A Hawkeye Flash From The Past

For the first time since 2009, the Iowa Hawkeye Football Team is 5-0. This is a pretty big accomplishment for the Hawkeyes who have struggled heavily ever since the 2009 season where they went 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. As a Hawkeye fan, this is one of the first years in a while that I was actually excited to turn on an Iowa game and wasn't having a heart attack during close games. In previous years, Iowa always found ways to screw up and disappoint their fans in a close loss, but this year has been different. Under the newly-named starting quarterback C.J. Beathard, the Hawks have found a way, in multiple games this season, to pull of a close, and very exciting win. So as someone who actually really started to pay attention since the 2009 Hawkeye football season, one question keeps rising in my head as Iowa continues to win week after week. Is this 2015 Hawkeye team as good as the 2009 team?
After looking at the 2009 Iowa football schedule again, I noticed that the teams Iowa played that year are very similar to the teams the Hawkeyes have played so far this year. In both teams' first games, they played against smaller schools at home in Kinnick Stadium. Both teams also traveled to Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa for their second games and won against their in-state rival, the Iowa State Cyclones. Both teams also pulled off victories when visiting Wisconsin.
Another similarity the two teams have are certain players in their rosters. Both teams have great junior quarterbacks in Ricky Stanzi and C.J. Beathard. Both of these two quarterbacks are great at staying calm and collected during late game situations and can throw the ball far and accurate. Both teams also had players who were great at intercepting the opposing quarterbacks passes in Tyler Sash and Desmond King. After intercepting multiple passes in last night's game against the Badgers, King became the first Hawkeye since Sash, who tragically passed away last month, to intercept multiple passes in a game for more than one game.
While I'm not exactly sure if the Hawkeyes this year are quite as good as the 2009 squad, they have more than exceeded my expectations this year picking up two great road wins that Iowa hasn't won in a while. This team has shown a lot of heart this year, and have continued to improve week after week on both the offensive and defensive sides. I really hope this team can do great things because if they are anything like the 2009 team, they can make it far. I remember how Iowa lost its first game in the 2009 season after Stanzi was unfortunately injured in a game against Northwestern. I always wondered if Stanzi hadn't gotten hurt, would we have possibly had an undefeated season and become national champions? I really hope C.J. doesn't get injured because this team really shows signs of that great 2009 team. Maybe, just maybe the Hawkeyes will be able to pull off a miracle this year. C.J. is still undefeated as a starter and head coach Kirk Ferrentz seems to be taking risks like he used to back in the 2009 season. Hopefully that means that Iowa is destined for greatness this season.