There’s a hint of bitter irony in how the final 61 minutes of this football season unfolded for Iowa.
The bitter part is obvious -- Michigan State capped a 22-play, game-winning drive on L.J. Scott’s 1-yard touchdown plunge with 27 seconds to play in the Big Ten title game; Stanford followed with a 35-point first-half barrage in the Rose Bowl as Christian McCaffrey toyed with the Hawkeyes.
It is ironic because Iowa, en route to a 12-2 season, focused on perhaps nothing more than finishing. It was a battle cry born last January from Iowa’s sluggish finish to the 2014 season.