Not a game, season of stats

IOWA CITY -- Believe it or not, Tanner Miller's 98-yard interception return for a touchdown Saturday night came with a few complaints.

From his own sideline, even.

"You get a pick 6, so you lose a possession offensively," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said late Saturday night while trying to explain the numbers coming out of Iowa's 41-31 victory over Northwestern. "That throws stats off and all that, but this wasn't a game where we were worried about stats in the least.

"We were worried about finding a way to win the game. That was our only concern."

This isn't a season where anyone should worry about stats, which, if examined without knowing Saturday's result, screamed Northwestern victory.

Northwestern had 495 yards of offense. Northwestern converted 16 of 22 third downs (73 percent). The Wildcats ran 92 offensive plays and held the ball 17:26 longer than the Hawkeyes. Northwestern held Iowa to just 1 of 7 on third down.

The one third-down conversion was Iowa's lowest since a 12-0 victory against Minnesota in '09. The 16 third downs converted were the most against Iowa since Purdue made 12 in a 31-6 loss at West Lafayette in '07. The 92 offensive plays was the most against Iowa since Michigan State ran 96 in a double-overtime Iowa win in '07.

Excluding overtime games, Northwestern's 38:23 time of possession was the third most in the nation this weekend, behind only Texas (39:18) and Temple (39:08). Texas lost to Oklahoma State, 38-26. Temple smothered Buffalo, 34-0.

Not a game of numbers. Not a season of numbers.

Asked if Iowa's defensive performance was classic "bend, don't break," linebacker Tyler Nielsen responded, "There was a little bit too much bending, though. When we get up like that, we have to start faster in the second half and get stops. We need to put the nail in the coffin. We didn't do that tonight."

The game turned into quicksand for Iowa's defense.

First and foremost, Northwestern moved the ball and moved it with relative ease at times, especially late when the Hawkeyes seemingly took control. NU used just 3:21 on its last two scoring drives, including a seven-play, 94-yard TD drive.

Then, Iowa's offense ran past Northwestern's defense like pylons in a spring practice. Two Iowa TD drives in the fourth quarter were less than a minute.

And, yes, if you're really going to pick, Miller's pick 6, tying Adam Shada for longest interception return in Iowa history, took all of eight seconds. It stopped a 10-play, 62-yard drive that reached Iowa's 8, but it gave the defense a TV timeout and kickoff to catch its breath.

If the game was quicksand, by the end, all you could see of Iowa's defense was nostrils. Buried, but still breathing.

"It's kind of the nature of their attack," Ferentz said. "They're going to run some plays. You better get ready for that. That means we better rest some guys, I think someone said it was 92. They make you work really hard."

Conversely, Iowa's offense is on the sidelines, watching, waiting, looking at its wristwatch and wondering when it's going to be its turn.

There is some psychology in play there. When an offense sits on the sideline that long, focus can fade and muscles can tighten.

"I think you realize you're not getting that many plays run," Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg said. "I think we had only 22 plays run in the first half. That's not very many and we barely had any in the third quarter. You notice that, but you have to stay loose and take advantage of your opportunities."

Sound strategy in a a season of not-so-sound everything.