Hlas: At Kinnick Stadium, light creates electricity for Iowa football

IOWA CITY — This is what you want.

Name opponent. Home game. Night game. Penn State. Prime Time.

Though police in the Ped Mall might disagree, every Saturday night isn't New Year's Eve in this city. But when the lights are on and it's a Saturday in Kinnick Stadium, something fun and exciting and out of the ordinary is popping.

That was the deal last November when Michigan was the guest and the Hawkeyes yanked the plug from the Wolverines' unbeaten season with a last-second Keith Duncan field goal. That was the case in September 2015 when Marshall Koehn made a kick from what seemed as far as the other side of Melrose Avenue for a win over Pittsburgh.

You can go years and even decades without a walk-off football win in regulation. Who gets two in two years? Of course, both happened at home. At night.

Nothing scientific suggests playing at night made the Hawkeyes play just a bit better, and thus, well enough to scratch out victories. But you have to wonder.

'There's a tremendous amount of electricity that's just out there on the field, in the stands,' Iowa offensive lineman Boone Myers said this week. 'Fans are juiced up, we're juiced up. Everyone's ready to go. You can just sense it when you walk out of that tunnel. It's just electric.'

We know that to be true, and not just here. What is it about ballgames at night, or concerts at night, or most things at night that make them feel more alive?

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If it weren't for nighttime, Times Square would instead be known as 'Neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue.'

If it weren't for nighttime, Las Vegas would consist of a truck stop, a Taco Bell and a Motel 6.

Super Bowls, World Series, NBA Finals, college football and basketball championships, every boxing match anyone cares about, the Oct. 1 return of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' — they're all at night.

'The night atmosphere is pretty cool,' said Hawkeyes linebacker Josey Jewell. 'It's like going back to high school. Friday night lights.'

Has there ever been a better name for a sports book (or sports movie, or sports TV series) than 'Friday Night Lights.' As great as Buzz Bissinger's book was about high school football in Texas, its title was perfect.

If you like football at all, it doesn't matter where you are. There's something about a game being played under those lights.

Iowa was on the wrong side of Saturday Night Lights last November at Penn State, when 106,194 fans in Beaver Stadium were wired as they welcomed their team back to its home field for the first time since it had beaten Ohio State there two weeks earlier.

The Nittany Lions humbled the Hawkeyes, 41-14. Iowa, 5-4 after the loss, looked like a team that might not win another game. Maybe the healing powers of a home crowd with a full Saturday to work up a good lather carried the Hawkeyes over the threshold and to a 1-point win over mighty Michigan the following week.

'The fan base in Kinnick is unbelievable,' Iowa defensive end Parker Hesse said. 'Any time you're in there, it's an advantage for us. I feel like I feed off the energy.

'But night games are really electric. Everyone, whether they're in the stands or on the field, can feel the energy in the air.'

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There remains the little matter of playing the game. ABC's Saturday night game two weeks ago was Oklahoma at Ohio State. The visitors won, 31-16.

Last week, ABC's Saturday night feature was Clemson at Louisville. The guests won, 47-21.

Still, you sensed quiet confidence from Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz and some of his players here during Tuesday's interview sessions. They paid all the proper compliments to Penn State, but no fear or anxiety seemed to bubble under the surface.

Maybe it was because they know the Nittany Lions must fend off more than the Hawkeyes if they are to return to Happy Valley happy.