I re-watched the entire game trying to be objective and not emotional. It gave me some reason for hope this season (I'm not saying we're going to a bowl game or anything, but more than 1-2 wins MAY be possible). If you only watched the first quarter, you would have thought we would win by 3 touchdowns.
The defense looked good - really, quite good - when they were rested. They got sloppy and had issues when the offense couldn't stay on the field or turned the ball over. And, a lot of the reason the offense couldn't stay on the field was because the penalties often came on 1st or 2nd down, and put us in 20-yard-to-go situations, which took away the run game completely as an option, so UNI's D had a much easier time defending. By 4th quarter, the D was gassed because of this.
After our last touchdown, the D forced a 3 and out, and we had the ball and a 1 point lead with less than 6 minutes left. Eliminate any 2 of the 3 turnovers that followed and we likely win the game.
We can't upgrade talent mid-season but hopefully CMC and co. can work on the turnovers and penalties. If we can just cut the penalties in half, I think we have a 20-30% chance of beating Iowa this Saturday. If we can cut the penalties in half and keep the turnover margin even or better, that chance might creep up around 50%.