WEST DES MOINES, Iowa -- You know the thing about Iowa, right?
It’s there. Bedrock. The foundation of Americana.
Iowa football, too, is there -- reliable, steady. Even if you think you know little about the Hawkeyes, you probably know enough to understand their place in the Big Ten and national hierarchy. Iowa is the only FBS program to post identical records in the two decades before last season -- 73-54 from 1995 to 2004 and the same from 2005 to 2014.
But then last season, Iowa strayed from its place. The Hawkeyes weren’t just there.