Iowa 35, Indiana 27: It happened again

Ninth-ranked Iowa jumps on an onside kick that *two* Hoosiers fell on and stays alive in the national title hunt.

What did we learn?

1. Absolutely nothing new.

A highly-ranked team came to Bloomington. Indiana played their asses off. Indiana is a pretty good team. Jordan Howard is a great back -- that can't seem to stay healthy for the first time in his career. Indiana drops a ton of passes. The defense can get stops sometimes, but gives up massive plays. Indiana's tremendous in the 3rd quarter. They collapse in the fourth. I don't know what else there is to say. It sucks. It hurts. Being competitive is fun as hell -- and at Indiana you can't forget that. It's easy to tell who suffered through the DiNardo years and who didn't with Indiana football -- see who wants to fire the coach tonight and who doesn't. Indiana still hasn't beaten a top-10 team since 1987 -- and hasn't at home since 1967.

One day, y'all. One damn day.

2. Indiana's offensive line is amazing.

We don't say this enough. Indiana's offense is amazing when they catch the football -- and it's all because of those big dudes up front. Dan Feeney and Jason Spriggs are going to be tough to replace next season -- but Dimitric Camiel has been tremendous this season, as well. Don't get it wrong -- Tevin Coleman and Jordan Howard are NFL backs, but those big dudes should get plenty of credit. They gave up one sack on Saturday -- just the 7th they've surrendered in 9 games.

3. Iowa's pretty good, y'all. Like, really good.

Credit where credit's due. Indiana's gone punch-for-punch with each of the three top teams in the Big Ten this season. It shouldn't be considered a shock or a let down when they're in a ball game with a big opponent. There's an argument that Iowa was the most impressive. Sure, Michigan State won by more points and ran away late -- but Iowa almost completely took away Indiana's passing attack. No team in the country -- including  the Spartans and Buckeyes. CJ Beathard was tremendous despite playing through an injury. Give Iowa some props -- this is one hell of a football team, If you're going to knock Iowa for "struggling" with a now 4-5 Indiana on the road, you best send the Buckeyes tumbling down the rankings.

We'll have more cogent thoughts on this one tomorrow.

Oh, and hell with it.

#Iowa4CFP