I Firmly Agree With Jon Miller

On October 18, Jon Miller, a writer for HawkeyeNation, wrote an article titled, "Dear America: Iowa Doesn't Care What You Think". The article addresses the Iowa Hawkeye Football Team's success so far this season, and how many people throughout America dismiss the Hawks' accomplishments this season due to their "weak" schedule. Miller explains that the reason many Americans have misconceptions about the Hawkeyes' season is because some ESPN commentators talk a lot about how the only reason Iowa is undefeated is because they haven't really played any teams that were real competition, and if the Hawkeyes were placed against an "actual" tough opponent, like they might be if they can continue their streak and win the Big Ten West and compete in the Big Ten Championship, they would be in for a rude awakening and get blown out. As many other Iowans and Jon Miller, I was a little offended by this assertion because a lot of the people who assume the Hawkeyes are not an impressive team don't even take the time to look at who Iowa has beaten or actually watched how well the Hawkeyes are playing. In the article, Miller argues that many of these people are wrong, and Iowa does, in fact, have a pretty strong resume thus far in the season. Miller points out how Iowa is one of the only two teams in the country who have two road wins over ranked opponents, along with Alabama. He also talked about how Iowa has actually played a schedule so far that is tougher than many teams that are ranked higher than the Hawkeyes, including the Number One Ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, Number Two Baylor, Number Three Clemson, Number Five TCU, Number Six Michigan State, and many other Top 25 teams. He argues that while some people don't think Iowa has played anyone decent, they had defeated both Wisconsin and Northwestern on the road, and had also defeated Pittsburgh earlier in the season, who has now since moved up to 23 in the Associated Press Top 25. While many argue that Iowa's win over the Wisconsin Badgers was lucky, I disagree. Yes, I understand that the Badgers had unfortunate luck due to the many turnovers of their quarterback. However, it was not completely the quarterback's fault, the Hawkeyes' defense played very well that day, and had a big part in causing Wisconsin to turnover the ball either by making great plays, or just making the Badger's offense nervous and forcing them to make a crucial mistake. People also argue how Northwestern wasn't real competition because they were in a slump, but that is not Iowa's fault. Regardless of whether or not the Wildcats were feeling super confident in their homecoming game against the Hawkeyes, they were still a ranked team that had played well previously in the season. The Wildcats, before playing Iowa, had one of the best defenses in the nation holding current Number Eight Stanford to only six points. Stanford had over 40 points against USC and over 50 points against UCLA, so their offense is not to be questioned. However, while Stanford was only able to score six against the Northwestern Wildcats, the Hawkeyes were able to score 40 in their rout over Northwestern. As far as Pittsburgh goes, many thought they were just a "cupcake" team that Iowa had just scheduled for a real easy win. However, Pittsburgh has played very well this season to become ranked, and have only one loss this whole season... against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Miller also makes a great point that although some of Iowa's other wins against teams such as North Texas or Iowa State are not very impressive, other Top 25 teams have also played either the Mean Green or the Cyclones. Maybe the Hawkeyes' schedule for the rest of the regular season won't be incredibly difficult for the Hawkeyes, but that isn't really their fault. They didn't have much input in when they would play the weaker Big Ten Teams, and they didn't have the option to choose which team from the Big Ten East to play against. Regardless of the strength of Iowa's remaining schedule, it would be pretty ignorant to ignore the fact that the Iowa Hawkeyes have had an incredible season, and it seems a little bit conceited for fans of other teams to diminish what the Hawks have accomplished this season. Iowa has competed very hard this to get where they are in the rankings, and for many games, the Hawks have had to play with players whom they didn't even plan to start at the beginning of the season due to injuries. Week after week, the Hawkeyes have lost key players to both their offense and defense, such as Jordan Canzeri or Drew Ott, and week after week, the "Next Man Up" has come in and played excellent for the Hawkeyes to pull off yet another win. Miller writes a very compelling argument about how the Hawkeyes' season thus far is something for true Iowa fans to be proud of, and how they should not be discouraged by spiteful fans of other teams who feel like knocking another team down to either make themselves feel better about their team's unsuccessful season or to argue that the Hawkeyes will never be as "elite" as their team's program. He does a great job at providing evidence to support his argument, and I firmly agree with just about everything he had to say. So America, from Jon Miller, this writer, and many other Hawkeye fans throughout the world, we don't really care if you don't think the Hawkeyes are accomplishing anything because we know the truth: It's great to be a Hawkeye!
If you would like to read Jon Miller's article for an insightful look on Iowa's season thus far, click the following link: http://hawkeyenation.com/2015/dear-america-iowa-doesnt-care-what-you-think.