Absolutely, Iowa’s season was on the line.

With Ohio State likely off to an 0-2 Big Ten start, combined with a Week 2 loss at home to Iowa State, a team with College Football Playoff hopes was effectively playing for a bowl game. Not what this collection of fifth- and sixth-year seniors had in mind in mid-September.

But now?

“A little bit of momentum, feeling good and having a chance to laugh a little bit,” Ferentz said, “rather than looking at the mountain of challenges ahead of us.”

What has changed?

Some players downplayed the changes.

Jay Higgins: ‘Undeniable belief’ led to comeback win at Minnesota

Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins intercepted the ball in the first half, which led to strong defense later in the second half.

“We knew it was a 60-minute game,” linebacker Jay Higgins said after watching Minnesota gain 143 yards and score 14 points in the second quarter while the offense struggled to throw a forward pass. “We didn’t know what we were going to get back in the first half.”

But there were adjustments.

Let’s start with the offense. The Gophers (2-2) gave Iowa some trouble, throwing a lot to quarterback Cade McNamara, running back Kaleb Johnson and the veteran offensive line. Lester told McNamara, who was 7 of 13 for 16 yards in the first half, that he actually did a good job with his footwork. Some dropped passes by receivers were detrimental.

“Just stay determined,” McNamara recalls Lester telling him. “One of these is going to land, and we’re going to take off.”

Another adjustment: Keep it simple. Go back to a few standard plays and execute them completely.

So, on the first play of the second half, Lester called a fake-handoff bootleg to the right with a flip pass to No. 2 tight end Addison Ostrengga. It was a routine throw and couldn’t have gone more than 5 yards in the air. Yet Ostrenga turned it into Iowa’s longest pass play of the day, 20 yards, to open the half.

“It was kind of a spark,” McNamara said of that first play. “We executed it. We got going and were able to pick up the pace and move. It just took off from there.”

Cade McNamara: What Changed in the Second Half Against Minnesota

Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara talks about the Hawkeyes’ strong second half performance that led to Minnesota’s 31-14 win over the team.

On the next play, Johnson ran 17 yards around the left end and absorbed a late hit to tackle for another 15 yards. Two snaps later, Iowa was at Minnesota’s 15. Three plays later, Lester delivered perhaps his best play call of the game: a third-and-10 draw to Johnson for a 15-yard touchdown. A fired-up Huntington Bank Stadium, expecting a red-zone stop, suddenly fell silent. And the score was suddenly 14-14, just 124 seconds into the second half. It was a whole new ballgame.

“That first drive was awesome. It set the tone,” left tackle Mason Richman said. “We preached, keep the pace going, in and out of the huddle. We didn’t think they could go up against an offense like us.”

By the end of the night, Minnesota — the team that had recorded back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since 1962 and limited Iowa to 11 rushing yards last year — had allowed 31 offensive points and 272 rushing yards to the Hawkeyes.

“Anytime the offense scores 31 points, as a defensive player, you’ve got to feel like you’re going to win that game,” Higgins said. “You just have to do it.”

Iowa defeated Minnesota 159-14 in the third quarter.

Mason Richman from Iowa: The plan was to wear Minnesota out

The Hawkeyes’ left tackle helped lead an offense that racked up 272 yards in a 31-14 win over Minnesota.

What has changed in defense?

More blitzes. And keeping receivers in front of defenders.

On Minnesota’s first dropback of the second half, linebacker Nick Jackson joined the pass rush. He hit a 5-yard sack of Max Brosmer, Iowa’s only sack of the game. The next play was a 6-yard pass to Daniel Jackson. Higgins deftly broke up a third-down throw in the flat.

On Minnesota’s next possession, Brosmer went back three plays. He was washed out and scrambled for 3 yards, then threw two incompletes. Three-and-out, period.

The next drive: incomplete, incomplete, third-and-10 handoff for 1 yard to end the third quarter. What had been a boisterous second quarter environment turned into a booing home crowd with the Gophers down 24-14 and up another point. Near the end, Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck waved the white flag with meaningless run plays to kill the clock and end the game mercifully.

Brosmer was 11-for-14 passing in the second quarter for 118 yards and two touchdowns. He was 1-for-6 for 6 yards in the third quarter.

“We just tried to do everything we could to get off the field,” Jackson said. “I think we just wanted to speed up the process (for Brosmer). … We just knew we had to adjust a little bit in the second half.”

How the tone has changed during this match and this season.

For perhaps the first time this season, Iowa played three good quarters out of four. Progress?

Deshaun Lee performed well at cornerback for the first time this season. Jaziun Patterson ran well as a complementary piece to Johnson. Rhys Dakin was terrific in the punting game. Brendan Sullivan continued to convert inside-the-10 chances into touchdowns; the backup quarterback is 4-for-4 with 28 points on those chances since the red-zone switch last week against Troy. All good things.

Kaleb JohnsonWhat Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson Said After His 206-Yard Game at Minnesota

The Hawkeyes running back said he thought it was the best rushing game of his career.

The Hawkeyes know they need to improve in the passing game. McNamara finished 11-for-19 for 62 yards, with just two completions to wide receivers. That’s on the bye-week to-do list.

“We’re in a good position right now,” McNamara said. “But I really want to emphasize that as an offense and as a team, we still have a lot of improvement to do.”

Perhaps Ferentz, who now sits tied with Amos Alonzo Stagg for No. 2 on the Big Ten wins list, knows what he’s doing. One of the things he’s been addressing in fall camp is the inevitability of adversity, within games and within seasons.

And now, this season – especially with Johnson going wild week after week – there is hope again.

“It’s part of the curriculum (that) we’re going to be in these situations. It’s just part of the conference game,” Ferentz said. “And the question is, how do you react and respond? Historically, we’ve had some good responses, and we’ve had some that weren’t so good. … I couldn’t be happier with the way the guys responded.”

Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has worked for The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network for 29 years. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s text group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.