Originally Posted by Gary_ISU 
I think it is a stretch to say Iowa improved. They won some games but if you breakdown the results they were un-impressive wins against bad teams.
I think Iowa was much worse than their 6-6 record would indicate. They were a couple plays away from 4-8. Iowa was consistenly dominated in the first half. Sports is all about winning so Iowa did improve in that aspect but were they a better team at the end of the season then the beginning. I think the answer is no.
Their "improvement" was because they played easier teams (save for Western Michigan) later in the season. They were completely beaten in every phase of the game by Purdue and Penn State. They struggled to beat bad Minnesota and Northwestern teams.
There is no doubt Iowa was worse than their 6-6 record indicated; they could easily have lost to Michigan State (overtime), Northwestern, and Minnesota. If Ohio State and Michigan had been on the schedule they could have easily posted a 3- or 4-win season.
