Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz predicted as much before kickoff ever arrived.
Turning a baseball stadium into a football venue comes with some inherent challenges. Beyond orchestrating the playing field itself within Wrigley Field, how would the playing surface hold up?
It looked like it was holding up well. But, before it was all said and done, Kirk Ferentz’s pregame remarks ahead of Iowa’s 10-7 win over Northwestern held true.
“I’ve only had one experience playing in a baseball stadium, and that was unique. We got first-class treatment, but the field was not great,” Ferentz said of the 2017 Pinstripe Bowl.
Things quickly devolved into a mess right as Iowa was in the midst of what wound up as a memorable goal line stand midway through the fourth quarter. With the Hawkeyes clinging to a 7-0 lead over Northwestern and the Wildcats goal-to-go from the 1-yard line, play actually had to be stopped to attend to the Wrigley Field playing surface.
It didn’t look like the grounds crew was able to come up with much of a fix at all. But, the Hawkeyes did manage to work their way to a dramatic 10-7 win over Northwestern thanks to Drew Stevens’ 52-yard field goal. So, I guess all’s well that ends well as Iowa moves to 7-2 on the season.
Take a look at the reaction online as the Wrigley Field playing surface started literally falling apart in bunches.