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.

The post A Breeze in Iowa City appeared first on KRUI Radio.

As you would expect, Iowa and Minnesota slugged it out all night long, but the Hawkeyes took command early and never looked back.

Iowa retained possession of the coveted Floyd of Rosedale Trophy with a 17-10 win over Minnesota on Saturday, the 13^th Iowa win in the last 17 meetings.

Coming off a lackluster offensive performance last week in Evanston, the Hawkeyes came out firing on their first possession. Going against the grain, the Hawkeyes elected to receive first after winning the coin toss.

The Hawkeyes started the first drive with three consecutive completions to three different receivers and moved all the way to the Minnesota 28. Akrum Wadley capped off the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run to give Iowa an early 7-0. Just 2:23 had come off the clock.

Then, as quickly as it had showed up, the Iowa offense disappeared.

Seven more drives ensured for Iowa in the first half. They resulted in five punts, four three-and-outs, an interception on the first play of a drive, and a fumble with 44 seconds left in the half.

After going 80 yards on the opening drive, the Iowa offense totaled just 86 yards of offense the rest of the half.

“It just comes back to execution stuff,” Nate Stanley said. “It just tailed off a little bit.”

On the other side of the ball, the Hawkeye defense showed up yet again. They bent, but refused to break for the eighth straight game.

Minnesota’s offense worked a couple of decent drives and got to within striking distance just twice. The Gophers attempted a fake run on fourth-and-goal from the Iowa seven, but Demry Croft overthrew his tight end Nate Wozniak and the defense forced a turnover on downs.

Later, Josh Jackson tipped a pass intended for Rashad Still, and Jake Gervase came down with an interception in the end zone.

The Hawkeyes got close to scoring again before halftime, but a James Butler fumble at the Minnesota 21-yard line halted the drive.

At halftime, the score was a 7-0 Hawkeyes. Aside from the first five Iowa plays, the teams could not possibly have been more evenly matched.

Even though the offense stumbled in the first half, the Hawkeyes came out of the locker room and put together another good drive to start the third quarter.

Stanley led the Hawkeyes on a 67-yard drive and capped it with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Noah Fant. The deep ball nearly reached press box heights.

“I think we got a call from the FAA on that one,” Kirk Ferentz joked after the game.” We didn’t have clearance.”

Many fans could finally let out a deep sigh of relief after Stanley connected with Fant. At least once a week, Stanley seems to overshoot the big tight end on a deep route, but this time was different.

“You give yourself some more room for error on a ball like that,” Stanley said. “Especially with the struggles that we’ve had early in the year, it’s something we’ve worked on in practice, and it transferred over to the game. “

Much like the first half, the Hawkeyes failed to get much else rolling after the first drive of the half. The next three drives resulted in three-and-outs.

The Gophers finally found the end zone in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Kobe McCrary. The score pulled the Gophers to within a touchdown.

Miguel Recinos added a field goal for the Hawkeyes two drives later, narrowly connecting on a 32-yard field goal to make it 17-7 in favor of the Hawkeyes.

On the next Gophers drive, Emmit Carpenter hit a 33-yarder to make it 17-10.

The Gophers had one last shot with 1:21 on the clock, but Croft was sacked by Anthony Nelson on fourth down to secure the trophy game victory.

Defense made the difference for the Hawkeyes yet again. The Gervase interception and two turnovers on downs stand out, but so too does the play of corner back Josh Jackson.

Jackson entered the game with a Big Ten-leading 11 pass breakups and added four more in the victory. Jackson was targeted seven times and only allowed one catch for nine yards.

On offense, the return of James Butler seemed to open up options for the offense as well. Butler rushed for just 28 yards on 11 carries, but having him allowed Wadley to stay fresh. Wadley finished with 70 rushing yards and a touchdown.

“Having James back in there is big for us, especially on those tough yardage downs,” Stanley said. “He can get up in there and make some hard yards.”

Moving forward with a little bit of momentum, the Hawkeyes (5-3, 2-3) will have tough tasks each of the next two weeks.

First, Ohio State will come to Kinnick, fresh off an impressive, comeback victory over second-ranked Penn State. Then, the Hawkeyes will travel to Camp Randall to play a likely 9-0 Wisconsin team in the Heartland Trophy game.

Game time for next week’s game against the Buckeyes (7-1, 5-0) is set for 2:30pm and can be seen on ESPN networks.

The post Hawkeyes Top Gophers, Retain Floyd of Rosedale Trophy appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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.

The post Hawkeyes Heartbroken by Penn State Walk-off Touchdown appeared first on KRUI Radio.