They fought valiantly in their Big Ten opener, but unfortunately they fell short to Wisconsin (3-1, 1-0 in Big Ten) 28-17.

Ultimately, it was two big special team blunders and a long Badger drive that cost Iowa (3-1, 0-1 in Big Ten).

Both were fumbles, the first one was knocked out of Kyle Groeneweg’s hands the second came courtesy of Shaun Beyer’s foot inadvertently grazing the ball before being recovered by the Badgers.

It was the latter one that stung the most for the Hawkeyes as it set the Wisconsin offense up in the red zone and they capitalized with a touchdown.

“We made some critical errors,” coach Kirk Ferentz said. “If you’re going to win in the Big Ten you’ve got to play cleaner football than what we did tonight.”

The game started in the typical rough-and-tumble play that is to be expected when these two teams meet.

Both teams scored touchdowns in the second quarter, Wisconsin on a 6-yard pass and Iowa on a 20-yard pass from Nate Stanley to Noah Fant to make it a 7-7 tie going into half time.

It was Iowa who came out strong to start the second half, kicking a field goal on their first drive, then after Wisconsin put up 7, the offense rallied again once again on a Stanley to Fant connection that made it 17-14 heading into the fourth.

All game long the Hawkeye offense seemed to be grooving to the tune of the Kinnick faithful.

Stanley put up 256 yards with two touchdowns and only one pick, Ivory Kelly-Martin returned after missing the previous two games with 79 yards on 14 attempts, and T. J. Hockenson had a big night catching three passes for 125 yards.

But the grooving stopped I the fourth.

The same Iowa offense that had put up 332 yard in the first three quarters, managed just 72 in the fourth, 27 of those yards came on a meaningless last-second play.

Perhaps the most disappointing blunder for the Hawkeye offense came on their first drive of the fourth quarter, when Stanley missed a wide open  Hockenson on first down.

“I just missed that throw,” Stanley said. “I think that would’ve set the tone for a good drive because he would’ve caught it a ran for a while. That’s definitely one I want back.”

Instead of the drive starting out with a big gain, the Hawkeyes were forced into second and long, then a three-and-out.

That made way for the Badgers to do their damage, and they did just that.

With 5:40 to go Wisconsin got the ball on their own 12 and put together a steady drive which took them all the way down the field and ended with a 17-yard pass from Alex Hornibrook to A. J. Taylor to put Wisconsin up 21-17 with 57 seconds to go.

A Stanley interception and 33-yard touchdown run by Alec Ingold officially sealed Iowa’s fate.

“It hurts,” Safety Jake Gervase said of the loss. “When you play as hard as you can for sixty minutes it hurts. We got to play better. Credit to Wisconsin they played better tonight in all three phases.”

As always, Ferentz will allow the players 24-hours to get over this game and then its on to the next.

Iowa has a bye week next weekend, but they will travel to Minnesota on the 6th of October at TCF Bank Stadium.

The post Kinnick Magic A No Show Vs Wisconsin appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa City, Ia.- The Hawkeyes reaffirmed something that many of us have already known: They have a good defense.

The Hawkeyes (3-0,0-0) defeated the Northern Iowa Panthers (0-2,0-0) in dominant fashion by a score of 38-14.

All together, the defense held Northern Iowa to only six yards of rushing. While the usual suspects showed up, there were some other players that got on the stat sheet as well.

“Our defense just in general, especially the front seven, linebackers and then the guys up front, I think we’re developing some depth,” Head Coach Kirk Ferentz said.

18 Hawkeyes recorded tackles during the contest. Linebacker Kristian Welch led the way with eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Michael Ojemudia chipped in five tackles of his own and his first career interception late in the first half.

Cedric Lattimore, A.J. Epenesa and Brady Reiff all recorded a sack against the Panthers. Epenesa now leads the Hawkeyes in the sack department with four sacks on the year.

On the other side of the ball, Nate Stanley threw for a season-high 309 yards and two touchdowns. On the receiving end of one of those touchdowns was tight end Noah Fant.

That touchdown was the fourteenth touchdown reception of Fant’s career and moves him into the top spot for receiving touchdowns by a Hawkeye tight end in program history. Fant’s 14 touchdown receptions ties him for ninth all-time.

The tight end has been a staple at Iowa for years and Fant believes others should take note.

“They got to want to cover our tight ends,” Fant said. “Tight ends are a big part of our offense. Not only me but T.J. (Hockenson) also. We just got to try and find holes in the defense.”

The Hawkeyes will begin conference play Saturday night against the Wisconsin Badgers (2-1,0-0). Kickoff will be shortly after 7:30 p.m. and can be heard live at http://mixlr.com/kruifm/.

The post Defense and Offense Solid as Hawkeyes Prevail appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Iowa showed us first hand how hard football can be.

The Hawkeyes looked lethargic for the second straight week as they dropped their home finale to the Purdue Boilermakers 24-15.

“Told our team you win as a team, you lose as a team, and certainly tonight that’s the case,” said head coach Kirk Ferentz. “We lost as a football team.”

Mistakes cost the Hawkeyes big time in this one.

On the first Purdue possession, Iowa forced the Boilermakers to punt from their own 40-yard line, but Amani Jones and Nick Niemann met in the backfield, resulting in a roughing the kicker call. Purdue maintained possession and later scored on a D.J. Knox five-yard touchdown reception.

The roughing call was the first of six penalties called on the Hawkeyes. Most penalties were costly, including a couple false starts that stalled drives.

In the second quarter, a pooch punt from Stanley pinned the Boilermakers inside their own three, and senior Nathan Bazata recorded a sack-safety on Purdue quarterback Elijah Sindelar. Iowa trailed 7-2 at the time, and it marked the third straight game in which the Iowa defense scored before the offense.

Purdue kicked off from the 20 and the ball bounced out of bounds near the Iowa 30. By rule, the ball was placed 30 yards from the point of the kick at the 50.

The Hawkeyes took advantage of the field position and marched on a nine-play scoring drive. Stanley found Matt VandeBerg on fourth and five for a gain of 18 that set up a two-yard touchdown run for Akrum Wadley.

At the half, Iowa led 9-7, even though the offense had not looked great.

The Hawkeyes elected to receive the game’s opening kickoff and go into the wind in the first and third quarters, allowing them to get the wind to finish the game. This gave Purdue the wind to start they third quarter. The Boilermakers found a matchup they liked and exploited it.

Manny Rugamaba lined up against Purdue senior wide receiver Anthony Mahoungou most of the first half, and Purdue was adamant on not throwing the ball towards Josh Jackson. Instead, Sindelar targeted Mahoungou three straight plays.

Rugamba allowed an 11-yard catch, was flagged for pass interference, and then was beat deep for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Purdue led 14-9.

After the Iowa offense went three and out, Colten Rastetter’s short punt set Purdue up at the 50. Sindelar stayed away from Jackson and targeted Mahoungu again.

Michael Ojemudia lined up on Mahoungou to start the drive, but again, Mahoungou had the upper hand and beat Ojemudia for a 35-yard gain. Looking for answers, defensive coordinator Phil Parker sent Matt Hankins out to cover Mahoungou. Two plays later, Sindelar connected with Mahoungou for a 16-yard touchdown pass.

In just over three minutes of game clock, the Boilermakers had taken full advantage of one matchup. In a flash, they led 21-9.

“They’re a wide open offensive football team,” Ferentz said. “The real issue is we gave up some deep balls. And you can’t win doing that either, giving up big plays.”

After the series, Jackson was sent to the right cornerback position to guard Mahoungou, but the damage was done.

The Hawkeyes would struggle on offense and not muster anything in the third quarter. The offense did not score until Stanley hit Noah Fant for a six-yard touchdown completion with less than four minutes remaining in the game. Iowa trailed 24-15 and failed to covert the two-point try.

Purdue recovered the on-side kick attempt and ran out the clock to secure the victory.

The offense has gone completely missing since the 55-point output against Ohio State. Frustration was felt inside Kinnick Stadium on Saturday. Fans booed on a few occasions, and even let out some sarcastic cheers after first downs.

You’ve probably never seen so few fans at a game in Kinnick. Most fans were gone before the midway point of the fourth quarter.

The Boilermakers’ defense is better this year than it has been in years past. They gave Stanley and the Iowa offense trouble from start to finish.

“It’s tough to prepare well for every single look that they have, especially when they have so many of them,” Stanley said. “They played really well all day.”

After the offense gained just 66 yards of total offense last weekend at Wisconsin, the Hawkeyes offense did a little better this week – it’d be hard to do worse – but still looked discombobulated. The Hawkeyes totaled just 14 points on offense and finished with 258 total yards of offense.

It has seemed for the past two weeks that energy was lacking from the Iowa sideline. Players and coaches couldn’t pin it down though. The team showed no signs on dropping off in practice either of the past two weeks.

“No, I haven’t seen anything,” Josey Jewell said. “I thought we practiced pretty well. I thought this week went well.”

It’s also impossible to blame just one position group for the loss. On offense, four different receivers recorded a drop, failing to take advantage of the few opportunities they had for yardage.

Special teams was as frustrating as ever, and it merely started with the early penalty from Jones and Niemann. Rastetter averaged just 29.7 yards on his six punts, albeit, most were into the wind. Regardless, the rugby-style punts couldn’t get much carry.

On the return end, VandeBerg misplayed a couple of punts again today, including a fourth quarter punt that he made a diving attempt on. He couldn’t hold on, and it set up a field goal for the Boilermakers after they recovered it.

“I thought I could field it cleanly, and obviously I was wrong,” VandeBerg said.

The offensive line has also seen better days. Stanley was sacked six times for a loss of 44 yards. Failing to recognize the blitz packages – of which, Purdue has many – led to the demise.

In all, it was just a rough day at the office, and a difficult way to say goodbye to so many impactful seniors.

“Its tough,” Jewell said. “It just shows you have to come out every week. Any team can do anything.”

With just one more game on the schedule, a Black Friday matchup with Nebraska, the Hawkeyes say they’re ready to turn their attention to the Cornhuskers in the short week.

“Your body is going to have to be physically ready,” Jewell said. “Definitely going to need a lot of sleep this week to stay on task. The thing is we don’t have school so guys should be able to put that extra time in.”

Iowa (7-5, 3-5) and Nebraska (4-7, 3-5) will kick off on Black Friday at 3:00pm CST on Fox Sports 1.

The post Boiler Spoiler on Hawkeye Senior Day appeared first on KRUI Radio.

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.

The post Iowa Dominates No.3 Ohio State on Unforgettable Night 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.

Another lackluster performance on the road means trouble for the Hawkeyes, who dropped today’s contest against Northwestern by a score of 17-10 in overtime.

Despite early success, the offense sputtered in the second half, and the injury-filled defense could not hold on the whole time.

The Hawkeyes got into Northwestern territory on each of their firs two drives, but came away empty each time. Neither team managed to get points on the board in the first quarter.

It looked as though a scoreless first half was a possibility until just 40 seconds remained in the first half. That’s when Nate Stanley found a wide-open Noah Fant for a six-yard touchdown pass. The Hawkeyes took the 7-0 lead into halftime.

At the half, Iowa had outgained Northwestern 238 yards to 107 yards. Northwestern’s star running back Justin Jackson had carried the ball nine times for just 30 yards.

But that was just the first half.

In the second half, Iowa’s offense did not move the same way it did before intermission. Each of the first three possessions resulted in punts, two of which were three-and-outs.

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that right this second,” Iowa Head Coach Kirk Ferentz said when asked about the differences from first half offense to the second half. “First half we moved the ball pretty well…the second half was clearly something different. It comes down to details.”

The Hawkeyes finished the game with 312 yards of total offense. That’s means they produced just 74 yards in the second half and overtime.

All the momentum shifted to the Wildcats. While the Hawkeyes were going three-and-out, the Wildcats tied the game on a Jeremy Larkin six-yard touchdown run with 7:19 to go in the third quarter.

The Wildcats would get a field goal from Charlie Kuhbander two possessions later to take a 10-7 lead with just over eight minutes to play.

Looking to get something moving a couple drives later, Stanley fired a deep ball to Ihmir Smith-Marsette, but the freshman receiver had cut his route off short. The miscommunication led to an easy interception for JR Pace. But again, the Iowa defense stopped the Wildcats on fourth down.

The Hawkeyes marched on the next drive and found themselves facing a fourth-and-inches situation at the Northwestern 26-yard line. A false start from three Hawkeyes forced the field goal unit to come on instead, and Miguel Recinos knocked in a 48-yarder to tie the game with 1:30 on the clock. Northwestern ran it out and went to overtime.

In overtime, the Wildcats scored on their first possession. Quarterback Clayton Thorson rushed up the middle for a one-yard touchdown to go up 17-10. The play was set up by a 23-yard catch and run from Justin Jackson, in which he made four Hawkeyes miss tackles. Jackson would finish the game with 132 all-purpose yards (93 rushing, 38 receiving).

Iowa gained just seven yards on its first three plays in overtime and was forced to go for it on fourth down. Stanley targeted Fant on the same play as their first half touchdown.

This pass hit Fant square in the numbers, but he couldn’t bring it in. The drop ended the game and dropped Iowa to 1-3 in the Big Ten.

The defense put up another great fight in this one, and did so most impressively without their two main signal callers. Josey Jewell and Brandon Snyder each missed the game due to injuries sustained during the Illinois game two weeks ago.

Jewell injured his right shoulder during the Illinois game and was not cleared to play today’s game. Snyder’s knee saw swelling after getting his first action since tearing his ACL, so he also was unable to go.

Instead, senior linebacker Kevin Ward got the start on the outside as Ben Niemann moved into Jewell’s middle linebacker spot. Jake Gervase started in Snyder’s place at free safety.

The defense picked up their missing teammates. Linebackers Bo Bower and Niemann were first and second on the team in tackles with 12 and 11 respectively. Gervase added six tackles, while Ward had four in his first career start.

“It’s just something that Iowa football has always been proud of, that ‘next man in’ philosophy,” said Gervase. “A couple guys had to step up. I think we had a pretty good game as a defense, we just gave up a couple crucial downs that cost us.”

The defense rose to occasion again, engaging the Wildcats in your traditional, smash-mouth, grit-filled Big Ten football game. In the end, it wasn’t enough as the offense had its struggles.

Stanley was 13-for-19 in the first half, but finished the game just 19-for-33 passing. Akrum Wadley was bottled up for much of the game too. On 26 carries, he still managed to find his way to 90 yards, his longest run being good for 22 yards.

“We’re a better football team when we can run the ball efficiently, it’s always been that way,” Ferentz said. “That is our plan, and it will continue to be our plan, so we have to do a better job there.”

For whatever reasons, the offense wasn’t ready coming out of the bye week. The offensive line wasn’t able to get a push like it did two weeks ago against Illinois. Apparently, there is still work to be done on that front.

Next week, the Hawkeyes (4-3, 1-3) return home next week to take on Minnesota in the Floyd of Rosedale trophy game. Start time is 5:30pm CST on FS1.

The post Offense Fades in Second Half, Hawkeyes Fall to Wildcats in OT appeared first on KRUI Radio.

Whether you bleed back or you bleed cardinal, this year’s Cy-Hawk game was one for the books.

It wasn’t easy, but the Hawkeyes were able to escape Jack Trice Stadium with a 44-41 overtime victory Saturday. Freshman receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette caught the game-winning touchdown pass in overtime to help the Hawkeyes fend off a scare in Ames.

The Hawkeyes led 14-10 at halftime thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from Nate Stanley. Nick Easley and Matt VandeBerg were on the receiving end.

Out of halftime, the Iowa offense rolled down the field on a 94-yard drive that was capped off by an Akrum Wadley one-yard rushing touchdown. Iowa led 21-10, and the offense was looking good.

Iowa State never gave in. On each of their next three drives, the Cyclones found their way into the end zone.

David Montgomery led the charge for the Cyclones on the ground. He finished with 112 yards on 20 rushing attempts and a touchdown run. His seven-yard touchdown put Iowa State up 31-21 with 11:46 to go in the game.

The Iowa offense had been stagnant, but a switch flipped on again on the next possession. The Hawkeyes started at their own eight-yard line, but Stanley led the troops down the field for a score. The drive was capped by Smith-Marsette’s diving grab from 15 yards out, making the score 31-28.

The ensuing Iowa State drive, Parker Hesse picked off Jacob Park to set Iowa up at the Iowa State five-yard line. The Cyclone defense held Iowa to a field goal, tying the game at 31 all.

As if the momentum had shifted enoug, the Cyclones made sure to get Jack Trice rocking again. Jacob Park his Hakeem Butler for a 74-yard touchdown pass to put Iowa State back up 38-31 with five minutes remaining.

After trading punts, the Hawkeyes got the ball back with three minutes on the clock.

That’s when Akrum Wadley took matters into his own hands.

With a minute on the clock, Wadley caught a short pass from Stanley and scampered his way downfield for a 46-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.

“I could hear the sideline yelling ‘get out of bounds’ because we were in two-minute drill,” Wadley said. “I was tired. Noah (Fant) just caught a first down, he was tired. We had to have it, I was trying to score.”

The electric play sent the game to overtime. Iowa won the toss and chose to play defense first. The Hawkeyes held Iowa State to a field goal, giving them a chance to win it with a touchdown.

They did just that.

Smith-Marsette made another diving grab to give the Hawkeyes a 44-41 victory, giving Iowa three straight Cy-Hawks wins, and three straight wins in Ames.

“The last play was something we have been practicing hard in practice,” said Smith-Marsette. “It is a play that we know if we have something, we can go to it.”

Smith-Marsette caught four passes for 36 yards in the game, just one week after fumbling on his first college touch against Wyoming.

“He’s got a little spirit to him that we really like,” said Head Coach Kirk Ferentz. “He seemed like the kind of guy that could shake that off.”

Fumbles, especially for younger players, seem to result in limited paying time, but the coaches went right back to their freshman receiver one week later.

“It shows that they believe in me,” Smith-Marsette said. “Last week I had a minor setback, but this week I came back and they showed they believe in me and I took advantage of it.”

Smith-Marsette helped lead the charge through the air, but he wasn’t the only one making plays. Nine different Hawkeyes caught at least one pass in the game as Stanley threw for 333 yards and five touchdowns.

“Last week, you probably noticed, he looked pretty tight at times,” Ferentz said. “For him to play the way he played in this environment says a lot.”

Stanley has now thrown for eight touchdowns in his first two games at the helm of a “run first” offense. In Saturday’s win, he led four touchdown drives of 89 yards or longer.

Wadley’s presence was felt in his final Cy-Hawk game. Wadley tallied 269 all-purpose yards on the day – 127 on the ground, 72 through the air, and 70 on kick returns.

It seemed as through the Cyclones were well on their way to reclaiming the Cy-Hawk trophy, but the fourth quarter did not go exactly as planned.

“At the end of it, they made those different plays to win the game,” said Iowa State Head Coach Matt Campbell. “That’s really what it comes down to – some critical situations and moments.”

The Cyclones outplayed Iowa for nearly the entire football game, but came up a play or two short. Montgomery finished with 164 yards of total offense and a touchdown, while Allen Lazard and Hakeem Butler combined for 151 yards and four touchdowns.

“Both teams left everything they had out there,” Ferentz said. “We’re really pleased to come out of here with a win.”

Iowa (2-0) will host North Texas at Kinnick Stadium next Saturday at 2:30pm CST.

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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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