Perhaps former Hawkeye linebacker Pat Angerer said it best. “What a perfect night,” he tweeted following Iowa’s 27-24 win Sept. 19.
His words are simple — four plain words you hear on a daily basis. What happened in Kinnick, however, was not something that happens daily. It’s something that happens maybe once or twice in a lifetime.
The night-game setting, the “stripe-out,” and a stadium near capacity, with the only empty seats being a few pockets in the upper corners of the stadium. The student section was the best I’ve seen since I’ve been at Iowa. Bravo to the crowd — that place was loud, very loud.
Perhaps that decibel level peaked immediately after a moment of silence in remembrance of Roy Marble and Tyler Sash. Former Iowa defensive back Brett Greenwood, who suffered a severe brain injury four years ago and is on his way to being able to walk again, led the Hawkeyes onto the field in the swarm, flanked by Angerer and Iowa strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle.
It was emotional, as the man who led the Big Ten in interceptions in 2010 fought back tears leading his former team onto the field he once played on. He was part of the coin toss, shaking each captain’s hand before the flip.
And then there was the game itself — that couldn’t have gone much better, either. Desmond King set the tone early with 2 interceptions on Pittsburgh’s first two drives — he won a jump ball against future NFL first-round pick Tyler Boyd and took away a touchdown with the other — and the place was an absolute madhouse.
Iowa jumped out to a lead via a Jordan Canzeri touchdown with 6:04 remaining in the contest, but the Panthers showed resiliency and fought back. They marched 75 yards down the field, building drama with every play, to tie the game at 24.
Most people in the building thought Iowa would eat the clock and send it into overtime. Not head coach Kirk Ferentz. No, not the new and improved Ferentz.
With the leadership of C.J. Beathard and his excellent clock-management skills, the Hawkeyes went from their own 30 to the Pittsburgh 39, setting up a 57-yard field-goal attempt for Marshall Koehn with two seconds left in regulation.
Panther head coach Pat Narduzzi tried to ice Koehn — whose grandfather, Dick, was in the building celebrating his 80th birthday, seriously — on his first attempt, which fell short. On his second, the one that counted, well, you know the rest.
The place went crazy. Security took down the goalposts right away. Iowa players rushed to the front of the student section. Cheerleaders were knocked over. Bo Bower blacked out.
It was absolute bedlam.
Not a single detail could have been written better for the Hawkeyes. Nothing — from Greenwood to the atmosphere to Koehn making the second-longest field goal in Iowa history for the win — could have been scripted in a better way.
Just like Angerer said, it was all, in fact, perfect.
I have had a lot of great times in Kinnick but that tops the list. What a perfect night. I love you guys. Go Hawks!
— Pat Angerer (@PAngererUSA) September 20, 2015
