‘Unforgettable’ night in Kinnick

IOWA CITY — Iowa Hawkeye player Jacob Sobotka of Clearfield literally had a front-row seat for one of Iowa’s biggest upset victories in history Saturday night.

The injured redshirt junior sat in the first row of the bleachers behind the team bench, with other injured players and players’ family members in the Kinnick Stadium crowd of 67,669 as the Hawkeyes knocked off (AP-ranked) No. 3 Ohio State, 55-24.

“It was definitely rocking in the stands,” said Sobotka, former Mount Ayr Community High School all-state linebacker and quarterback. “Armani (Hooker) made a great read on the ball on their first play, When he broke on the ball and returned it for a touchdown the place just erupted. Once things started to go our way, there was a buzz in the air that something special was happening.”

Sobotka injured his left knee during one of the final spring practices last April. He was slated to be a backup to outside linebacker Ben Niemann and was a key part of the blocking scheme on the starting punt unit. He had knee surgery on April 27 and is slated to return to practice later this season.

“I’m hoping to be practicing by bowl preparation time at the latest,” Sobotka said. “They are being careful with it. Now that I’ve torn both ACLs, it’s best if I don’t rush back, because they could be susceptible to be reinjured and I don’t want to go through this again. I’ve been running and cutting.”

Sobotka said when the Hawks took a 31-17 halftime lead Saturday, there was a sense that Iowa needed to start the second half off strong to hold off an Ohio State team that came back to beat Penn State a week earlier after trailing 38-20 in the second half.

“I knew we were getting the ball after halftime,” Sobotka said. “I thought it would be huge if we could get some points and get up by 17 or 21. Then we got pinned at our own 4-yard line after a hold and my dad said, ‘Oh, oh. Here it comes.’ But after we punted our defense got a stop and that kind of solidified that we are still OK, that we’re not going to just let them roll on us.”

Trick play

Iowa’s offense was at its best, and coach Kirk Ferentz even unleashed a successful fake field goal play to set up one touchdown. Holder Colton Rastetter completed an 18-yard pass to long snapper Tyler Kluver, who rumbled for a first down near the goal line.

“We (players seated around him) knew it was coming based on some things we saw,” Sobotka said. “So, we reacted and people were looking at us wondering why we were getting so excited. We said to watch the linebacker. If he moves over, we got this. When we sent the guy in motion, the linebacker went with him and Tyler was open. We run quite a few special team fakes in practice and if we’re looking good with it and we have the right situation, we’ll try it.”

That set up one of four touchdown passes to tight ends Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson of Chariton. Sobotka, who has to cover slot receivers and tight ends from his outside linebacker position, knows what kind of matchup problems the 6-foot-5 athletic tight ends present.

“They are really, really good,” Sobotka said. “When Ben (Niemann) has to cover Noah in nickel packages in practice, that’s his most difficult matchup of the season, I’ll guarantee it. Fant is really fast for his size, and T.J. is a great athlete as well.”

Sobotka said quarterback Nate Stanley, who finished 20 for 31 passing for 226 yards and five touchdowns, has improved during the season. Sobotka was especially impressed with the fourth TD pass when Stanley completed a pass to Hockenson for a 2-yard score while Ohio State defensive end Sam Hubbard was draped around his leg. That gave Iowa a 38-17 lead late in the third quarter.

“T.J. broke loose and Nate just stood in there and got it off with the guy hanging on him,” Sobotka said. “That was a big play.”

Sobotka said Sunday night the team had already moved on from the euphoria of Saturday’s victory. After all, a trip to undefeated Wisconsin comes later this week. Iowa enters at 6-3 overall and 3-3 in Big Ten play.

“We have a 24-hour rule,” Sobotka said. “No matter whether you win or lose, after 24 hours it’s over. On to the next week. If you win a game like this, you are supposed to not immediately move on. You can enjoy it for 24 hours, then you have to realize there’s another game coming up. The goal is to win every game you suit up for.”

Sobotka hopes to practice before the end of the season. If so, he could suit up again for home games. But, he said the travel roster is pretty well set at this point.

Those who don’t suit up for the game don’t join the team in the locker room afterward, so Sobotka wasn’t a part of that scene Saturday.

“No, I wasn’t there,” he said, “but I can imagine. I’m sure it was going crazy.”

Special memory

Even though he wasn’t in uniform, Saturday’s game and field rush — “Yeah, we went down and patted everyone on the helmet like everyone else, except we called them by name” — will stick with Sobotka as a special memory of his years as a Hawkeye. He has one season left after this one.

“It was a highlight of my career, yes,” Sobotka said. “Beating a team like that, especially in the way we did it, that stands out as a special day. Definitely it’s a story I can tell people about that I’ll never forget.”