Very rarely was the outcome in doubt in the Oct. 20 game; Iowa (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) dominated Maryland straight out of the swarm in its 23-0 victory.

Iowa’s dominance in this one shouldn’t have been much of a surprise, because it brought the third-ranked rushing defense into the game against a Maryland (4-3, 2-2) offense built on running the football.

That didn’t stop Maryland from trying to run, and, to put it nicely, it didn’t much work.

The Terrapins headed into the game averaging 245 yards per game on the ground, and they left Kinnick with a mere 68.

“The defense played a tremendous game,” head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “They’ve been playing really well overall, but today was a unique challenge. It was discipline plus tackling, and I think we did a good job of that.”

Offensively, Iowa relied mostly on field goals, with Miguel Recinos hitting 3, but the big moment for the Iowa offense came in the final seconds of the first half.

With 13 seconds left before halftime, Nate Stanley found Brandon Smith in the back of the end zone for a touchdown to give Iowa a 13-0 lead.

It was Stanley’s 17th touchdown of the season and Smith’s first as a Hawkeye, making it extra special for the sophomore.

“It felt great,” Smith said. “I knew the ball was coming to me because we had to score before the half. [Stanley] told me it was coming to me, so I just tried to get a good release. Getting my first college touchdown felt great.”

The other touchdown came courtesy of a Maryland miscue that saw the ball roll into the end zone, to be recovered by Anthony Nelson with under four minutes to go in the third quarter to put Iowa up, 23-0.

All game, the Hawkeyes’ focus on offense was rushing the football, and they ran a whooping 52 times, with merely 24 passes.

Iowa’s focus on the ground game came in large part because of the 30-mph winds that roared and swirled through Kinnick all game long.

“It made some things difficult,” Stanley said. “Especially in the passing game. The offensive line and running backs did an excellent job of carrying us today.”

Carry them they did — Iowa running backs combined for 224 yards on the ground, with Ivory Kelly-Martin leading the charge with 98.

Iowa’s successful day remaining well-grounded helped the Hawkeyes dominate time of possession, holding the ball for a staggering 40:55 minutes to Maryland’s 19:05.

Much of Iowa’s ability to be selfish with the football came courtesy of some excellent third-down play. The Hawkeyes were 7-of-13 on third downs before the fourth quarter.

“Our objective is to get off the field on third down,” Maryland linebacker Tre Watson said. “Unfortunately, we just weren’t able to do that. It’s just disappointing when you can’t get off the field on multiple third downs. It wears you down.”

While a Homecoming win is always something to celebrate, this one has little bit more excitement behind it; it also means that Iowa is bowl-eligible.

That’s certainly something worth celebrating, but the Hawkeyes aren’t content with just being “bowl-eligible.”

“We’re bowl-eligible, and that’s a big deal,” A.J. Epenesa said. “It’s what every team wants to be, but we’re not going to be happy with a six-win bowl game. We want to keep improving and get the best bowl game we can.”