Hawkeyes know getting a victory at Minnesota would ease some pain

IOWA CITY - Kirk Ferentz got the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” question. He sent it back to the kitchen for a little more thought.

The Hawkeyes simply weren't in the mood for “woulda” or “coulda” after Saturday's 20-17 loss to No. 8 Ohio State.

“You know, I'm not real big on that game, especially since the guys played hard and competed,” Ferentz said. ”I don't know that they could've played any harder. Our guys couldn't have. We didn't do some things well enough to win.

“They played hard and competed, and that's all you can ask against a very good team.”

The No. 24 Hawkeyes (7-4, 4-3 Big Ten) poured it out on the field. A quick look around the postgame showed that.

Guard Julian Vandervelde spoke with a large ice pack dripping down his suit coat. Every time strong safety Tyler Sash shifted a certain way he winced. Running back Adam Robinson could barely walk off the field after a headshot left him dazed.

Senior free safety Brett Greenwood had a near-tear moment. Vandervelde laid down a couple ground rules before his interview and admitted to being emotionally compromised. Senior defensive end Christian Ballard said he'd have treatment on an injured left knee and would see everyone next week.

You can see where a “woulda, coulda, shoulda” question might've come off as an insult.

“That's not how we try to think around here,” Stanzi said. “That's kind of a loser mentality.”

The Hawkeyes have no championship hopes going into Saturday's game at Minnesota (2-9, 1-6), their first at TCF Bank Stadium. Unlike a lot of years when Iowa fans made the Metrodome into “Kinnick North,” there aren't plenty of tickets available.

Iowa is in a bowl game. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where it could fall, but the range is the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., to the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., and then to the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.

“They're certainly in the mix of teams we're looking at,” said Outback Chairman Mitch Shriber, who was at Kinnick on Saturday. ”You have three 10-1 teams that have sort of separated themselves up, and two could get pulled up in the BCS. You look at the next group of teams you've got a bunch of 7-4 teams: Michigan, Penn State, Iowa and Northwestern.”

Now, the mission turns to win No. 8. Forget Tampa, Jacksonville and Tempe. For the players, there's a world of difference between 8-4 and 7-5.

“It's big,” Sash said. “We owe it to the seniors, the coaches, the fans, everybody to come out and play next week to win the game.”

This team is clearly in need of a cleansing.

The Hawkeyes have now dropped two out of their last three and only escaped 0-for-3 because of a dropped TD pass at Indiana. With Saturday's loss to the Buckeyes, Iowa has now lost two games in Kinnick Stadium for the first time since 2007 (Indiana and Western Michigan).

This team is clearly searching for answers.

Saturday, the painful fourth-quarter pattern of defensive collapse and offensive anemia in the two-minute drill again showed up and gutted the Hawkeyes. In all four losses, Iowa has allowed a long fourth-quarter TD drive and followed it with an air ball on offense.

An eighth win won't soothe all the wounds, but it's a lot less painful than a loss and 7-5.

The motivation is uncluttered at this point. Eight is more than seven.

“It sounds a lot better, it feels a lot better, the bowl people I'm sure think it's a lot better,” Vandervelde said. “Being an 8-4 team versus being 7-5 is mostly a momentum thing going into the postseason as well as moving forward into next year.”

Eight is more than seven. Don't read any more into it than that.

Photos from the Ohio State game

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