No. 21 Iowa football is learning from its last trip to California in matchup with No. 17 USC

IOWA CITY — Beau Stephens is willing to play football in a parking lot, if it came down to it.

The offensive lineman remembers what happened against UCLA last year, and the errors that were made on the field. It wasn’t a clean football game, and he’s now making sure the menality is much simplier. Who cares where or when the football game is?

They say a flight to a game isn’t a major factor in preparing for a football game, and in most cases, it’s correct. One plane ride shouldn’t impact what happens on the game a day later.

Except it did the last time No. 21 Iowa football visited the West Coast Big Ten schools.

In a 20-17 loss at UCLA last year, the Hawkeyes struggled to play their version of football against a Bruins team near the bottom of the conference. UCLA had more than 400 yards of offense in 73 plays, while holding Iowa’s offense to roughly half the same yardage and a 40-percent third down conversion rate.

It was a game Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, and his players felt was over when the Hawkeyes landed on the Pasadena tarmac.

“I think our issue last year in the UCLA game was more just our approach to the game mentally, in my opinion,” Ferentz said. “To me, it was more about our approach going into that game, than it was where it got played and who we were playing.”

This year, the Hawkeyes are headed back to California, facing the other Golden State program, No. 17 USC. It’s a program that’s snuck into the College Football Playoff conversation as a late contender, while also having one of the better records in the Big Ten.

Following Iowa’s heartbreaker against No. 8 Oregon, the matchup has potential to help give the Hawkeyes a boost, if they don’t repeat the mistakes of last season. Stephens and fellow offensive lineman Logan Jones seem confident to not repeat those errors.

“I think we're more mature as a team,” Jones said. “We just got to understand that we are going to get their best shot and they are a really good football team. If we're not ready, they can take advantage of that.”

USC is 5-0 inside the Los Angeles Coliseum this season, and just came off a win against Northwestern last Friday night. There’s still some end-goal implications at stake, but Iowa won’t have those same eyes that zoned in on Kinnick Stadium last weekend.

The Trojans still are looking for an opportunity to get a home win and continue their fight.

“They're having an excellent season,” Ferentz said. “It's going to be a big challenge for us going out there, all three phases have to be at our absolute best. We'll do our best to finish out the week of preparation and try to get ready for a big challenge.”

The two teams haven’t played each other as Big Ten foes before, and most recently met at the Holiday Bowl in 2019 — where Iowa won, 49-24. It’s the first time Iowa has played in the Coliseum since 1976.

The two hour time difference, at least with Saturday’s kickoff time, doesn’t impact the Hawkeyes as much. With a 12:30 PT game, it’ll feel like 2:30 — same time as the last few Hawkeye games have been.

The focus, however, is on the mental side of the week: shaking off the loss to Oregon and taking whatever was learned rewatching film and implement it into the game plan against USC.

“It's just the mentality of that we need to be prepared,” Stephens said. “We need to be ready to play whenever we are called upon. Not make it too big in our heads, just play the game."

Although Iowa hasn’t played its best games on the West Coast, the Hawkeyes can change that narrative Saturday. Making the adjustments — having the offense score within the first two drives of the game, getting turnovers on defense, cleaning up missed tackles — are all part of the preparation needed to beat USC.

Iowa just has to simply get off the plane and do it.

“If you make it complicated, you make all the travel and stuff issue for you. That's where you can get caught,” Stephens said. “It's just another game week.”

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