The Odyssey was in the press box for the Northern Illinois and Iowa openers. We tend to travel to games where there will be no chance of a Kirk Herbstreit citing, let alone Chris Fowler. When yours truly is still on a mission to get to the relatively few remaining stadiums of the 130 1-A programs not yet attended, this sometimes necessitates going off the beaten path.
We were intrigued by two very talented visitors coming to DeKalb and Iowa City: QB Josh Allen and DE Harold Landry. In Todd McShay’s mock draft, the Wyoming QB was projected as the #2 overall draft pick while Boston College’s Landry was tabbed to go at #9 overall. We would subsequently be stunned that their productivity in the openers would have suggested undrafted, free agent status. Where did they go? An alien abduction? In both cases, there may have been mitigating circumstances.
The Friday night opener in DeKalb was yet another of a zillion examples where TV brutalizes attendance. With a ridiculously late 8:30 start on a high school Friday night, the 16,000+ attendance for a rare visit from a Power 5 school was sadly modest but not unexpected. Equally bad, the late start would prove to have dire and unforseen consequences for the Odyssey.
Aside from the UCLA-Texas A&M game, I thought the NIU-BC game would have more pivotal consequences than any other in the opening weekend. The winner could have a needed springboard for a surprising season and the loser, particularly if BC, would have to deal with a lot of negative momentum piled on top of a disappointing 2016 campaign.
In the “Odyssey vs. Phil Steele challenge” (see our August 18 article), the Northern Illinois outcome would be critical. Steele put Northern Illinois on his coveted Most Improved Team list. Yes, Steele uses the self-aggrandizing word, NOT the Odyssey’s invention. NIU slumped to 5-7 in 2016. Since the Odyssey did not envision significant 2017 improvement, we took Steele on and dissented. NIU’s glory years were largely predicated on the exploits of two other worldly QB’s, Chandler Harnish and Jordan Lynch. Thus, the Odyssey never viewed the Huskies as a “reload” program. The previous two years were marked by mediocre QB play. The Odyssey did not foresee QB Ryan Graham as being able to play well enough to get NIU to 8-4 or better.
Graham played OK but was betrayed by a couple key drops. Where was PJ Fleck when so badly needed? The 4th quarter turned out to be extremely entertaining.
Locked in a 20-20 draw midway in the last quarter, Boston College’s Steve Addazio made a gutsy decision on 4th and 1 from its own 43. The Eagles successfully converted. After yet another 4th down conversion, Colton Lichtenberg’s third field goal of the game gave BC a 23-20 lead with 2:13 to go. Undaunted, Graham converted a desperation 4th and long to keep NIU in the ballgame. When the NIU kicker doinked his 39-yard attempt off the lower goal post, BC survived in a thriller.
Addazio made another gutsy decision before the game. His hot seat notwithstanding, he elected to start a freshman QB, Anthony Brown. When grading on a “first start curve”, Brown fared reasonably well. Good coaching, Mr. Addazio! North Carolina State would love to have a coach who could win such close games. (Yes, Dave Doeren lost another spine tingler he should have won on Saturday versus South Carolina)
But where was Harold Landry? Aside from one cool, rodeo-style tackle, Landry was largely invisible. In defense of Landry, there are two caveats. The strength of NIU’s team was touted to be their offensive line. Also, one can always game plan to run plays to the other side of the field. Still, I was surprised and disappointed that Landry did not have more impact.
After the game ended at 11:45, I made a practical decision not to go to the interview room. The game in Iowa City was already looming with an 11AM start. My hotel room in Bettendorf was, distressingly, almost two hours away. Since I was not granted a media pass until late in the process, I was not sent a parking pass in the mail. Accordingly, I parked about 3/4’s of a mile away in a residential block. Far enough away to keep from being towed I fatefully and erroneously thought, despite the “tow risk” sign in the neighborhood. OOPS!! To my utter dismay, I would soon discover that there was no taxi service in DeKalb after midnight. After cussing myself out for my stupidity, my laptop and I unhappily started a 4-mile trek to the tow yard. At age 65, I viewed myself as a perfect target for a mugging. Thank God, DeKalb sleeps after midnight. For $200, you would think that the least the towing company could do is pick you up.
Despite my post-4 AM arrival in Bettendorf, the lengthy walk and the prospect of the passionate Iowa fans were weirdly invigorating. I could not get to sleep until close to 6AM. Fueled on two hours’ sleep, I still made it to the press box in plenty of time for the early kick. The contrast between the two press boxes provided a loud reminder of the difference between the Big 10 and the MAC. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the NIU press box — quite “old school” — reminiscent of the typical press boxes in the 1970’s. In contrast, the Iowa press box was a spacious palace, complete with your choice of several hot entrees as well as all the popcorn and cookies any human being could desire.
Part of my eagerness of my travel to Iowa City, aside from the non-stop graciousness of the locals, was to check out the out-of-nowhere wonderkind, Josh Allen. Allen had ZERO D-1 scholarship offers coming out of the San Joaquin Valley and had to settle for Reedley Junior College. His JC play must not have been considered overwhelming as he only garnered two 1-A offers from Wyoming and Eastern Michigan. Then 2016 happened! Allen exploded on the scene as he led the Cowboys to the Mountain West Championship game highlighted by thrilling wins over Boise State and San Diego State at 7,220 feet.
As I pondered with amazement how Josh Allen could morph from a recruiting reject into a possible stud NFL QB, I quickly tempered my amazement. Such misses happen all the time. On the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated was David Johnson with the caption, “The Mutant Greatness of the NFL’s best back.” Johnson grew up in nearby Clinton and amply showed off his athletic gifts as a prep. Regardless, Iowa discouraged Johnson from even walking on. Nor did Johnson get a sniff from Iowa State. Johnson settled for playing at Northern Iowa. In return, Northern Iowa became the beneficiary of 63 touchdowns of production from its surprise superstar. Johnson’s gaudy stats were not the byproduct of padding against 1-AA competition. In Johnson’s senior year, Northern Iowa opened at big brother Iowa. While Iowa had good success defending Johnson’s rushes, the Hawkeyes had no answer for Johnson’s receiving prowess as the versatile star racked up 203 receiving yards — a totally unheard statistic for a running back. The Hawkeyes must have felt relieved to survive, 31-23. Against Iowa State, Johnson merely tallied 4 touchdowns. Despite his extraordinary college career, Johnson was yet again overlooked in the 2015 NFL draft. Johnson was relegated to the third round as the seventh running back selected. Given the pass receiving skills that Johnson showed against Iowa, a quality that NFL scouts salivate over in a running back, the Odyssey still wonders why so many teams passed on one the best players ever produced in the state of Iowa.
I expected the touted Allen to have some success against Iowa’s D and Iowa’s running game to gash the Cowboys. Hmmm, wrong and wronger! I failed to fully grasp how the departure of Wyoming’s top 3 receivers would decimate Allen’s options. An utter indictment of the Cowboys’ 2017 receivers is that the rocket-armed Allen did not even attempt one deep ball in the first half. The second and later indictment came when Allen deftly threw a ball into the end zone that most eighth graders would have caught. Dropped. Ballgame.
I was shocked that Iowa could hold Wyoming to 3 points. (Though not nearly as shocked that Colorado could hold Colorado State to the same 3 points the previous night. NOT a good look for the Mountain West! And what did that say about Oregon State?). Is Iowa’s defense really this good? We will find out Saturday in Ames. Iowa’s defensive backs will be challenged by a stunning contrast. While Wyoming likely will have the least talented receiving corp faced by the Hawkeyes in 2017, Iowa State’s might be the best Iowa faces. The Odyssey will not be surprised if Iowa State pulls an upset in Ames, especially since Iowa’s offensive line does not appear quite as skilled as we have come to expect from Kirk Ferentz’ troops.
As for Josh Allen, many people saw this game as costing him draft position and money. He did throw two second-half picks, perpetuating the knock on him. Too many interceptions and too many balls into stiff coverage. I believe he deserves the benefit of the doubt as Wyoming’s other skill players do not appear all that skilled. If Iowa’s defense keeps up their outstanding play in 2017, the competition will also factor in.
Allen was not helped by Craig Bohl’s coaching, surprising to the Odyssey given Bohl’s esteemed pedigree. In the 3rd quarter, the Wyoming coach made two decisions the Odyssey viewed as both cowardly and Neville Chamberlainesque. Down 14-3, Wyoming takes the kickoff and moves the ball to the Iowa 38. 4th and 1 with one of the best quarterbacks in America, Bohl elects to punt. This decision can only be justified if one clearly thinks the Cowboys are clearly the better team, electing to play field position with an elite defense. Wow!
Late in the third quarter, Wyoming’s deficit had grown to 21-3. The Cowboys have a 4th and 4 at the Iowa 30. Bohl sends in the field goal unit!!! Did he not want to try to win the game? Deservedly, the 47 yard attempt was wide left. Double Wow! Bohl should be forced to look at the tape of the UCLA comeback from a late 44-10 deficit to pull out a miracle. In this context, how can an 18-point deficit warrant raising the white flag?
The Iowa victory was eerily reminiscent of its 2003, 21-3 victory over Miami (Ohio). The Redhawks had a highly touted Senior quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, who threw 4 picks in Iowa City. His NFL career turned out to be just fine.
Our “farm country” doubleheader again emphasized how traveling to college football games just cannot be duplicated by travel to an NFL game. DeKalb is a charming town with a surprisingly beautiful campus in NIU. After the game in Iowa City, one can walk across the Iowa River to College Street and pick among 8 bars in a one block area to watch the next tranche of games with a bunch of college kids. Does life get much better? Yes, it can, if you stop off for an evening in Davenport, get on a gaudily lit ferris wheel and can contemplate the majestic Mississippi.