What Makes Iowa’s Defense So Good? Creating Havoc in the “Critical Minutes”

Iowa’s defense is incredible.

That’s what I discovered watching them play Iowa State on College Gameday. But what makes their defense so good? They aren’t filled with 4-star and 5-star athletes, but consistently have the reputation as one of the best defenses in the country. So what makes these Midwest players so tough to score on?

The havoc they create in the critical minutes.

To get it out of the way, havoc by cfb definition is a pass deflection, tackle for loss (sack) or a turnover. And the most vital stretch, according to ESPN’s Win Model, is the last 5 minutes of the 2nd quarter and the 1st 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter.

And when you look at Iowa’s efficiency in this time period, it is unfathomably good.

First, from 2018 to 2020, in data complied by Martin Herz of the Daily Nebraskan, Iowa is the 18th best team in the nation in Point Allowed. Now, that’s really good but not insane.

In that same stretch however, Iowa is the best team in the nation in creating havoc. Also during that stretch, using the same data, Iowa has an +11 turnover differential. That is crazy good. I mean, just look at the numbers from just the 2020 season.

Here are all the drives that their opponents started during the critical minutes in 2020 (I break it down below the chart):

Drive	Started				Drive	Ended		Consumed
TEAM	QTR.	SPOT	TIME	OBTAINED	SPOT	TIME	HOW LOST	PLAYS-YDS.	TOP
PUR	2	PUR25	4:42	KO	0	1:40	TD	9 – 75	3:02
PUR	2	PUR43	0:59	PUNT	47	0:31	INT	3 – 4	0:28
PUR	3	PUR16	15:00	KO	11	12:18	INT	7 – 73	2:42
NU	2	PUR21	7:09	KO	0	1:25	TD	14 – 79	5:44
NU	2	NU34	0:00	FGA	34	0:00	HALF	0 – 0	0:00
NU	3	NU10	12:32	PUNT	14	9:44	PUNT	6 – 4	2:48
WINS
MSU	2	MSU10	2:55	PUNT	8	1:57	PUNT	3 – -2	0:58
MSU	2	MSU25	1:57	KO	36	1:30	INT	3 – 11	0:27
MSU	2	MSU30	1:30	KO	23	1:02	PUNT	3 – -7	0:28
MSU	3	MSU25	15:00	KO	0	10:06	TD	12 – 75	4:54
MINN	2	MSU11	2:25	PUNT	28	1:35	INT	3 – 17	0:50
MINN	2	MIN32	0:30	FGA	49	0:00	DOWNS	6 – 17	0:30
MINN	3	MIN21	14:55	KO	18	12:47	PUNT	3 – -3	2:08
MINN	3	MIN5	11:45	PUNT	21	0:49	FGA	17 – 74	10:56
PSU	2	PSU29	2:39	PUNT	49	0:53	DOWNS	6 – 20	1:46
PSU	2	PSU21	0:07	KO	20	0:00	HALF	1 – -1	0:07
PSU	3	PSU40	13:08	PUNT	46	12:58	FUMB	1 – -6	0:10
NEB	2	NEB25	3:48	KO	0	0:29	TD	11 – 75	3:19
NEB	3	NEB30	15:00	KO	0	12:05	TD	8 – 70	2:55
ILL	2	ILL25	2:54	KO	31	1:29	PUNT	3 – 6	1:25
ILL	3	ILL18	14:57	KO	36	12:59	PUNT	5 – 18	1:58
WIS	2	WIS40	4:32	PUNT	47	2:54	PUNT	3 – 7	1:38
WIS	2	WIS40	2:29	PUNT	37	1:22	DOWNS	4 – 3	1:07
WIS	3	WIS25	15:00	KO	29	10:41	FGA	9 – 46	4:19

Now, if you look at the numbers, this is quite good. In games that they lost (Purdue, Northwestern), here are the results in critical time:

Now, same stats and time, but looking at games they won:

	MSU	MIN	PSU	NEB	ILL	WIS
Punt	2	1	0	0	2	1
INT	1	1	0	0	0	0
Fumbles	1	0	1	2	0	0
Sacks	2	2	2	0	0	0
Total Havoc Plays	5	4	4	2	0	1
Successful Stops/Attempts	3/4	4/4	2/2	0/2	2/2	3/3
Points Allowed	7	0	0	14	0	0

The one anomaly was the Husker game, but Iowa was did two crucial things during this game that helped them:

1. They maintained point total with Nebraska (we will get to that in the next chart)
2. In the 4th quarter’s last 3 possessions, they forced 2 fumbles and a punt in a 1-score game.

Other than that, it’s actually quite incredibly how good they did in 2020 during this time. They successfully stopped their opponent 14/17 drives when they won and 17/22 in total games. And most import factor during this time?

Iowa had 21 havoc plays…On 22 drives.

THAT’S INSANE!

Now, the best teams in college football maintain a push during the critical time, while winning explosive plays.

Hawkeyes’ Score Differential in Critical Time:

	Opponent Point Total	Iowa Point Total	Point Differential
PUR	7	3	-4
NWU	7	0	-7
MSU	7	21	+14
MIN	0	0	+0
PSU	0	14	+14
NEB	14	10	-4
ILL	0	14	+14
WIS	0	11	+11

In games they lost, they failed to win the critical time, and in games they won, with the exception of Nebraska (NEB probably should have won), Iowa won or pushed in critical time.

It makes sense why this time is so important, and it’s the same reason that coaches in the NFL choose to defer: you can score multiple times without opponents offense getting the ball.

This time is where your defense needs to step up, create some havoc, and have your offense can sneak in some points. Iowa proves to do a better job of that any other team in the country.

Now, I know your wondering-“TK it’s 2021, where’s the data?”

Let’s get into it:

Drive	Started				Drive	Ended		Consumed
TEAM	QTR.	SPOT	TIME	OBTAINED	SPOT	TIME	HOW LOST	PLAYS-YDS.	TOP
Indiana	2	IND48	1:50	FUMB	IND48	1:41	INT	10 – 0	0:09
Indiana	2	IND25	1:41	KO	IND34	1:12	INT	16 – 9	0:29
Indiana	3	IND25	15:00	KO	IOW23	8:39	FG	68 – 52	6:21
Iowa St.	2	ISU25	8:13	KO	ISU44	5:35	PUNT	39 – 19	2:38
Iowa St.	2	ISU25	1:01	KO	IOW0	0:07	TD	42 – 75	0:54
Iowa St.	3	ISU25	15:00	KO	ISU48	12:07	PUNT	50 – 23	2:53
Iowa St.	3	ISU25	10:25	PUNT	ISU13	8:12	PUNT	21 – -12	2:13
Kent St.	3	KSU25	15:00	KO	IOW35	13:05	DOWNS	43 – 40	1:55
Kent St.	3	KSU24	11:34	PUNT	IOW0	6:37	FUMB	71 – 75	4:57

Just a quick look shows that Iowa has been incredible during critical time this season. On drive-ending plays alone, they have been successful in 7 of 9 critical possessions. Giving up only a Touchdown (Great drive by #9 Iowa State) and a Field Goal (#17 Indiana) that had a sack in the drive.

Total Havoc Plays in those 9 Possessions?

1. Indiana-3 (INT, INT, TFL)
2. Iowa State-2 (Sack, Sack)
3. Kent State-4 (Sack, Deflection, TFL, Fumble)

9 Havoc plays on 9 drives. Therefore over the course of their 11 games, Iowa defense has caused havoc 30 times in 31 drives in critical time.

And even though their offense hasn’t been quite as good, they are still pushing in critical time, a key to winning:

	Opponents Point Total	Iowa’s Point Total	Point Differential
IND	3	10	+7
ISU	7	7	+0
KSU	0	7	+7

So now if your friends ask you, “What makes these Hawkeyes so good?”

Just tell ’em they create havoc.

---

One final note. I went off of drives that started in critical time or spent the majority of critical time. This can lead to spill over into time past critical time in the 3rd quarter, but those plays still matter to drives in critical time, so they were kept. All data from the Iowa Athletics website, the article by Martin Herz (The Daily Nebraskan) linked in the article, ESPN’s Win Probability Model, or Collegefootballdata.com

---

Summary:

• Iowa creates havoc on more plays in critical time than any team in the nation.

• They are able to push or create a positive point differential in critical time.

---

To get more information on college football or Digital Z Sports, visit our website or find us at:

Twitter: @DigitalZSports @DigitalZSD @DigitalZ_IA

Or follow TK on Reddit and Twitter: @tk_talks_sports