Hlas: How West was won by Hawkeyes? Minimal drama

IOWA CITY — Of course, there was hugging on the sideline and loud cheering in the stands.

But there wasn't a fans-storming-the-field scene to celebrate all that could be celebrated, which is a lot. There wasn't a huge, perhaps iconic explosion of sight and sound Saturday after Iowa finished off Purdue, 40-20, and assured itself of its first berth in a Big Ten championship football game.

Maybe all who remained in Kinnick Stadium's bleachers were frozen stiff. Or, more likely, this is an Iowa team that has been amazingly efficient at shutting off threats and clinging to fourth-quarter leads until they've been safely taken to the locker room in the form of a victories.

The — yes, 11-0 — Hawkeyes have powered their way to this previously uncharted mark for an Iowa team without experiencing a choke, or even anything as serious as a bad cough.

Sure, unease has crept into several of Iowa's games, with this latest triumph no exception. It's college football. No one goes through a season without a few racked nerves or churned guts. But in fourth quarters, this team has been almost as cool as Saturday's weather.

Iowa's defense was pedestrian for a second-straight week, and a 20-0 second-quarter lead turned into a 20-13 third-quarter edge with Purdue in possession of the ball. Had Boilermaker receiver DeAngelo Yancey done what receivers are supposed to do, and caught either of two highly catchable passes that should have been touchdowns, it would have been 20-20.

But once Yancey got the dropsies, the Hawkeyes dropped the other shoe on the Boilers. The 20-13 advantage became 27-13 and 33-13, and we'd seen this movie before. It was Iowa owning the fourth quarter. It is Iowa owning the Big Ten West title, outright.

'If we do get down in the fourth quarter,' Hawkeyes Coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game, 'I'm confident we'll come back.'

Maybe we'll see if that's true Friday at Nebraska when Iowa goes for — yes, 12-0 — against a team that can pass the ball. The lack of a pass rush has led to the Hawkeyes looking mighty mortal against Minnesota and Purdue the last two games. Nebraska is flawed, for sure, but it does know how to pass.

But that's then. The now is a team that shakes off momentary setbacks with fourth-quarter solutions and a season that remains perfect heading to Black Friday.

Iowa has yet to trail in a fourth-quarter this season. It hasn't trailed in a second-half since Big Ten play began. When fourth-quarter challenges were issued by Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota, the Hawkeyes always accepted them and prevailed. Purdue's bid at ruining the celebration here was admirable but insufficient, especially once Iowa got the 25 mph wind at its back for the fourth quarter.

It didn't feel like a romp. That's because it wasn't one. If a nation full of talking heads mocks the Hawkeyes for losing the yardage battle (405-387) to a 2-9 Purdue team, no one on Planet Iowa should care. Ferentz certainly doesn't.

'That 'ugly win' term, there's no such thing,' Ferentz said. 'When you win a game, you go home feeling pretty good because you realize how tough they are.'

You might think a team with no prior experience being unbeaten this late in a season would feel pressure building with each week. But you haven't sensed any such thing.

'They're historic games for our program, (but) we really don't think about it that way,' said Iowa tight end Henry Krieger Coble, a senior who has emerged as a big-play guy lately, as witnessed by his 22-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

'I don't think about anything on the outside or any of that big talk. We just have to focus on the opponent and get after whatever team we're playing.'

They are 11-0 and don't think they're a big deal. Somehow, the expectations and pressure have remained relatively low.

Yet, the only remaining unbeaten team in the Big Ten is Iowa. Here on Saturday night, that was the best kind of cold reality.