Iowa vs. Northwestern pre-game thoughts

Maybe last week's game at Pitt wasn't considered by many to be a must-win.

As someone who played football from junior high up to my sophomore year of high school, there are two sayings I think are stupid - "must-wins" and "moral victories."

If you're an athlete and you don't view every game as a must-win, no matter who you're competing against, then you shouldn't be an athlete. Who cares if Pitt's from the Big East? I would certainly hope everyone on the Hawkeyes was playing to win last week. That's why one of my all-time favorite quotes is from Herm Edwards when he said "You play to win the game." That should always be a mindset. Every game is a must-win.

As for the moral victories, there's no such thing. Sure, you can learn from losing and find some positives from a loss, but if you come out a loser, your immediate reaction isn't, 'Well, we kept their running back under 100 yards, or we didn't give up any touchdowns through the air, or we fought valiantly in the second half,' all of which Iowa did last week. No, when you lose, you're ticked that your opponent beat you. You don't care about anything else because that loss is driving you insane. I asked a couple of players afterwards how they felt about losing in the fashion they did as opposed to an alternative way, and both guys gave me answers the athlete in me was hoping they'd say - A loss is a loss, and no matter the margin, it hurts.

Now I'm not trying to contradict here when I say this because like I said earlier, every game should be considered a must-win. But if the Hawkeyes are going to have a good 2008 and end up in a decent enough bowl game, they need to jump out right away and just take Northwestern to the woodshed. Iowa cannot afford to lose this game.

Forget the fact it's Homecoming. Forget the fact that Kirk Ferentz has been heavily criticized this past week about his "gut feeling." Forget about the QB deal. Forget that this is the first conference game.

We in the media have a tendency to always look ahead while the teams we cover strictly focus on the here and now. If you look at Iowa's upcoming schedule, the next two games are on the road in the Big Ten against a darn good Michigan State team, and an Indiana squad that has given the Hawkeyes fits the last two years. If Iowa enters that road stretch on a two-game losing streak and at 0-1 in the Big Ten, things have the potential to flatout go downhill.

Northwestern is not going to be a cupcake, even though the Wildcats have played a bigger cupcake non-conference schedule than Iowa. Right now, there's so much parody in the Big Ten that all 11 teams - yes, this includes Michigan - have the potential to be bowl-eligible. Everyone except Minnesota last year was, and this season, the Gophers are already 4-0.

These games are going to matter more than ever, and you could make the argument that if this is an easy game, it's the easiest one Iowa has. After those two road games, you have Wisconsin, who at the moment is a Top 10 team, at Illinois, Penn State and Purdue both come to Kinnick and both are legit - especially Penn State - and then that last game at Minnesota.

If the Hawkeyes win tomorrow, some of these games are going to appear easier, and the amazing thing about Iowa this season is that I believe they're capable of winning every game left on their schedule. That said, I can just as easily see the Hawkeyes LOSING every game left. That's how close the Big Ten really is right now. Just about every conference game is going to feel unpredictable.

This is just one of the biggest reasons as to why the Hawkeyes need to win on Saturday.

- Brendan