With winds gusting up to 45 miles per hour, moving the ball through the air had to have been difficult, some had thought. While it was not the passing attack that worked for the Hawkeyes this week, it was the defense that came up with the big plays all throughout the course of the game.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (6-1, 3-1) defeated the Maryland Terrapins (4-3, 2-2) 23-0 in a defensive grudge match.

The Hawkeyes held Maryland’s offense to 47 passing yards and only 68 rushing yards on Saturday for a grand total of 115 yards. The output was the lowest yard total Maryland has had all season. The next closest was when it had a resounding 220 yards of total offense against Michigan.

The defense pitched its first shutout since 2016 when it blanked Illinois in November of 2016.

“They’ve (defense) have been playing really well overall and pretty consistently,” Head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “But today was a really unique challenge… but preparing well and then you have to play with really good discipline.”

One of the true stars of the defense was defensive end Parker Hesse. Hesse tallied five total tackles, one sack and two total tackles for loss.

“We definitely (wanted) keep the zero up there,” Hesse said. “That’s something that’s kind of a feather in your cap.”

Defensive lineman A.J. Epenesa had a sack of his own, and safety/outside linebacker Amani Hooker picked of an opposing quarterback for the second time this season.

Defensive Lineman Anthony Nelson also recovered a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown.

Offense was a different story for the Hawkeyes.

Quarterback Nate Stanley wasn’t his sharpest. He threw for only 86 yards on 22 attempts. He had a touchdown pass to Brandon Smith and an interception as well.

The rushing attack, though, proved to be the best, and easiest, way to move the pigskin against the Terrapins on Saturday.

Ivory Kelly-Martin led the way with 98 yards on 24 carries. Chipping in was Mekhi Sargent with 54 yards on ten carries and Toren Young with 21 yards of his own.

“When you’re in the Midwest, you’re going to have days like today where it’s windy and tough and all of that,” Ferentz said. “If one thing is not going well, you’ve got to find something else that’s going to kind of propel you forward.”

Iowa will head to State College next week for a top-25 tilt against Penn State. Coverage will start shortly after 2:00 p.m. central time. Listen to all of KRUI’s remote broadcast on the Mixlr page.

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Ranked third in the AP poll and sixth in the College Football Playoff race, the Ohio State Buckeyes came to Kinnick Stadium for the first time since 2010. Having won each of the last five games over Iowa and 13 of the last 14, they had to feel good about being a 20.5point favorite.

The final score? 55-24.

The winner? Not the Buckeyes.

Donning alternate uniforms for the blackout, the Hawkeyes played a complete game in every capacity – offense, defense, and special teams – as they not only knocked the Buckeyes down, but knocked them out cold.

From the game’s first play, you knew something was up. Amani Hooker picked off Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett and took it back 30 yard for a pick six.

Seven seconds gone. Seven Hawkeye points.

“It certainly helped and got our fans even more juiced up,” said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “They were ready to go.”

Barrett responded, and led the Buckeyes down the field on the next possession, hitting Terry McLaurin for a 29-yard touchdown pass.

The teams traded field goals and were tied at 10 after one quarter.

From that moment on, a switch was flipped, a switch nobody knew the Hawkeyes had.

Iowa outscored Ohio State 21-7 in the second quarter and took at 31-17 lead to the locker room. Nate Stanley through three touchdown passes in the quarter, one to T.J. Hockenson and two to Noah Fant.

The second pass to Fant came with less than a minute before halftime and was set up by an interception from Josh Jackson.

Ohio State, who boasts one of the most productive and efficient offenses in the country would get going though, right? Surely the second half would be better.

Not the case. In fact, it was worse.

“You’d better be playing with your foot on the gas because these guys can close the gap pretty quickly, and I think our players understood that,” Ferentz said. “It’s one of those things that if you’re not going full speed, this thing could change quick.”

The Buckeyes failed to score in the third quarter, as Barrett and the offense couldn’t crack the code that was the Iowa defense. Each team punted twice before the Hawkeyes marched into Buckeye territory half way through the period.

On fourth and three at the Ohio State 20, the Hawkeyes trotted out the field goal unit. With an audible, kicker Miguel Recinos was split out wide with the offensive line. Only long snapper Tyler Kluver and holder Colten Rastetter were left in the middle of the field.

Rastetter took the snap and immediate fired it right back to Kluver, who had raced straight up field past a defender. The “pole cat” play gained 18 yards and set up Iowa at the 2.

On the next play, Stanley found Hockenson in the end zone for six, pushing the lead to 38-17 with just under seven minutes to play in the quarter.

On the play, an Ohio State defender had fallen at Stanley’s feet and latched on to his left leg. Stanley settled, and fired across his body to Hockenson, showcasing the arm strength.

“That’s just part of being a quarterback, sometimes you have to make plays when they’re necessary,” Stanley said. “T.J. made a great adjustment. He saw it, he put his arm back inside, and I trusted that he would be able to wall off that defender and make a play.”

There was no looking back at that point. Iowa’s defense forced four Buckeye punts in the third quarter and allowed just 22 yards of offense.

The rout that nobody saw coming was on.

Showing no signs of letting up, the Hawkeyes scored on the first play of the fourth quarter. Stanley hit Drake Kulick with a two-yard pass for the fullback’s first career touchdown.

So Iowa. Five touchdown passes, four to tight ends, one to a fullback.

Stanley finished the day completing 20 of his 31 passes for 226 yards and five scores.

The Iowa defense was no kinder to the Buckeyes than the offense. Jackson intercepted Barrett twice more in the quarter. First Jackson ripped a ball away from Buckeye receiver Austin Mack, then with just under 10 minutes to play, Jackson made an acrobatic one-handed catch that you’ll be seeing on highlight reels for the rest of the season.

At the start of this week, Jackson was being talked about as a potential first round NFL draft pick. His performance against a stout Ohio State team may have solidified that. Jackson leads the FBS with 20 passes defended and leads the Big Ten with five interceptions.

Barrett entered the game with a 25-1 touchdown-interception ratio, the best in the nation. He was picked off four times Saturday.

Recinos added a field goal, and Toren Young scored his first career touchdown to put the finishing touches on the 55-24 blowout victory.

Ohio State did find the end zone once in the second half. Barrett found Johnnie Dixon for a 22-yard score that was set up by a failed fake punt run from Rastetter.

When it was all over, the swarm was on. Fans piled onto the new Kinnick turf for a party at the tigerhawk.

“Last time I experienced that was Michigan, it was a similar feeling,” Jackson said. “It’s always good to have those feelings for later on in life, that’s something I’ll probably always remember.”

More importantly, no gear was lost.

“I kept my helmet on and strapped it up super tight,” Stanley said.

In last season’s upset win over Michigan, Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard had his helmet stolen during the swarm. It was paraded downtown for pictures, a tradition that Stanley would not allow to continue this season.

To see Iowa play that well against Ohio State is nearly inconceivable. The Hawkeyes have been known to play well at Kinnick – they’ve won four of their last five home games versus top five teams – but blowing out Ohio State?

“I didn’t think it was going to be a blowout,” Hooker said. “We knew we could win, we just wanted to come out and fight.”

While the team knew they could compete and play well, even they didn’t think they would have such a dominating performance.

“I definitely thought it was going to be a close game not matter what, whether we won or lost,” Josey Jewell said.

The Hawkeyes outgained the Buckeyes 487-371, holding Ohio State 200.3 yards below its season average.

Fifty-five points is the most Iowa has ever scored against Ohio State, and the 31-point victory is largest margin for Iowa against Ohio State. It’s the most points Iowa has scored versus a ranked opponent since beating No.19 Texas 55-17 in the 1984 Freedom Bowl.

A night no one in Iowa City will soon forger further cements the legend that is Kinnick Stadium in October and November.

Do you have title hopes? Don’t bring them to Kinnick. They won’t make it out alive.

Iowa (6-3, 3-3) travels to Madison next week to take on a top-10 and undefeated Wisconsin (9-0, 6-0) team on ABC/ESPN.

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Penn State, with no time left on the clock, beat Iowa 21-19 on a seven-yard reception from Juwan Johnson.

“That game is illustrative of what it takes to win in the conference,” said Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz. “We’re disappointed with the loss; its going to hurt for a while, but we’ll move on.”

As the game neared its close, flashes of the Michigan game from 2016 began to swirl in the heads of Hawkeye fans. Instead, the heartbreaking loss forces fans to recall the 2015 Big Ten Championship Game versus Michigan State.

In that game, it was L.J. Scott who reached over the goal line with under a minute left to shock the Hawkeyes. This time, it was Trace McSorely and Juwan Johnson.

The Hawkeyes had a lead over No. 4 Penn State with under a minute to play, even after sputtering offensively in the first half. That’s because the Iowa defense rose to the occasion yet again.

In the first half, the Iowa offense had absolutely nothing going, and the defense was forced to be on the field for nearly 20 minutes. Even on short rest, they held the Nittany Lions in check.

The defense surrendered just three points in the first half even though they allowed 219 total yards. When it came time to make big plays, the defense was making them.

After forcing a three-and-out mid-second quarter, Penn State pinned Iowa at the one-yard line, where Akrum Wadley was dropped in the end zone for a safety, making the score 5-0. On the next drive the defense forced a turnover on downs at their 32-yard line, but again, the Iowa offense was forced to punt.

With under a minute to play in the half, the defense came up big again. Sam Brincks forced a quarterback hurry, and Josey Jewell picked off a pass and returned it 33 yards to the Penn State 21-yard line.

On the next play, Nate Stanley found Nick Easley for just his third completion of the game. Just like that, the Hawkeyes were taking a 7-5 lead into the locker room.

In the first half, the Nittany Lions possessed the ball for nine more minutes than the Hawkeyes, outgained the Hawkeyes by 165 yards, and had nine more first downs. Yet, they trailed at the break.

Jewell and the defense held their own in the first half and competed hard in the second half, but one player made the difference after intermission.

That player was Saquon Barkley.

The Heisman hopeful was held to 63 rushing yards and 47 receiving yards in the first half. For Barkley, these numbers are relatively low. It was in the second half that he truly found his rhythm.

Barkley finished the game with 305 yards from scrimmage – 211 rushing (a career high), 94 receiving.

“He’s a good player,” said Brincks. “He’s a Heisman candidate for a reason.”

Barkley’s signature play came mid-fourth quarter. The running back caught a screen pass, then hurdled over would-be tackler Josh Jackson. Amani Hooker lowered his shoulder into Barkley while he was in the air, but Hooker just bounced off. Barkley landed on his feet and picked up four more yards for a first down.

It’s those plays that define a Heisman season.

Barkley only managed to find the end zone once in the game on an eight-yard touchdown run to put the Nittany Lions up 15-7. The drive was set up by a fumble from Akrum Wadley.

Wadley more than made up for his mistake. Five minutes later, he caught a pass from Stanley and took it 70 yards up the field for a touchdown, diving through two defenders to reach the end zone. Iowa trailed 15-13 after a failed two-point try.

With under two minutes to play, Wadley struck again.

The defense held as Anthony Nelson blocked a short red zone field goal with 2:42 on the clock. Working quickly, the offense drove down the field, and Wadley capped the drive with a 35-yard run through the left side.

Hawkeyes in front, 19-15. Jubilation inside Kinnick Stadium. Another monumental upset under the lights was imminent.

Or so it seemed.

McSorely led the Nittany Lions down the field, completing seven of his 11 passes to pick apart the Iowa defense that had caused him so many problems all night. With four seconds left, McSorely found Johnson for the game-winning score as the ball sailed no more than a centimeter above the outstretched hands of Hooker.

Elation turned to devastation in just four seconds. Kinnick stadium was silent.

As the Hawkeyes left the field, they were treated to a standing ovation from the home crowd.

Effort and heart recognized and appreciated.

Many fans stayed standing in their seats for more than 10 minutes after the game ended. It hadn’t sunk in yet.

“This game sucks, but you have to move on from it,” Jewell said somberly in his post game conference.

If you go look at a box score and leave scoring plays aside, one would think Penn State bowled over Iowa. But under the Kinnick lights, statistics usually take a backseat to grit.

“The guys expended a lot tonight,” Ferentz said. “Win, lose, or draw you’ve got to move on and make sure we don’t miss an opportunity next week.”

Losing sucks. Nobody says it doesn’t. But the Hawkeyes looked good against one of the top teams and top players in the country. That’s encouraging moving forward.

Iowa (3-1, 0-1) travels to East Lansing next Saturday to take on Michigan State (2-1, 0-0). Game time is 3:00pm CST at Spartan Stadium.

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