Coming off an anemic game offensively from each offense, the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Illinois Fighting Illini, there has been some big time shuffling in the current USA TODAY Sports 1-131 re-rank this week from Paul Myerberg.
Surprisingly, Iowa slid just five spots down to No. 55 following the 9-6 loss to the Illini. This has Iowa sitting at 3-3 overall with a 1-2 record in Big Ten play. Rather, the larger jump came from the Illini who jumped all the way up to No. 23 in the USA TODAY Sports re-rank and are at No. 24 in the Associated Press Poll. The Illini’s 25-spot jump in the re-rank was the largest jump or slide of any team in the country.
“You know, they played an outstanding game, so, really, both defenses played pretty well. Tough to swallow, but we didn’t do enough to win the football game, make the plays you need to and credit to them. They were able to do that. We’ll head into a bye week 3-3 and just reassess things and try to take advantage of that and get ready for the second part of the season,” Ferentz said after the Hawkeyes’ loss to Illinois.
Iowa is sandwiched between the likes of South Alabama just ahead of them, and oddly enough, rival Iowa State sitting at No. 56 in the re-rank.
The Hawkeyes find themselves at a bit of a crossroads that they haven’t been accustomed to in quite some time. The crossroads is bigger than just the record and two straight losses.
The crossroads is now bubbling into the fan base and creating a stress-filled environment in Iowa City. Entering a much-needed bye week, the Hawkeyes need a reset. They need to take a step back from the noise, the social media, the outsiders, even the fans at times. The season has the second half left and this is a turning point for Kirk Ferentz’s team.
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