Back in black and it never looked better

As an incoming freshman, I didn’t have high hopes for Iowa’s football team. We were historically a trainwreck, never able to take that next step. Kirk was on the hot seat and CJ Beathard looked like a stopgap between the next mediocre gunslinger.

Then something crazy happened: we went 12-0 in the regular season. And all the fun pokers were silenced. Along with every student to come to Iowa, I was made fun of for my school’s athletics. We weren’t good enough to compete for a B1G title, let alone a division title.

The future ahead is bright, but the past was very… depressing to say the least. After 2009 the team started facing some down years. And the hope for the team was definitely not as high as it could be. In the words of senior Taylor Beatty, pictured leftmost person, “For the last three years, Iowa students haven’t had much to look forward too for the football program as a disappointment would always come back when we were at our most hopeful.”

While that only gives the perspective of the team since 2012, it definitely paints a picture. The students who are coming upon their graduation have dealt with much heartbreak, but have found the faith that us freshman were blessed with from the start.

For me, it all started during hate week. We were playing State and everything looked to be going down the drain. After tying the game, the Hawkeyes allowed another touchdown. My roommate and I had no other actions besides scoffing and saying “typical” but then it happened in the third quarter. The offense came alive. With a touchdown in the third, and two in the fourth.

This team showed no signs of quitting and neither did me and my fellow students from coming in droves. We even got to experience a nail-biter, in which the live crowd was more than enough to show what this win meant to all of us.

The 57 yarder splitting the uprights in the clutch was one of the best moments of the season. The live crowd was more than enough to show what this win meant to all of us. It was the affirmation we and many Cubs fans needed going into the season, #WeAreGood.

A night neither senior nor freshman will ever forget. An alum I met that night had never been more excited to be at the game. She told me that this season would be special, and if she had only known what she predicted for this team.

My buddy Nick, pictured center, told me something that night as well, “this is where it all begins. The start of something special. That kick means a lot more than you think,” and was he right about that.

My roommate and I had discussions about this. About how we couldn’t wait to buy tickets for next season, how we couldn’t wait to cheer on as we see Iowa kick State right where the sun don’t shine in person. We can’t wait for what the seasons until graduation have waiting in the wings for us.

The team brought a change to the campus. In the words of fellow fan Jack Brindley, “Campus is different. The feeling of saying Go Hawks! or F-State has a whole new meaning, a sense of pride within it.”

Looking over the season and seeing the attendance record be shattered, this season was something for the ages.