It’s been uphill climb for Deacon Hill, but his view was great on Saturday

IOWA CITY — Deacon Hill had a 3-1 record as a starting college quarterback before Saturday, yet you couldn’t find a person outside the Iowa football program who wasn’t a relative to say a kind thing about him.

You’ve surely heard it, and you may have said it. “Worst college quarterback I’ve ever seen.” “Don’t they have anybody else?” And so forth.

Hill’s passing accuracy in October had been an oxymoron. The Hawkeyes were staying afloat in the Big Ten West title race despite him and Iowa’s offense, not because of it. His statistics were gruesome, and the eyeball test wasn’t any better.

Yet, Hill kept coming back for more. He kept showing up at postgame interview sessions, looking straight at us, answering questions without a drop of vinegar, saying he appreciated the opportunity he had here, and promising to keep pushing ahead.

All of which meant little if anything to the outside world, of course, no matter how admirable it was.

The guy had the weight of the world on him football-wise, hadn’t taken a snap in a game that counted since his junior year of high school, and was expected to at least be competent in leading an offense against Big Ten competition after Cade McNamara’s knee injury against Michigan State.

Hill signed up for all the criticism that comes with being in his position if you aren’t great at it from the get-go, but until you’ve been the recipient of it, you can’t know what that feels like. He kept working.

Saturday was the Day of the Defense for Iowa football in its 22-0 stifling of Rutgers at Kinnick Stadium. But, but, but … Hill quarterbacked five scoring drives. He completed 20 of 31 passes for 223 yards after being a subterranean 37.8 percent for the season two weeks ago.

For at least one day this season, Iowa had an offense. Four hundred and two yards. Thirty-eight minutes and change of possession. A 19-point second half to let everyone in black-and-gold not only exhale in a fourth quarter for a change, but absorb the reality the Hawkeyes are one victory from winning the Big Ten West outright with Hill running the offense.

“You talk about resiliency,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I think that’s the first word I would use with him because I’m guessing he’s probably been hearing a lot of negative stuff out there.

“Instead of worrying about that, he’s been focused on trying to get better, working hard with the coaches and practicing better. You hope that’s how it works for everybody, and he’s certainly right at the front of the list on that.”

Hill said he has cut himself off from the outside world other than friends and family. Social media? “Taking it away completely,” he said. “There’s no need to look at it.

“It’s really just talking to people you love and trust.”

Hill comes from a fairly amazing family of athletes. His father played basketball at BYU-Hawaii. His mother was a terrific basketball player at the BYU in Utah, one of the school’s all-time greats.

His three sisters all played for or currently play for UCLA’s women’s water polo team and one was a U.S. Olympian. That’s a sport that requires serious toughness.

Here Hill is, playing the toughest football position at the toughest level, going through a batch of performances that would try anyone’s soul, and completing 20 of 31 passes Saturday for 223 yards. Iowa scored once, twice, thrice, a fourth time, a fifth. The finale was on a touchdown pass from Hill to Kaleb Brown.

“I think today was big,” Hill said. “I really felt trust in myself and what I was seeing, trust in what the coaches were telling me.”

Then he praised the offensive linemen and offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz.

“A ton of personality from that guy,” Iowa offensive tackle Mason Richman said. “I mean, he screamed before we would go out there on the field. And as we got off the field, he’s screaming, too. He’s a really fun guy to block for.

“All of us support him. We’re never going to waver on the guy.

“I don’t hear criticism. Maybe he does. But I know one thing. He keeps showing up for work, and that’s all I care about.”

These are the stories we’re supposed to want the most, right? Somebody struggles, catches way too much flak, doesn’t buckle, doesn’t snarl, keeps believing, and has himself a day.

“We’ve all been doing the work,” Hill said.

That was evident Saturday. Of Iowa’s eight triumphs, this was the team win of the season. Now that team is on the verge of earning a spot in the Big Ten’s title game.

In perhaps the strangest season this program has seen this century, why wouldn’t it gain 402 yards Saturday against the nation’s No. 11 defense? Why wouldn’t it be on a path to play in Indianapolis in three weeks?

Comments: (319) 398-8440; mike.hlas@thegazette.com