How Iowa football approaches bye week after loss to Minnesota that can ‘sting a little bit longer’

IOWA CITY — Ethan Hurkett will go from defending against offenses that often operated shotgun formations in the past eight weeks to working with the more literal definition of the gun at the end of this week.

“I’m going hunting Thursday, Friday a little bit, and I’m going to head home and have some dinner with the folks,” said Hurkett, an Iowa defensive end and Cedar Rapids native.

Diante Vines and some of his fellow wide receivers, on the other hand, are going to dress up as British people in a trending TikTok video for Halloween.

Whether it’s in a hunting canopy or a Halloween party, Iowa’s break from football seems to be a welcomed one as the Hawkeyes regroup after a disappointing loss and ahead of the final stretch of Iowa’s hunt for a Big Ten West title.

“Definitely a good time for the bye week,” Vines said. “A lot of guys are banged up, and this is a good time for us to get some rest.”

The key to a successful bye week, Hurkett said, is “finding a good balance between getting enough work in, but also giving your body enough time to rest.”

The first half of that equation looks different during the bye week when there still is more than a week until the next game.

“There’s no team we have to worry about — how they play,” offensive lineman Rusty Feth said. “It’s all just going back to Day 1, our Day 1 fundamentals on what we do as an O-line and as a team. … It’s just going to help you with the next four games.”

The bye follows an eight-game stretch in which Iowa went 6-2. Many of those games required the defense to spend extended periods of time on the field.

The defense has recorded 618 snaps during the eight-game stretch preceding the bye, according to Pro Football Focus. Last year’s defense, in comparison, was on the field for 424 snaps before its earlier Week 7 bye.

“We’ve had a tough first eight games,” defensive end Deontae Craig said. “Guys are out there playing their hearts out, so I think it came at a good time for us.”

While three other conference foes also have Week 9 byes — Michigan, Illinois and Rutgers — no Big Ten team has a later bye week than the Hawkeyes.

“I like it better than like halfway through,” Hurkett said. “You’ve played enough games to where you actually need a bye week.”

Kirk Ferentz also believes the late bye is a “good thing.”

“I'm happy our bye week is eight,” Ferentz said last week. “I'd rather have it eight than four.”

The downside of the Week 9 bye is it immediately follows Iowa’s disappointing, 12-10, loss to Minnesota. It was the Hawkeyes’ first home loss to Minnesota since 1999.

“Obviously, any time you lose, you want to get back out there in the next five minutes and try to redo it,” Craig said.

But Craig and the Hawkeyes now have to wait two weeks before a chance for redemption.

“Everyone definitely took a little more longer than the 24-hour rule,” Vines said. “(Ferentz) was talking about how we can let this one sting a little bit longer.”

Vines and others have “got past it now,” though, partially out of necessity.

“You just have to worry about what can you learn and what can help you move on and get better in the future,” Feth said.

If Iowa indeed gets better, the future could be bright. At 6-2, Iowa still has a realistic path to a Big Ten West title.

ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Hawkeyes a 44.4 percent chance of winning the division — well below the 76.1 percent chance before the Minnesota loss, but still better than the rest of the division.

“Everything we want is still right out there in front of us,” Craig said. “So it’s on us to use this week to our advantage.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com