Who says wins have to be pretty to be effective? In fact, who even cares if wins are pretty if they are effective? The Iowa Hawkeyes do not care and that attitude has them heading to Indianapolis as the outright Big Ten West champions. They are not apologizing for winning.
Iowa clinched the Big Ten West with a 15-13 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini in a way that only the Hawkeyes could. Aside from getting out to an early 2-0 lead, Iowa trailed most of the way until lightning in the form of Kaleb Johnson struck late to cement the victory.
The win was a vintage Iowa win under Kirk Ferentz. Do enough on offense, play the field position game, play great defense, and strike when the time is right.
Our Head Coach 🐐#Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/DuwZ0VVzd1
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) November 19, 2023
Iowa is headed back to Indy as the Big Ten West champs with the division clinched before the regular season has even ended. Here are the biggest takeaways from Iowa’s monumental win over the Illini.