Let's Talk About Dominique Dafney
He blocked a punt and tried out for the wrestling team with a double leg takedown on kickoff coverage. The West Des Moines product is not a guy that is going to have many opportunities to get love, so let's love on Dominique Dafney. Great game, DD.
LeVar Woods Does What He Wants
LeVar Woods clearly has full control of what happens on fourth downs. First, he runs a play where they may have been looking to pull off a fake when Recinos ran out wide, but they didn't, so that one gets to stay in the holster. Last, he ran a fake punt where Iowa had two quarterbacks and Peyton Mansell was the QB who got the ball. They never really showed any route running or coverage, so I have no idea what the plan is, but I really would have liked for Mansell to throw the ball up and hope for the best.
But then there was that play in the middle. They didn't try to take Penn State by surprise. They just straight up lined up the punter in shotgun, and from ten yards out, everyone knew it was going to be a pass. Colton Rastetter did a slight role to his right, then threw back towards his left and threw a perfect pass to Sam Brincks who managed to haul it in while being hit. There is absolutely no way that Ihmir Smith-Marsette makes that catch, but Sam Brincks did. I don't know why that is a play. That is not a good play at all, but then again, maybe it is? It worked, and it will likely never have to work again. God bless LeVar Woods for spending all of his free time researching trick plays, because I'm pretty sure we have a bigger playbook for our special teams than we do for our offense.
Nate Stanley's Three Step Drop
A three step drop is a great way to get the ball out quick and easily let your quarterback throw it in rhythm. Iowa has really tried to incorporate this with Nate Stanley, but the problem is that Stanley's first option never seems to be open, and then he just kind of waits there while only being about two yards behind his offensive linemen. Then it gets so cramped that he has limited vision and space which is not a great recipe for success. I'm guessing the issue is that Stanley is not able to identify the defenses as well as he needs to in order to make these type of plays work as most times, he should know presnap where that ball is going. If Iowa wants to go with a three step drop, maybe try it from shotgun to give everybody a little bit more space.
TJ Hockenson's Two Chances
TJ Hockenson had what may have been the two biggest "What if" plays in this game. The first was so painful as Iowa both called and executed a beautiful play on third and one. Nate Stanley executed a beautiful fake, and Penn State came crashing in to stop the run while Hockenson snuck behind the defense and was the most wide open any player can possibly be without evacuating the stadium. The only thing that was not executed was Stanley's throw as he horrifically overthrew him and cost Iowa an easy touchdown. That would have put Iowa up 21-7 and would have changed the complexion of the rest of the game.
Then on Iowa's final drive, Hockenson made an incredible catch while diving out of bounds. On review, it was borderline. Whatever happened to indisputable evidence? With my black and gold colored glasses, I saw it as a catch but can understand that it was close. Still, I have a hard time with that catch being overturned. TJ Hockenson did everything he could to execute on these two plays; it just wasn't meant to be.
Somehow, Iowa Still (basically) Controls Its Own Destiny
With Northwestern beating Wisconsin, it actually sets up pretty damn well for the Hawkeyes. If Iowa wins out, and Northwestern only loses to Iowa in conference play, even if Wisconsin wins out, it will leave three teams at 7-2 in the conference. With everyone going 1-1 in head-to-head matchups, Iowa should get the tiebreaker with the best overall record. So Big Ten Championship, here we come, somehow.
But yeah, that loss hurt.
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