NOTRE DAME, FLORIDA STATE, OKLAHOMA, MICHIGAN STATE, AUBURN, LSU, GEORGIA, OLE MISS, …IOWA.
Pretty good group of blue-blooded, mega-winning schools, right? After five weeks of play, each of these teams has two losses, or in Notre Dame’s case, more.
A couple of other little notes: Christian McCaffrey rushed for 49 yards this week, in a Stanford loss to Washington. And, do we remember that Northwestern won ten games last year?
To my wild-eyed, mean-spirited, fear-mongering, end-of-the-world, fire-Ferentz friends on this board (not to be confused with my clear-eyed, disappointed, solution-seeking friends on this board), may I remind you that this is football? That someone wins and someone loses every week? That 12-0 comes once in a century, if you are lucky? May I repeat that? Once in a CENTURY?
Is it fair to be disappointed? Of course. Is it fair to expect to see determined growth, accountability and reasonable success? Of course.
Okay – I will admit my bias. As the son of a Division I Head Football Coach, I’ve lived the other side of this. I love our guys and I love our coaches. I love what they give and sacrifice on behalf of us all. Like many of you, though, I was so disappointed at the game last Saturday that I felt like a house fell on top of me. I believe that was nothing compared to what our players, coaches and their wives felt. But in a few minutes I got some perspective and gratitude back, as I hope they and we will do - as we move forward with grit and resolve, as our Iowa Hawkeyes always do. Let’s not turn on our football family quite so soon. That's not what you do to family. Tough love, if you have to. But family first. Go Hawks!
Pretty good group of blue-blooded, mega-winning schools, right? After five weeks of play, each of these teams has two losses, or in Notre Dame’s case, more.
A couple of other little notes: Christian McCaffrey rushed for 49 yards this week, in a Stanford loss to Washington. And, do we remember that Northwestern won ten games last year?
To my wild-eyed, mean-spirited, fear-mongering, end-of-the-world, fire-Ferentz friends on this board (not to be confused with my clear-eyed, disappointed, solution-seeking friends on this board), may I remind you that this is football? That someone wins and someone loses every week? That 12-0 comes once in a century, if you are lucky? May I repeat that? Once in a CENTURY?
Is it fair to be disappointed? Of course. Is it fair to expect to see determined growth, accountability and reasonable success? Of course.
Okay – I will admit my bias. As the son of a Division I Head Football Coach, I’ve lived the other side of this. I love our guys and I love our coaches. I love what they give and sacrifice on behalf of us all. Like many of you, though, I was so disappointed at the game last Saturday that I felt like a house fell on top of me. I believe that was nothing compared to what our players, coaches and their wives felt. But in a few minutes I got some perspective and gratitude back, as I hope they and we will do - as we move forward with grit and resolve, as our Iowa Hawkeyes always do. Let’s not turn on our football family quite so soon. That's not what you do to family. Tough love, if you have to. But family first. Go Hawks!
