Iowa Football Notebook: Individual Choices for Iowa During Anthem

For the second week in a row, Iowa turns back to its 24-hour rule following a 21-20 loss to
Northwestern in gearing up for next Saturday’s game against Michigan State. But the postgame
focus, while it was on certain glaring parts of the Hawkeye loss, was also on the statement
players were able to make pregame.

National Anthem

Prior to kickoff of Iowa’s 2020 home opener, the Hawkeyes made a conscious choice to take an
individual-based but united stance during the national anthem.

Some players knelt and others stood with their hands on their teammate’s shoulders, signifying
that despite varying views, the team was as it preached all summer following the investigation
into racial bias in the football program: together.

“It’s something we thought would be valuable, it’s nothing against the flag, we just wanted to
show our fight against systematic – the justice system, and the tough times colored people face
in this day and age,” Ihmir Smith-Marsette said.

In the past week, the football program and its leadership group spoke through the issue and
spoke to multiple veterans with varying viewpoints on the topic.

“What we all decided was we’re going to respect each other’s opinions on the topic, and to me
that means doing things as a team,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “The dialogue was
outstanding, and the key point was everybody said what they felt, but everybody also agreed
that we’re going to have respect for each other’s opinions.”

When the same national conversation was sparked years earlier, Ferentz had a different
opinion: that the team would make one decision, together. Now, the freedom to allow it’s
players to express their feelings is a testament to how far the program has come in the past
year.

“Having the right to be able to go out there and express ourselves without any fallback or any
punishment like that, that just shows the growth within our state, within our team and within
this family that we call a team,” Daivyon Nixon said.

Northwestern’s Running Game vs. Iowa’s Lack Thereof

As for the game itself, there were multiple holes in Iowa’s entire game that led to the end
result.

One of the most glaring, however, was Isaiah Bowser and Iowa’s inability to shut down the
running game. The Wildcats ran for 193 yards on 60 carries and scored all of its touchdowns on
the ground.

Both quarterback Peyton Ramsey and Bowser made a difference, with Ramsey opening up for a
team-long 21-yard run and Bowser rushing for 85 net yards on 25 carries.

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“All props to [Bowser], he’s a fast back. He runs hard,” defensive lineman Zach Vanvalkenburg
said. “I think he’s just a good running back and we need to do a much better job against that.”

As for what has been known as Iowa’s bread and butter, the Hawkeye running corps racked up
only 77 yards on the might, led by sophomore Tyler Goodson’s 43.

“We didn’t run the ball effectively enough today,” Ferentz said. “Certainly, we had a couple
good runs, hit on a couple of them, but with consistency not enough. So that’s something we’re
going to have to get addressed because we don’t want to play that way.”