I wasn’t getting my hopes too high.
When the Hawkeye answered again on offense, I was surprised and happy. Our offense hasn’t been much of a machine this year and has struggled to score on more than one occasion. I believe one of the announcers even said we were the fourth worst in the red zone in the entire country.
But there we were, going shot for shot with O-H-I-O and at half time had a two touchdown lead. Yes, I said two touchdowns. Maybe I was in a bit of shock or just hadn’t got enough sleep, but the numbers didn’t lie.
The second half saw complete dominance by my Hawks with four total turnovers for the game and a staggering 55 points on the board. We even did some trickery with a fake punt that led to a touchdown. New Kirk is definitely my favorite.
As I was packing up my merchandise at the craft show, a fleeting thought of driving to Iowa City went through my mind. It was just after half-time and I knew I might make the end of the game. I then remembered I had the van, which isn’t a fan of driving more than 65 miles per hour and my mom was riding with me. I don’t think she wanted to make a pit stop 90 miles out of the way.
I watched the rest of the game at my house, so proud and still a little surprised. It is just like Iowa to pull out an amazing victory over a highly ranked school at the beginning of November. Usually we are on the edge of our seats waiting to see if a the football make it through the uprights for a game winning field goal, but I will take a victory like the one we saw Saturday anytime, anywhere.
So, I have learned my lesson. Don’t become passive with my team because at any time they might rise to the occasion and get a victory for the ages along with memories for a lifetime.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson at
jpierson@newtondailynews.com