Storming the Field 101: What the Buckeyes got wrong after beating Penn State Football
By Evan Smith
Did Iowa fans have a right to storm the field after beating Penn State Football?
A bitter pill looking back at this game (perhaps Sean Clifford’s injury being the most important play of the season), but, let’s review our criteria to determine if the Hawkeye field storming was warranted.
1. Did an upset occur?
Iowa was a slight favorite (roughly 2.5 points) but all spreads were within a field goal. So no, an upset did not occur.
2. Has the winning team been there before?
Iowa hadn’t been ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation in years, and had been well known for defining success as ‘another Kirk Ferentz 8-4 year’. This was clearly a significant moment for their football team, with nothing in the recent past even coming close.
3. Was any division or conference championship berth clinched?
Nothing clinched, although it did give Iowa the inside track to clinching the Western Division of the B1G Conference (lol thinking back at that now).
4. Do the two teams playing have a history or rivalry?
Can we say if they didn’t before the game, they do now? Penn State Football fans won’t soon forget the consistent booing of significant Nittany Lions injuries by all the Iowa faithful (so much for the grace of ‘The Wave’). While they aren’t in the same division, they have played some crucial games (the 08 heartbreak is one we won’t forget).
5. Miscellaneous
Iowa, despite being ranked No. 2, wasn’t really ‘believed’ in by the terms of the national media. It’s clear they felt disrespected going into the game and wanted to prove they belong on the national stage. And they did just that (until Purdue came a’ knocking seven days later).
Verdict: Storming the field was called for.
This was their biggest win in a decade, and even as slight favorites, the students deserved this field storming. Now, we just need to teach them some etiquette about booing injuries …