Iowa D makes it into the end zone twice in the second half of the game! If there was any doubt that Iowa has one of the best defenses in college football the haters had to bite their tongues hard Saturday. What a sight to see the refs throw those chapels up for the religious bunch. If it wasn’t for the unwavering powers of Iowa’s defense, the season may have started with an embarrassing loss to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

At last, Iowa fans, we have finally made it through the longest week of the year, as star QB Petras called it. I am hoping though, that this was Iowa’s longest game of the year, and we can look forward to something better next week against rival Iowa State.

This week during an interview, Petras reported that he has been preparing for the season for eight plus months and he is happy with how he is throwing the ball. My question is how many months of practice is it going to take before I am happy with how he is throwing the ball?! Yes, yes, we are all aware that Iowa is lacking wide receiver depth, due to draft and injuries, but you could have super stud, Cooper Kupp, out there and it wouldn’t matter.

When I first saw Petras at the start of the season he was rocking a goatee like nobody’s business. I was sure that his confidence was coming from his newfound facial hair style, and was hoping that it had some kind of magic power. I don’t know if the goatee added to Petras’ skill set this week at all, but it may be a curse for incoming visitors instead. Iowa took out more South Dakota State players due to injury than they scored points. Yikes. Don’t worry I will be watching facial trends closely and will update you on my suspicions in the upcoming weeks.

This week Arland Bruce IV told reporters that the teams hold strong at wide receiver and they haven’t had to limit their playbook at all. After watching this week 1 game, I am not as confident. TE LaPorta was a favorite target this game making 2/7 receptions. Meanwhile my man Bruuuuuuuuuce, now to be respectfully referred to as The Boss, made 5/9 for a total of 68 yards, compared to Laporta’s 9 yards. The Boss also made an eleven-yard rush this game though the offense was never able to get on the board. Safe to say there should be no question that Bruce has secured a starting WR position. He is the offensive Boss in my eyes.

During the fourth quarter, which felt more like a journey through Dante’s Inferno rather than a fun day of college ball, Hawkeye fans looked listless. Despite having the lead and winning the game, it was little consolation for how poorly the offense performed. Among the crowd, I saw a man proudly waving his shirt “I cheer for the punter.” Tory Taylor had a great punting game with seven punts within the 20-yard line and placed the SDSU offense on the goal line multiple times. It's got me thinking that if Ferentz doesn’t make some major offensive moves we may all need to invest in a punter shirt this year. Defense and Special Teams are the only gold I saw on the field Saturday.