Halftime Thoughts: Iowa 20, Purdue 10

IOWA CITY — Baby, it's cold outside. This really wouldn't have been an ideal day for an outdoor wrestling meet.

Yet, something tells me Tom Brands' Iowa squad wouldn't have minded.

What hath Jordan Lomax wrought?

The Iowa senior free safety delivered a hit on Purdue starting quarterback David Blough that knocked the freshman out of the game.

Backup Austin Appleby entered, completed his first nine passes for 91 yards, and helped Purdue turn an ugly 20-0 deficit into a manageable 20-10 score.

A quarterback draw was a quarterback drilled

for Iowa with 2:03 left in the half.

C.J. Beathard got planted by Purdue linebacker Jim Herman at the Purdue 49 after a 6-yard run. He fumbled the ball away.

Iowa radio analyst Ed Podolak wasn't a fan of the play-call. He was not alone.

The 23-point favorite Hawkeyes

played like 23-point favorites for much of the half, and 23-point underdog Purdue is playing like a 23-point underdog for most of the half.

However, Appleby made a great 9-yard thread-the-needle pass to tight end Cole Herdman (what a great name) on 4th-and-1 at the Iowa 11, and the Boilermakers punched it in two plays later to cut Iowa's lead to 20-7 with 3:55 left in the half.

Add Purdue's Darrell Hazell

to the long list of coaches who has helped the Hawkeyes this season by being timid.

Purdue had first possession, and found itself with a 3rd-and-1 at its 36. It punted. So the Boilermakers wanted to play a game of field possession?

Iowa went from its 26 to the end zone in 11 plays for a 7-0 lead, and Purdue was playing from behind the rest of the half.

With the Boilermakers down 20-7 and facing a 4th-and-1 at the Iowa 3, Hazell had Paul Griggs kick a field goal. That showed a lot of faith in his team's offense for the second half, which will begin with Iowa getting the ball.

I wouldn't have kicked there, thinking I needed touchdowns to win this game. But that's only because I consider myself competent at math.

Tevaun Smith's 15-yard catch

on Iowa's second scoring drive was a thing of beauty, saving some of his best here for his last home game.

Then after Purdue quarterback David Blough had the football and his good health blasted away by Lomax's hit, Beathard lofted a pinpoint 30-yard pass to Smith.

I've enjoyed watching Smith play. I have no idea if he has NFL ability, or measurements, or whatever they go by. But he's a ballplayer. I hope he can make into the pros.

And senior Hawkeye tight end Henry Krieger Coble is one of those players who seems to be getting better every week.

Mascot Purdue Pete got obliterated

by snowballs from Iowa fans. Why Pete was stationed behind the back line of an end zone is a question only he can answer.

Ditto this question: Why was he in short sleeves?

I have a theory. Namely, Purdue Pete is nuts.

Iowa defensive end Drew Ott

walking to midfield to greet his parents during the pregame Seniors Day ceremony … what might have been this season.

The Hawkeyes wouldn't be better than 10-0 with Ott, but he was on his way to campaigning for All-America honors before his knee injury. Football is harsh stuff.

Four of Purdue's defensive starters

are from Florida, two from Georgia. Welcome to Iowa in November, fellas.

It never matters how cold

it is, some of the players will play in short sleeves.

Does it ever strike you that it takes a certain kind of crazy to play big-time football? Or football in general?

For much of this week,

the cheapest seats on StubHub.com for this game were around $40. On Saturday morning, they were $8.

And a lot were available for $10.

What a choice for Hawkeye fans. You can see your team lock up a share of the Big Ten West title and assure itself a spot in the league's championship game, but only if you sit in snow and face wicked cold for over three hours.

That's after you battled fairly treacherous driving conditions to get here.

By the way, it doesn't matter what the weather is like on the stretch of I-380 between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Someone will always fly past you in the left lane on their way to wreckage and ruin.

At any rate, I was surprised by how many people did show up at the stadium given the weather, and the distance many of them have to travel to get there. You don't often get the chance to see your team go 11-0. Actually, it's the first chance Iowa fans have ever had.

If the weather isn't nicer in Lincoln next Friday

for the Iowa-Nebraska game, someone over there will have to answer to me.

I'll start with Warren Buffett.