By Pat Harty

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hindsight is a powerful force to argue against, and right now in the wake of last Saturday’s 20-19 loss to Iowa State, Kirk Ferentz is being hit hard by the “I knew it all along phenomenon.”

His decision to go for two points with slightly less than five minutes to play in the third quarter, and his decision to not call a timeout before Iowa State freshman kicker Kyle Konrardy would go on to etch his name in Cyclone legend and lore by making a 54-yard field goal with six seconds remaining are being questioned, and in some cases, ridiculed by fans.

For Kirk Ferentz to chase points with so much time left against Iowa State, and then not trying to ice a freshman kicker goes against some of the most basic and conservative beliefs about how certain game situations should be handled.

Perhaps this is the beginning of Unpredictable Kirk or Unconventional Kirk.

Now on the other hand, if Iowa had converted the two-point pass play, and Konrardy had missed from 54 without being iced, Kirk Ferentz would’ve been praised for his aggressiveness, and for thinking outside the box from which he rarely vacates.

The what-if factor still doesn’t change the sobering fact that both decisions backfired, and now fans are upset and need someone to blame.

Kirk Ferentz is that someone, along with new offensive coordinator Tim Lester, quarterback Cade McNamara, who only threw for 19 yards in the second half against Iowa State, and strong safety Xavier Nwankpa, who was beat on Rocco Becht’s 75-yard touchdown pass to Jaylin Noel in the third quarter.

Kirk Ferentz had his weekly in-season press conference on Tuesday, and not surprisingly, he said it was time to move on.

The time to move on was actually bright and early Monday morning when Iowa started practicing for this coming Saturday’s game against Troy at Kinnick Stadium

The 24-hour rule has long passed, and all that matters this week is beating Troy.

But is it really that easy to just move on, after blowing a 13-0 halftime lead against the instate rival on your home field?

Can you just forget about what happened only a few days ago?

“I mean, no, but you’ve got to push it back for now and wait for after the season and just focus on Troy right now,” said Iowa junior tight end Addison Ostrenga.

No disrespect to 0-2 Troy, but there are other nonconference opponents that would have posed a bigger challenge on Saturday.

This is one of those games where if the score is close Iowa fans would be in an uproar, especially if the offense sputters.

Should Iowa lose, it would be gut the program and torch the earth for some.

Comparisons are now being made to the 2002 season when Iowa overcame a devastating 36-31 loss to Iowa State at Kinnick Stadium to finish undefeated in the Big Ten for the first time in 80 years and 11-2 overall.

Iowa led Iowa State 24-7 at halftime in 2002, but it wasn’t enough as Seneca Wallace and his Cyclone cohorts came storming back, while Iowa self-destructed, especially in a turnover-plagued third quarter.

Iowa quarterback Brad Banks was stripped of the ball in the third quarter and things would only get worse as Iowa unraveled on sides of the ball.

Banks made no excuses after the game, and he took full accountability as a true leader would do.

He also happened to visit the Iowa Football Complex on Sunday, so maybe that is a good sign. Maybe the two teams are linked in some special way and will share a similar story by the end of the season.

Nobody had any clue at the time that Banks would go on to have one of the greatest individual seasons in program history, finishing as the 2002 Heisman Trophy runner-up in his only season as the starter.

“Coincidentally, Brad Banks was here on Sunday in the office, he was at the game, came through, we got to spend time with him,” Kirk Ferentz said. “Talked about the game. The thing about Brad’s story and probably that team’s story is how he did respond. Everybody knows Brad Banks, player of the year, runner-up to the Heisman. And obviously played really well all season long.

“But what an easy path. And what you’re referencing there, that third quarter, especially, was really rough. I share that story a lot with our players annually, just that the essence of what Brad did that year is, in my opinion — I don’t think anybody felt worse, talk about investment — nobody feels worse after a game in that case than him.

“But he went back to work. Brad’s pretty unflappable. That’s one characteristic I think he really embodies.”

The 2002 Iowa team crushed Utah State 48-6 a week after the Iowa State debacle, so that doesn’t bode well for Troy if the current Iowa team is anything like the 2002 squad.

However, it’s also way premature to compare the current Iowa team to the 2002 squad, which might be Kirk Ferentz’s best Hawkeye team, even better than the 2015 team that finished 12-0 in the regular season.

From Brad Banks to a rock-solid offensive line to All-America tight end Dallas Clark to running backs Fred Russell and Jermelle Lewis to receivers Maurice Brown, C.J. Jones and Ed Hinkel to kicker Nate Kaeding, the 2002 team was loaded on offense, while the Bob Sanders-led defense was also stacked.

As for Kirk Ferentz’s current team, it’s hard to say where it’s headed.

The schedule still looks manageable with Ohio State the only remaining opponent that is unquestionably superior to Iowa State.

Kirk Ferentz also moves on as good or better than any head coach.

He lives in the moment more than a mayfly, and that’s what the players need right now.

His decision to not go for two points, or not to ice the freshman kicker might come back to haunt him.

But Kirk Ferentz won’t waste time dwelling over what could have been because that would allow the stench from losing to linger longer than it should.

“This one’s gone,” Kirk Ferentz said of the Iowa State loss. “Now we’re on to the next one and fully aware. We have 10 opportunities to make. We have to make everyone count.”

Kirk Ferentz was asked about the quarterback situation, and the job still appears to be Cade McNamara’s to lose.

“I’ll stay on the same page I’ve been on. I think he just needs to play,” Kirk Ferentz said of McNamara, who is coming off two straight season-ending knee injuries. “He needs to learn from those experiences. The faster you learn, the better, obviously. He’s missed a lot of time. I think he needs that. It is a new offense for him.

“Probably, whatever it’d be, his third one in three years, something like that. There’s some learning going on there. He can play better and I think he will play better. It’s just a matter of working at it.

“There’s nothing magic we can do. Maybe eliminate some things, lean this way, lean that way, that type of thing. But otherwise just counting on him to play a little better. And we need to help him more in all positions.”

The fans that are clamoring for Northwestern transfer Brendan Sullivan to get a chance at quarterback probably wouldn’t like that answer because they worry that Kirk Ferentz is being too loyal and stubborn with McNamara, who was not made available to the media on Tuesday.

Kirk Ferentz was asked Tuesday if he would consider using Sullivan in some role, maybe similar to what Banks played in 2001 as the backup to Kyle McCann.

Part of what made Banks’ role in 2001 effective is that he was a dual-threat quarterback, while McCann was a pro-style quarterback.

“So they’re two different guys,” Kirk Ferentz said. “But our thinking was Brad was a guy that we thought had a good future here a year later, and we’re going to get him involved in possible weekly. But that was dictated by Brad’s performance in practice.

“We’ll keep an open mind to anything. Obviously if it’s going to help us win games now, that’s the first priority. And secondly, if a player — we rotate at other positions — it’s a little tougher at quarterback. It would take the right guy. But Brad certainly was the right guy.”