Defense was the name of the game in the Big Ten Championship.
By Jordan Hansen
INDIANAPOLIS — In the Big Ten Championship, defense was the name of the game.
While, of course, Iowa lost by 3 points to Michigan State, its defense did something it hadn’t in the previous four games: hold an opponent to under 400 yards of offense.
Spartan quarterback Connor Cook managed just 191 yards, an interception, and no touchdowns against Iowa’s secondary. Cornerback Greg Mabin limited Michigan State first-team All-Big Ten wide receiver Aaron Burbridge just 61 yards on five catches.
“Those were some good wide receivers, and we saw it as an opportunity,” Mabin said. “It was pretty much the same game plan we’ve had all year long, with a few tweaks. We had a bit more speed on the field to get some bodies into space.”
Coming into the game, there had been a few questions surrounding Iowa’s passing defense. The unit gave up nearly 290 yards through the air over the three games preceding the Big Ten Championship, and it stood out as a potential mismatch.
However, having a likely first-team All-American cornerback in Desmond King takes pressure off the rest of the defense. Safeties Jordan Lomax and Miles Taylor were also not overwhelmed by the Michigan State passing attack and continually made plays.
“Iowa did a nice job I thought taking a lot of our wideouts out of the game, five-under, two deep, different things they were doing,” Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio said. “They played good, tight coverage.”
Strong coverage — paired with a decent pass rush — made Cook uncomfortable most of the night, and helped force him into a number of bad throws and gave Iowa a chance to win.
Iowa sacked the Michigan State quarterback twice and routinely pushed him out of the pocket, something King said was in the game plan. The Spartans also decided against challenging Iowa’s linebackers all that much, completing only two passes to tight ends.
However, despite the impressive defense Iowa played, Michigan State held onto the ball for 22:54 in the second half, and it cost Iowa the game.
Obviously gassed by the end of the fourth quarter, the Hawkeyes gave up 128 rushing yards in the second half after holding the Spartans to just 46 in the first.
The 176 total rushing yards was the third-most the Hawkeyes have given up in any game this year.
“We couldn’t quite get off the field,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Time ran out on us.”
Going 10-for-20 on third downs also helped the Spartan offense keep chugging along. Cook was a respectable 7-12 for 95 yards and had five first downs on third. He also rushed for a first down on the team’s lone fourth down attempt.
Michigan State was able to execute when it mattered most and Iowa’s defense did not have quite enough gas to finish off a win.
“We had our opportunities out there,” Lomax said. “It was a tough game. We played tough all the way till the end of the game. We just weren’t able to come up with the big stop.”
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