Following last years Orange Bowl victory over Georgia Tech, fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes football team thought they had finally seen the Hawkeyes become one of the nationally elite teams. A team ranked right up there with Alabama, Oklahoma and many others.

 

Sadly Iowa fans, you are not there yet. And, if your current trend keeps up you never will be.

 

Last year Iowa took an undefeated record into a game with Northwestern. This game was played at Kinnick Stadium and appeared to be just a pit stop on the road to a epic showdown with Big Ten power Ohio State. Iowa thought they were in for a easy victory and Northwestern proved they were anything but that by defeating the Hawkeyes and ending their national championship hopes.

 

Now, flash forward to this year and the Hawkeyes faced Northwestern once again and once again had a showdown with Ohio State on the horizon. This time was the same as the last, the Hawkeyes lost and struck down any chances of a big bowl game in January.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The problem with the Hawkeyes is this, THEY PLAY DOWN TO THEIR COMPETITION. Now, this something nationally elite teams do not do. Look at Alabama, they play teams that do not belong in the stadium as them and the final score shows that. Often depicting beat downs of 30-40 points. That is what nationally elite teams do, they prove they are the best by destroying anything less than them.

 

Case in point two weeks ago Iowa destroyed a top five, undefeated Michigan State team. This victory created a four-way tie at the top of the Big Ten and made me think Iowa had finally turned the corner. Then they barely beat an underwhelming Indiana team (that Big Ten leading Wisconsin beat 83-20) and lost to Northwestern. If this is not playing down to your competition than I do not know what is.

 

This is not indicative of a team that is a national power. Teams that are national powers love having the target on their back, Iowa tends to shy away from it. This is evident by the way they have played since dismantling Michigan State.

 

Now, I will give Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz credit, he has built a very good program from the ground up and made them perennial Big Ten contenders year in and out. Sadly, that does not translate to national championship contention. That is the expectation for any team that is a regional power, to become a national power and I just don’t see that killer instinct in Iowa.

 

Now, I will state that I’m not a fan of the Hawkeyes. But, it would be nice to see them live up to expectations. The expectations are now that they have become a regional power, they must become a national power. Playing down to the competition is not the way to get there. Playing to your level is and sadly Iowa has not done that. It is something they must do before their window of opportunity closes, if it has not already.