There’s something magical in the cornfields of Iowa. For the first time since Kevin Costner and the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson took fielding practice in the middle of a cornfield in Iowa in the 1989 film “Field of Dreams,” there is something special to watch for Iowa sport fans.
Last weekend, Iowa football fans were able to celebrate and cheer in an empty Michigan Stadium as they watched their football team demolish the Wolverines in a demoralizing 34-9 victory. The win was the sixth-straight for the Hawkeyes.
The Hawkeyes have climbed to the top ten in the national polls, re-establishing what head coach Kirk Ferentz and company knew they could attain at the start of the season.
However, for a team that lost most of its star players to graduation last year, the Iowa team has been a surprise to the rest of the college-football nation.
The players have been doing it with an all-around effort from both sides of the football.
On offense, the success centers around the hard work and leadership of senior quarterback Brad Banks, who shared the co-offensive player of the week title last week with Wisconsin senior quarterback Brooks Bollinger.
Banks is averaging just slightly less than 200 yards passing per game and already has 18 touchdowns compared to a mere four interceptions. Badger head coach Barry Alvarez can see how important Banks is to his team.
“The key there (at Iowa) is the quarterback,” Alvarez said. “He has done such an outstanding job of being accurate with the ball.”
Banks has established himself as the top quarterback in the Big Ten; his QB ranking is 34 points higher than the next competitor.
However, Banks is not the only contributor to the Hawkeye team that averages a whopping 427.8 yards of total offense per game.
Junior running back Fred Russell is ranked third nationally in rushing and has been just as deadly to teams as Banks. Russell is averaging 115.6 yards per game and has already accumulated eight touchdowns.
Almost like the combination of sophomore Anthony Davis and freshman Dwayne Smith, Russell’s backup, sophomore Jermelle Lewis, is causing havoc as well. Lewis is averaging about 50 yards a game and has six touchdowns under his belt. Lewis also returns kickoffs, where he averages a healthy 26.7 yards per return.
The offensive and defensive lines for the Hawkeye team have also done outstanding jobs. While the defense has accumulated 28 sacks on the season, the offensive line has only given up eight sacks. When watching how much pressure can hurt, and even sideline, a quarterback, good protection has led to some of the offensive explosions for Iowa.
With all the incredible athletes on both sides of the football, the Iowa coach would say his best athlete is not on either. Rather, he would point to his special teams and, of all players, his kicker.
“[Ferentz] told me he thought the kicker was maybe the best athlete on the team,” Alvarez said.
It is hard to see faults in the highly ranked Hawkeye team. However, one may look to the pass defense as a weak spot. While ranked second in the nation in rush defense, the Hawkeye team ranks second-to-last in pass defense. With potent running backs Davis and Smith, it will be interesting to see what the Badger run offense can accomplish against the Hawkeye wall.
In his fourth year at IU, Ferentz has improved the record of his team each season. With only one early loss to Iowa State, Ferentz might be leading his team to another field of dreams — this time in California. And instead of corn, the Hawkeyes might be seeing roses.
