Game for the Ages, and other fun tuesday stuff

WOW! I think that was the reaction of everybody in Kinnick Stadium last Saturday. Well, at least for the fans who didn't leave in the 3rd quarter when it appeared all hope was lost for 2011. That had to have been the biggest swing of emotions I have ever experienced at a football game. We all know the outcome by now, so lets just go through the numbers....

Score with 3:11 left in the 3rd quarter: Iowa 3, Pitt 24
Final Score: Iowa 31, Pitt 27


Keenan Davis dives for a 4th quarter TD catch


What happened in between?
Iowa went no huddle.....

• James Vandenberg- 3 TD passes, 1 TD rush. 15-18 for 255 yds in the 4th quarter (144 yds in the first three quarters)
• Interception by Micah Hyde
• TD Catches by Keenan Davis and Kevonte Martin-Manley (2)
• Iowa defense allowed 3 points, 0 in the 4th quarter

Check out the drive charts of Pitt and Iowa in the 4th quarter. Its almost as if there were two different teams on the field for the final quarter:

Team  Q   Time Obtained    Result          Plays/Yds  Time ended

IOWA	4th					09:55	*	TOUCHDOWN	7-73	2:14
IOWA	4th					06:19	*	TOUCHDOWN	7-64	1:37
IOWA	4th					02:51	*	TOUCHDOWN	7-64	1:31
IOWA	4th					00:00		Downs	4-3	1:41

PITT	4th					07:56		Downs	6-27	1:59
PITT	4th					04:22		Punt	3-5	1:57
PITT	4th					01:41		Interception	6-28	1:10
PITT	4th					00:00		End of half	0-0	0:00

Unbelieveable.

Along with the heroics, it was interesting to watch the secondary develop with Micah Hyde back at CB and Jordan Bernstine and Tanner Miller at the safety spots. They had some troubles, but overall the change looked promising. Also, freshman running back Damon Bullock got some reps. He could be a great compliment to Marcus Coker, and could also lessen the tremendous workload that Coker is carrying.

And how many Hawkeye fans were dubbing the season over?! I know I was definitely skeptical when the Hawks were down by 21 and the boos came down. Skeptical, yes. But it was (and still is) WAY too early to claim the sky is falling in Iowa City (ahem...friday's Daily Iowan..ahem). I was disappointed in the negativity. Yes, a loss to Iowa State is unexpected, and the early loss shoots down some high hopes. But it has happened before to Iowa teams, and has not been the end of the world- the 2001, 2002, and 2005 Hawkeye teams all lost to ISU and went on to a bowl game, even a BCS game in '02. ITS NOT OVER Hawk fans!!! Saturday's monumental comeback win proved that point better than ever.

Other notes:

• Ashton Kutcher made an appearance at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday
• Senior LB Bruce Davis officially left the team Monday. He still plans to graduate in December
• James Vandenberg won B1G offensive Player of the Week for his performance Saturday

-IS