The ninth-ranked Iowa football team downed Indiana to move to 9-0.
By Danny Payne
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BLOOMINGTON, Indiana — There was an Indiana drive in the third and fourth quarter when it wouldn’t have been wrong to think No. 9 Iowa was in trouble. With momentum on their side, the Hoosiers had a 17-play, Iowa-esque drive — at least in terms of ball control — that went all the way down to the Iowa 10 before Indiana settled for a 28-yard field goal.
Hoosier kicker Griffin Oakes’ kick made it 21-20. Coming away from a 17-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:07 off the clock with only 3 points isn’t the most rewarding thing in the world, and following its defense minimizing the damage, the Iowa offense did not let that opportunity go for naught. After two scoring drives and an Indiana three-and-out, the scoreboard read 35-20 in favor of Iowa roughly 7:30 later.
“We knew they were going to give us a battle, especially their offense; they’re a big-play offense,” cornerback Desmond King said following his team’s 35-27 win. “… They executed on their end, we came back after halftime, and pulled it in, and played better defense.
“We made some key stops out there, some three-and-outs, getting the ball back for our offense and having them score touchdowns.”
Following the aforementioned drive, the Hawkeyes (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) not only scored those touchdowns, but it did so in a crushing manner to the Hoosiers (4-5, 0-5).
On the first touchdown drive, the Hawkeyes managed to keep going despite facing both second-and-15, as well as third-and-11. After quarterback C.J. Beathard displayed the ability to escape pressure as he did early in the season on numerous occasions, LeShun Daniels Jr. eventually found the end zone on a 1-yard scamper to make the score 28-20. That drive spanned nine plays, 75 yards and took 3:15 of the clock.
The next score came in the form of of a George Kittle touchdown to put the game at 35-20. Kittle received a short pass from Beathard, and as Beathard had done just before halftime, went up and over Hoosier defenders near the pylon and in for a 10-yard touchdown.
“When C.J. does that, that makes everyone go out and do that — that makes George Kittle go out and do that,” running back Akrum Wadley (120 yards, one touchdown) said. “We’re just following behind him, and we’re going to go as far as he takes us.”
If Indiana is a preview for the rest of the season, Wadley and the Hawkeyes are in luck. Beathard finished the day 19-of-31 for 233 yards and 2 total touchdowns. His poise — as well as that of the “quarterback” of the defense, Josey Jewell and his 15 tackles — can’t be overstated for the Hawkeyes.
If those two players weren’t on point at the same time for the Hawks, one picked up the slack while the other got back in rhythm. Although there were other key performances (King’s Iowa-record tying eighth interception of the year, Matt VandeBerg’s 5 catches for 68 yards, Wadley’s 65-yard touchdown run in the game’s second play, to name a few), Beathard and Jewell were the stars against the Hoosiers.
“Credit goes to our players, they find a way to get it done week in and week out,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We’ve been in some tough, sticky situations this year … It’s been a lot of fun to be with these guys, I can assure you of that.”
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