IOWA CITY, Iowa – Mid-fall in eastern Iowa brings unpredictable weather and attitudes just as erratic.



Gray skies, slight wind and 49 degrees doesn’t quite seem as warm and friendly at the Pedestrian Mall as the same temperature did two weeks ago. Students shuffle to their locations briskly, while the others avoid discussion altogether. A couple of losses will do that to a college football community.



At Iowa, the teams are just good enough to keep you invested and let you down simultaneously. Fans are passionate and earnest, and the majority understand winning a national title is beyond a reasonable grasp. There’s little donor pressure on the coaching staff, and the football following drifted into apathy just once in the Kirk Ferentz era, but a 12-0 regular season in 2015 quickly reversed that negativity.



The program has earned bowl eligibility 17 of the last 18 years, so bottoming out is never an issue. The Hawkeyes have earned five top-10...