The field position game

Everyone points to the fake punt in the Wisconsin-Iowa game as the critical point during the Badgers' 31-30 victory at Kinnick Stadium.

And it was major. The call was gutsy and the play perfectly executed. It extended the Badgers' game-winning drive, which running back Montee Ball put to rest with a triple-effort 8-yard TD with 1:06 left on the game clock.

From there, the Badgers sprang to the Rose Bowl. Iowa lost its last three regular-season games before an Insight Bowl victory made 2010 digestible.

Brad Nortman's fake punt was the play. The following is more about how that could've been avoided rather than dimish its importance.

Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi hit Derrell Johnson-Koulianos for a 45-yard TD to give Iowa a 20-17 lead with 3:08 left in the third quarter.

Iowa goes to kick and holds David Gilreath in check, with the Badgers having a first down at their 18. There's a flag and Iowa's Don Shumpert is called offsides and the Hawkeyes re-kick.

Gilreath receives the ball at UW's 12 and returns it 37 yards to the Badgers' 49. From there, Wisconsin needs just four plays before RB John Clay crashes in from the 2 for a 24-20 lead.

The offsides ended up costing Iowa 31 yards in field position. Seemingly every Iowa-Wisconsin football game is about field position. The Badgers racked 24 first downs, so division dictates that's a first down every 2.5 minutes. Remember, the Badgers scored with 1:06 left. Had they started this drive on their 18 . . . Had the defense made them convert at least one first down during this TD drive . . . Had, had, had.

The point here is field position and this third-quarter kickoff against the Badgers is a prime example, but it's certainly not the only.

In four of their five losses last fall, the Hawkeyes were outgunned in field position. No, it's not a be-all, end-all stat. Not sure football comes with one of those. And yes, plenty of factors can skew average starting field position, including turnovers. You can argue, however, that the distance an offense is forced to go can 1) shorten or lengthen a game or 2) can tax a defense.

Eastern Illinois -- Iowa 35, EIU 19

Iowa State -- Iowa 26; ISU 27

Arizona -- Iowa 31; UA 37

Ball State -- Iowa 34; BSU 22

Penn State -- Iowa 22; Penn State 26

Michigan -- Iowa 33; Michigan 23

Wisconsin -- Iowa 31; UW 26

Michigan State -- Iowa 38; MSU 20

Indiana -- Iowa 31; Indiana 29

Northwestern -- Iowa 22; NU 25

Ohio State -- Iowa 28; Ohio State 30

Minnesota -- Iowa 33; Minnesota 37

Insight Bowl -- Iowa 26; Missouri 22

This is something I wanted to post with the Four Downs for special teams, but the self-imposed deadline snuffed that idea.

Iowa's special teams were probably a push in the Insight Bowl. There are 55 slots open in the kick off, kick return, field goal, punt and punt return units. There were 21 seniors/Sash filling those spots against Missouri. There will be more new faces. This unit won't automatically get better a season later, but last season's troubles have made special teams a priority going into 2011.