Iowa Football: 3 takeaways from shutout of Northwestern in Week 9

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 26: Nate Stanley #4 of the Iowa Hawkeyes huddles up with his team during the first quarter in the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ryan Field on October 26, 2019 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

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EVANSTON, ILLINOIS – OCTOBER 26: Mekhi Sargent #10 of the Iowa Hawkeyes runs the ball in the game against the Northwestern Wildcats during the second quarter at Ryan Field on October 26, 2019 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

1. Iowa has new life in the Big Ten West

While this isn’t exactly a takeaway from this game alone, Saturday proved that the Big Ten West is still relatively wide open.

Wisconsin had looked like the favorite, but the Badgers have now lost a couple of games in a row, including a shocking upset last weekend at Illinois. This weekend, Wisconsin was dismantled by Ohio State on the road, 38-7.

Minnesota is still unbeaten in the Big Ten, but many believe the Golden Gophers are very beatable and Iowa plays them at home in a few weeks. Right now, unless the Gophers win out, Iowa has a very good chance to win the West if it can take care of Wisconsin on the road in two weeks and beat the Gophers.

It seems like the Hawkeyes control their own destiny heading into the final month of the season and that’s all Kirk Ferentz can ask for.

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This team has new life in the West even after losing back-to-back conference games a couple of weeks ago.

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