Iowa was 0-2 in Big Ten play entering Saturday and had something to prove against an Illini team that had struggled just as much, if not more than the Hawkeyes. Iowa pulled out an impressive 45-16 win thanks to a strong second half along with a good showing from the defense.

The game looked to start off well for the Hawkeyes who forced a turnover on the first play of the game, but then quickly turned the ball over themselves.

On the next possession Illinois was able to march down the field, but unable to make the Hawkeyes fully pay having to settle for a field goal early, making the score 3-0.

The very next drive, Iowa was able to use both dimensions of its offense and capped the drive off with a 5-yard touchdown catch to Nick Easley, making it 7-3 Iowa.

Sophomore quarterback Nate Stanley and Easley have become quite the duo this season. They have hooked up for three touchdowns so far, tied for the most of any of Stanley’s targets.

“He’s really molded into a great leader and has really great composure in the huddle. He never gets too high or too low and he’s a guy we can depend on,” said Easley when talking about Stanley.

Later in the half Illinois was able to capitalize on an interception thrown by Stanley and used great field position to score a touchdown tying the game at 10-10 with 6:40 left in the half.

The defense was something that had been a little suspect when looking at the rush defense. The Hawkeyes allowed 204 yards rushing on the day, but continued with their “bend don’t break” mentality, only allowing one touchdown the whole game.

In one of Iowa’s next drives they were forced into a fourth and six and were looking like they’d have to punt, but riverboat coach Ferentz opted to fake the punt, which worked to perfection, I might add. Iowa faked it to Amani Hooker who ran for 18 yards converting the first down for Iowa.

“It’s a play we’ve had in our playbook, but it has to present itself. Amani and the offensive line did a great job executing the play and we were able to covert,” said coach Ferentz when talking about the play.

Iowa and Illinois battled it out for the rest of the half and went into the locker room at halftime with the Hawkeyes holding onto a slim 17-13 lead thanks to two touchdown passes from quarterback Nate Stanley. Then it was time for the second half, where the Hawkeyes were able to impose their will on both sides of the ball.

Coming out of the half Iowa and Illinois both struggled to get the ball rolling. Iowa went three and out on their first two possessions.

Iowa desperately needed a spark and got just what they needed in the form of Brandon Snyder. Snyder who had torn his ACL just six months ago came up with the play of the game when he took a Jeff George interception 89 yards to the house making the score 24-13 Iowa.

“I am so thankful for the people that help me get back because this moment is priceless,” said Snyder when talking about the people who supported him along the way.

Illinois wouldn’t go down without a fight coming back on the next drive and scoring a touchdown to make it 24-16 late in the third quarter.

Then the fourth quarter rolled around and it was time for Iowa to put the game to bed. Iowa scored a touchdown on the first drive of the fourth quarter and there was no looking back. Iowa scored two more times in the fourth quarter and Illinois had absolutely no answer.

A big part of the fourth quarter was Akrum Wadley who ended the game with 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns, one coming on the ground the other in the air.

Wadley gave a lot of the credit for his success to the lineman. “Our offensive line was really able to get their blocks off and that’s what helped open up so many good running lanes for us”

Illinois receiver Louis Dorsey, who finished with 3 receptions for 75 yards, was asked what cost Illinois the game. “Just little things. I felt like they were the better team and we just played bad today.”

The Illini are now 2-3 (0-2 Big Ten) and are headed to Rutgers next week looking for their first Big Ten win of the season.

As for Iowa, they are now 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in Big Ten play heading into a bye week. This will give the Hawkeyes some time to focus on areas of improvement until the next time they come out on the field.

Following Iowa’s bye week, they head up to Evanston to face another Illinois team in the Northwestern Wildcats (2-3, 0-2). The game time has yet to be decided.

The post Hawkeyes Strong Second Half Will Them Past Illini, Pick Up First Big Ten Win 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.

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IOWA CITY – It wasn’t an ideal start, but new Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley got the job done in his first career start on Saturday.

After not completing a pass in the whole first quarter, Stanley settled in and connected for three touchdown passes to lead the Hawkeyes to a 24-3 win over Wyoming.

“I was really impressed with him,” said Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz. “He went through some tough times out there… The whole team responded to the bumps, but I thought he did too.”

It certainly wasn’t the cleanest game ever played by an Iowa quarterback, but a first-time starter is always going to have a learning curve.

Stanley was 0-for-4 passing with an interception in the first quarter. Not an ideal start by any means. Nick Easley’s 19-yard reception with 11:21 left in the second quarter was the first completed pass of the game for Iowa. After that play, Stanley was 7-for-10 passing.

“For Nate to make those kinds of throws, especially coming off a couple bumps, that says a lot about his makeup,” Ferentz said.

Later in the same drive after Easley’s first catch, the Hawkeyes went for it on fourth-and-goal at the Wyoming two-yard line. Stanley rolled right on a play action fake and hit tight end Noah Fant for the first touchdown, putting Iowa up 7-3.

“I know that at that point we had the run game going a little bit, we just wanted to run a play that we know we’ve always gotten a couple of yards on in practice,” Stanley said. “We had a lot of confidence in that play call.”

After a botched punt from Wyoming, Iowa got the ball back with 23 seconds left in the first half. Stanley hit Fant on a vertical route for a 32-yard touchdown, putting Iowa up 14-3 at half.

Stanley connected with Easley in the third quarter for a 45-yard touchdown after Easley fought off a tackle at the five-yard line. In his Iowa debut, Easley led the team with four receptions and 77 yards.

With three touchdown passes, Stanley became just the third Hawkeye since 1999 to have three or more passing touchdowns in his first start. The other two are Jon Beutjer (4, at Indiana in 2000) and Ricky Stanzi (3, vs Florida Atlantic in 2008).

The Hawkeyes won 24-3, but miscues could have made the game much closer. Iowa’s defense held strong, even after the offense committed four turnovers on the game. Stanley had three of the turnovers with an interception and two fumbles. Freshman receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette had the other on an end-around.

“I feel like I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I’m a little upset with some stuff that went on with ball security,” Stanley said.

There was good and bad from Stanley in his first start. His teammates know that things will get fixed over the next week of practice, but they were pleased with the demeanor of their young QB.

“He was very composed, ran the offense well and threw some good balls today,” Fant said. “I think he had a really good game.”

A new quarterback, a first-time play-caller in Brian Ferentz, and lots of young receivers usually lead to miscommunication and ball security problems in week one. All things considered, Stanley had a good, but not great, debut. He knows it, and the team knows it.

“Obviously our offense has things to improve on so we’re going to get back to the books,” Fant said.

The most important stat is that the Hawkeyes moved to 1-0 in the Nate Stanley era. He’ll get his first road test next week when the Hawkeyes travel to Ames for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series rivalry game. Game time is set for 11:00am on ESPN Networks.

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It was a tale of two sides coming into the game as the Cowboys, and their preseason Maxwell Award candidate quarterback and maybe one of the best quarterbacks in the league, Josh Allen, was looking to air it out against the young and Desmond King-less secondary of the Hawkeyes. On the other side, Iowa’s quarterback, Nate Stanley, was making his first college start against a veteran Wyoming secondary. Allen came out in the first quarter hitting his targets as he went 8-10 passing with 47 passing yards, connecting with Austin Conway for half of those completions. Stanley on the other hand ended the first quarter going 0-4 and was intercepted by Rico Gafford with a little less than 11 minutes to go. The Cowboys could not capitalize in the first quarter as the score was 0-0 after a quarter of play.

Wyoming scored first early in the second quarter with a field goal to give themselves a 3-0 lead; however, that would be the last time they would put points on the board. On the next Iowa possession, they marched down the field (thanks in part to a 4th down conversion and Nate Stanley’s first completion for a 19-yard gain) and took the lead with Stanley’s first career touchdown pass to Noah Fant on a 4th and goal. The Hawkeyes quickly stopped the Cowboys to get the ball back only to give it right back when Nate Stanley was sacked and fumbled the ball away to the defense with under a minute to go in the half.

The Hawkeye defense would not let the Cowboys score. Josh Allen was called for grounding which pushed them out of field goal position and then on a 4th down, Tim Zaleski muffed the punt which would set Iowa up on the 32-line of Wyoming. The next play, after an offsides penalty, Stanley found Fant again for his second touchdown pass of the game to make it 14-3 Hawkeyes going into halftime.

Wyoming came out in the second half on fire. The Cowboys were driving down the field but had a potential touchdown pass broken up at the last second by Joshua Jackson which ended the drive and stopped their momentum.

Halfway through the quarter, Nate Stanley gots his third touchdown of the day when a 45-yard completion is taken in for the score by Nick Easley to make the score 21-3. With all the momentum going their way, the Iowa defense forces Wyoming into a three-and-out.

The Hawkeyes turned it over again when Stanley fumbled after a big hit, setting the Cowboys up with good field positioning. The Cowboys still could not put anything on the board as they had a touchdown call reversed and missed a field goal that drive.

Wyoming would get the ball back only to have breakout corner, Josh Jackson, pick off a Josh Allen pass and run it back 41 yards to give the Iowa offense the ball back with good field position. Iowa then kicked a field goal on the ensuing possession to give us the final score of 24-3.

Running back, Akrum Wadley ran for over 100 yards for the game, something that Hawkeye fans are used to seeing as Wadley rushed for over 1000 yards last year. Speaking of the Iowa rushing game, they added another 1000-yard rusher in James Butler which makes Iowa the only team in FBS with two 1000-yard rushers in the backfield.

“We both feel strong about this year,” Wadley said of he and Butler sharing the backfield.” If we keep putting in the hard work and we keep grinding and running behind this line, we’ll be good, we’ll be fine.”

Hawkeye fans will have something to look forward to from one, if not both of these backs.

It is not often a team that has four turnovers wins a game by three possessions but Iowa somehow found a way to shut down Josh Allen and in the process, gave Nate Stanley momentum heading into the highly anticipated rivalry game next week against Iowa State at Ames.

The Hawkeyes still have some work to do on both sides of the ball and hopefully they will figure it out in time so they can bring the Cy-Hawk trophy back to Iowa City.

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