It’s been nearly ten years since the Iowa football program won their most important bowl game in the Kirk Ferentz era. With Ricky Stanzi under center, the Hawks went on a run to begin the season starting with eight straight wins. In fact, the closest game they had during that run was actually a 17-16 victory over the Northern Iowa Panthers who somehow had two game-winning field goal attempts blocked.
The Hawks would rise to as high 7th in the country after that eighth win before they would suffer a loss to the Northwestern Wildcats. The Wildcats knocked star quarterback Stanzi out early in the game and backup James Vandenberg couldn’t get the offense moving.