Iowa eyes the prize: The Hawkeyes take control of the Big Ten West

The critics will say the Big Ten West is weak.

The critics will say that Northwestern was a pretender, having benefited from a 9 a.m. Pacific time start against Stanford, and having played teams (Duke, Minnesota) which simply did not have the offensive firepower needed to expose the Wildcats’ defense.

Yet, the critics have to acknowledge that for all the tut-tutting about the Big Ten West:

1) You can only play the teams on your schedule.

2) It’s not as though the Iowa Hawkeyes figured to possess a dynamic offense on Saturday afternoon in Evanston, Illinois.

This is the same Iowa offense which scored only 10 points at Wisconsin earlier this month. This is the same Iowa offense which lost star running back Jordan Canzeri to an injury in the first half. When Iowa — in cruise control, leading 16-0 — allowed Northwestern to score 10 points late in the first half, the Hawkeyes’ 16-10 halftime lead felt anything but comfortable. In a clash between the foremost contenders in the Big Ten West, the Hawkeyes needed a special performance to compensate for the loss of Canzeri.

Say no more: Akrum Wadley rode to the rescue:

This, from a man who had carried the ball only eight times this season before Saturday’s game.

Wadley’s imposing performance exemplifies the “next man up” mantra, which is obviously crucial for any team if it wants to achieve at a high level over the course of a full football season. The point of emphasis here is not so much that teams need good performances when other players get hurt; that doesn’t need an explanation. The more precise point to stress is that in college, a typical backup can’t be relied on to the extent that a pro backup can be trusted.

Journeys down the depth chart in college football are marked with a lot more uncertainty than in the pro game. Iowa has to take great satisfaction from its ability to not only win, but thrive, after Canzeri went down. The Hawkeyes’ offensive line clearly played its best game of the year, a performance magnified by the fact that quarterback C.J. Beathard had a right to be concerned about his mobility due to injury concerns.

This is what enlarges the brilliance of the Hawkeyes on Saturday: It’s not as though they encountered an adversity-free ride; anything but. A quarterback they weren’t sure of; a prime running back sidelined in the first half; 10 quick points by Northwestern heading into the intermission — Iowa had all sorts of reasons to wobble and waver at the start of the second half, but the Hawkeyes only redoubled their efforts, landed an early punch to take a 23-10 lead, and then continued to whale away at its overpowered opponent on both sides of the ball.

Iowa has now taken care of its two toughest Big Ten West road games (Wisconsin and Northwestern), and does not have to play any of the Big Ten East’s toughest teams (Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State).

You’ll see a lot of stories next week with the words “Iowa could be 12-0.” Again, the critics will say it’s the weakness of the division, and the critics might even have a point.

Yet, 12-0 and Iowa were not supposed to be in the same sentence this season. That we’re even thinking about the possibility in the middle of October is a testament to the job Kirk Ferentz has done in improving this team.

Ferentz’s work represents a much better performance than what we’ve seen the past few weeks from Pat Fitzgerald, whose Wildcats have yet to play a complete game this season on the offensive side of the ball, and will need Clayton Thorson to improve if they’re to make an upper-tier bowl game. However, as much as this game might have exposed Northwestern, a team which scored only 10 points against Wisconsin elevated itself to the point that it could in fact expose the Wildcats.

Iowa — the author of so many frustrating seasons in recent years, to the point that Ferentz’s contract was seen as one of the less fortunate arrangements in the nation — suddenly looks like a division champion and a pretty good bet for a New Year’s Six bowl berth.

How quickly things change — for Northwestern, these Hawkeyes, and anyone who follows college football.