The Iowa Hawkeyes suffered today its second hugely disappointing loss this season, losing at home to Northwestern 21-7 (the other being the loss to Indiana). It was Northwestern's first Big Ten win this season.

Everything wrong with this year's Iowa team showed up today: a mediocre defense, the lack of big plays on offense, turnovers, and a Drew Tate that couldn't make up the difference. This has been a disappointing senior season for Drew Tate, who really doesn't have the receivers he's had the past two seasons.

There have been only four teams that have played in January bowl games in each of the past four seasons: USC, Georgia, Florida State, and Iowa. The latter three won't be doing that this season, leaving just USC. But it's also why this season has come as such a bad surprise, given the way Iowa has performed the last several seasons.