COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland’s crowd of over 45,000 was dressed for a blackout Friday night. But after the Hawkeyes delivered a knockout, gold was what stood out most from the bleachers inside Maryland Stadium.

No. 5 Iowa (5-0) scored 41 consecutive points in its 51-14 win over Maryland (4-1) under the Friday night lights. The Terrapins led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter, but the Hawkeyes scored on nine consecutive drives after that. Iowa outscored Maryland 31-0 in the second quarter, and tallied three touchdowns in the first five minutes of the quarter. And by the second half, the Iowa fans donning gold apparel in the northeast corner of the stadium vastly outnumbered the limited Terrapin fans still in attendance.

“It was great to have our fans here,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It was a nice contingent. I’m not really sure where they all came from. I guess a lot of people must live out east. They were really vocal, and that made things a little bit easier for us.”

Even with the game out of hand, Hawkeye fans had no reason to leave early. They might have missed another interception by the Iowa defense or touchdown by the Hawkeye offense if they did.

The Hawkeyes forced seven turnovers against the Terrapins (all by different defenders), and the Iowa offense scored six touchdowns (24 points came off of turnovers). Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras finished the night 21-of-30 passing for three touchdowns through the air, including a 67-yard pass to running back Tyler Goodson, who made a move in the open field in the third quarter and went all the way to the end zone.

Petras also scored two touchdowns on the ground via quarterback sneak, becoming the first Iowa signal caller with multiple scores on the ground and through the air in the same game since Brad Banks did so in 2002.

Iowa 31 points in the second quarter are the team’s most points scored in a single quarter since it scoring 37 in the first quarter against Akron in 2002. The 31 points scored in a Big Ten game are the most by a Hawkeye team since putting up 35 points on Illinois in the first quarter in 1985.

By the end of the game, the Hawkeyes swarmed into the locker room with “Let’s go Hawks” chants roaring through the stadium.

Hawkeyes head to the locker room 5-0 pic.twitter.com/QQ2dNdqzn7

— Robert Read (@Robert_Read34) October 2, 2021

Big picture

The Hawkeyes improve to 5-0 on the season, and pick up their second Big Ten win of the season. Iowa is one of two teams in the Big Ten West (Purdue) that have not lost to a conference opponent this season. The Boilermakers are 1-0 in the Big Ten as of Friday night.

Iowa has now won 11 straight games dating back to last season. The Hawkeyes are outscoring opponents 380-141 in that stretch, averaging 34.5 points per game and allowing 12.8 in those games.

Iowa has now won eight straight Friday games.

Turning point

Iowa scored a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead.

On the ensuing Hawkeye kickoff, Sebastian Castro forced Maryland returner Dontay Demus Jr. to fumble, and Iowa’s Jay Higgins jumped on the ball at Maryland’s 10-yard line. And Iowa made the most of the great field position.

Two plays later, Petras found freshman Arland Bruce IV open crossing the field for an eight-yard touchdown to put the Hawkeyes up 17-7 with 14:04 remaining in the second quarter. That was the first touchdown of Bruce’s career.

“I can’t even explain how I feel right now,” Bruce said of his first score. “Everything just feels crazy.”

Maryland never came within one possession after that fumbled kickoff and the Iowa touchdown that followed.

You get a turnover, you get a turnover

Iowa has now forced 16 turnovers this season. Along with the forced fumble, Iowa’s defense picked off Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa five times. Riley Moss, Dane Belton, Jack Koerner, Terry Roberts, and Kaevon Merriweather all intercepted the Terrapin quarterback, who led the Big Ten in passing yards per game coming into the contest. Quinn Schutle also picked off a pass after Maryland went to its backup quarterback.

“They had six interceptions?” Petras asked postgame. “That’s pretty incredible.”

The six interceptions are the most in a game since Iowa had a school-record seven interceptions vs. Wisconsin in 1982. Iowa leads the Big Ten with 12 interceptions. Iowa has 76 interception since 2017, more than any team in the country.

Tagovailoa finished 16-of-29 for 157 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions. The junior went to the bench in the fourth quarter, becoming the fourth quarterback not to finish a game against Iowa’s defense this season.

When Friday’s game started, 105 FBS players had more interceptions that Tagovailoa (one). After Friday’s game, no FBS players have more interceptions than Tagovailoa (six).

“We get all these picks because of what we do in practice,” Moss said. “And that’s really the most rewarding part. We work really hard in the offseason, and it’s really cool to see that pay off. It’s just helping the entire team. The scary thing is, we played really well tonight in all three phases, but the sky is the limit.”

Injury report

Kyler Schott made his first start of the season on Friday. The senior played with the first unit at left guard, while freshman Connor started at right guard. Schott was listed as the starting right guard heading into the season, but missed the first two games of the season with a foot injury he sustained while bailing hay at his family farm. Schott spent the last two weeks getting back into game shape — only playing limited snaps.

On another injury note, Petras got up limping after a roughing the passer call on Friday. Petras said he hyperextended his knee, but wasn’t necessarily in pain.

“It’s just kind of like fear when that happens,” Petras said.

Petras said he was was just trying to make sure his knee was OK, which he said it is.

Up next

Iowa returns to Kinnick Stadium next weekend and will host No. 4 Penn State. The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will air on FOX.