Kinnick Stadium is a scary place to watch a football game for opposing fans. This is especially true if the Hawkeyes are sitting pretty at No. 4 in the country and an undefeated 9-0 record, and the team you’re rooting for is beating them.
About 200 or so faithful Northwestern fans know that feeling after traveling to Iowa City, Iowa, to witness the Wildcats pull off a 17-10 comeback victory over the supposed Rose Bowl shoe-ins. It was the third straight time NU topped Iowa on the road, which is particularly striking when you consider that few opponents emerge from the pink locker rooms victorious.
Iowa jumped ahead one minute into the game on a 74-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ricky Stanzi to wide receiver Marvin McNutt. A little less than five minutes later, Iowa kicker Daniel Murray nailed a 39-yard field goal. The Cats failed to make a dent in the deficit by the end of first quarter, having possession of the pigskin for only a few minutes. It looked like it would be an easy win for the seemingly unstoppable Hawkeyes.
They should have known better: A win is never easy when you’re facing the purple and white, a team that hung tight through the first half with perennial powerhouse Penn State the weekend before, leading the Nittany Lions 13-10 going into the half.
After quarterback Mike Kafka tweaked his hamstring against Penn State, NU chose a dual-threat strategy against Iowa, using Kafka to pass the ball and then-sophomore Dan Persa to run the ball from the Wildcat formation.
Kafka completed 10-of-18 passes for 72 yards. Persa completed five passes and rushed 17 times for 67 yards. Persa then injured his hand in the third quarter, and Kafka took over full time for the remainder of the game. Coach Pat Fitzgerald was pleased with the dynamic between his two quarterbacks.
“We stuck to the plan really well,” Fitzgerald said. “Mick McCall and our offensive staff did a great job this week coming up with a plan how to utilize both guys’ strengths. I thought we executed the plan really well.”
But it wasn’t just the offense that clicked throughout the contest.
Then-senior defensive end Corey Wootton-who was recently drafted by the Chicago Bears-called the victory the “biggest of (his) career.”
Wootton single-handedly turned tables on the game when he sacked Stanzi in the Hawkeyes’ end zone. Not only did Marshall Thomas fall on Stanzi’s fumble for a touchdown, but Wootton crushed the signal caller’s ankle on the play, rendering him unable to play the rest of the game. He missed the rest of the regular season as well.
NU was still down 10-7 at that point, but Iowa wasn’t the same the rest of the game. Iowa backup quarterback James Vandenberg filled in midway through the second quarter ready to prove himself to 70,000 black and gold fans who had never even heard his name. But it turned out Vandenberg wasn’t ready enough.
Stanzi’s injury came a year after then-junior safety Brad Phillips knocked out star running back Shonn Greene in the 2008 contest.
NU scored with five minutes left in the first half on a 4-yard connection from Persa to then-junior superback Drake Dunsmore. A fourth-quarter 47-yard field goal from then-junior kicker Stefan Demos pushed the Cats a touchdown’s length from the Hawkeyes. As the clock ticked away, Iowa’s offense under Vandenberg couldn’t muster the strength to light up the scoreboard, and NU grasped an upset victory.
The defeat for Iowa was the beginning of the end: The Hawkeyes’ rosy hopes were decimated the following weekend when they lost their second straight game, 27-24, in overtime to Ohio State, who clinched the Rose Bowl berth in that contest.
After the Cats’ thrilling Nov. 7 victory, Fitzgerald said he thought the team was starting to play its best football of the year.
“It has nothing to do with Iowa,” Fitzgerald said. “It has everything to do with us. I really believe we’re starting to hit our stride.”
Captain Cat was right. NU’s victory at Kinnick Stadium started a three-game winning streak. NU bested Illinois and then-No.17 Wisconsin to end the season with an 8-4 record, resulting in an Outback Bowl berth.
