IOWA CITY — The Iowa football team is back in action at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, this time hosting an improving Washington offense that is coming off of a win against ranked Michigan.
The Hawkeyes, now 3-2 overall, suffered a 35-7 loss to now-No. 2 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, last week. Despite just a 7-0 deficit at halftime, three second-half turnovers from quarterback Cade McNamara gave the Buckeyes every opportunity to pull away.
The Huskies, on the other hand, downed then-No. 10 Michigan in Seattle, Washington, by a comfortable 27-17, earning them some AP Poll votes.
The Washington offense is as “air raid” as the Big Ten gets, evidenced by quarterback Will Rogers’ 271 yards and two touchdowns to receivers Denzel Boston and Giles Jackson against the Wolverines. The former caught five passes for 80 yards.
Thus, at the very least, the Iowa offense will really need to establish the run game to avoid exhaustion from its defense, which would really expose the secondary to deep shots.
But don’t count out the Washington defense. The Huskies’ linebacker corps is firm, and Carson Bruener is emerging as a top defender and tackler in the Big Ten.
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COIN TOSS: Washington won the toss and deferred to the second half. So the Hawkeyes will start with both the ball here and a chance to set the tone for the next three hours.
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5:57 1Q — Iowa 0, Washington 0 — The Iowa defense’s inability to make tackles has been costly. After Hawkeye running back Johnson was stuffed and McNamara’s throw was incomplete, resulting in a three-and-out, the Huskies moved the ball well into Iowa territory.
Wide receiver Rashid Williams was wide open on a go route, dusting Hawkeye cornerback Deshaun Lee, but a bad ball from Rogers let Lee recover and break it up. Still, short passes moved the chains, and running back Jonah Coleman brought the ball into field goal range.
But the 32-yard attempt from Washington kicker Grady Gross was blocked by defensive lineman Yahya Black. So the ball returns to the Hawkeyes.
1:33 1Q — Iowa 7, Washington 0 — An 11-yard completion to Iowa tight end Luke Lachey woke this offense up a bit and moved the chains, as did an opposite sweep to wide receiver Kaden Wetjen on the next play. And a quick and shifty run up the middle from running back Kamari Moulton grabbed 16 more yards — before Johnson found the end zone with ease.
A solidly patient drive from the Hawkeyes results in a nice little lead nearing the second quarter. It’s certainly refreshing for Hawkeye fans to see the flexibility offensive coordinator Tim Lester is weaving into his plays, including various fake handoffs and counters.
END 1Q — Iowa 7, Washington 0
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9:19 2Q — Iowa 7, Washington 7 — The Iowa run defense has done a strong job so far stifling the rush and maintaining pressure on Rogers, but the Huskies have used backup quarterback Demond Williams Jr. to keep it himself — this time for 17 yards to the right to keep the drive alive. Rogers found Jeremiah Hunter for 15 yards well into the red zone, and a beautiful back shoulder ball to Denzel Boston evened things up here at seven apiece.
7:16 2Q — Iowa 7, Washington 7 — After Iowa center Logan Jones drove his blocker deep into the Washington sideline, he was called for a late hit that set the Hawkeyes back. McNamara scrambled through pressure on third down and was sacked, but a highlight here has certainly been punter Rhys Dakin. He’s launched two punts now that have held in the air and forced Washington’s returner to retreat. It’s now the Huskies’ ball on the 15.
4:43 2Q — Iowa 10, Washington 7 — Kinnick erupted upon a fumble forced by defensive lineman Aaron Graves when Rogers was hit in the pocket. Recovered by fellow lineman Max Llewellyn, the Hawkeye offense needed just 20 yards for six. And Kinnick erupted into boos as three plays went nowhere. So kicker Drew Stevens connected on a 37-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead.
1:28 2Q — Iowa 17, Washington 7 — Pressure in the pocket forced Rogers to throw a dud downfield, producing a punt and a 37-yard return by Wetjen to Washington’s 35. Wetjen is having a day with the special teams unit thus far, his quick first step a serious threat if he has some room to run.
Johnson’s second touchdown of the game was receiving, not rushing. It came on an untouched and wide open out route against the left-ward flow of the offense on the play, 18 yards to the house for the 17-7 lead.
0:29 2Q — Iowa 17, Washington 10 — Rogers found receiver Giles Jackson on a beautifully placed ball for 20 yards, the Huskies really pushing to seriously shrink the Hawkeyes’ lead before halftime. But serious pressure on the pass brought the field goal unit out for three Washington points. The Hawkeyes think he missed it as the ball went almost right over the right goal post, but that’s a non-reviewable play.
Regardless, this Hawkeye pass rush has been a serious positive in the game today.
HALFTIME: Iowa 20, Washington 10 — Just when it seemed it was time for halftime, Johnson exploded for 53 yards along the left sideline, cutting back to the inside to push the distance — and ultimately the lead as Stevens nailed a 46-yard attempt for a 20-10 lead.
McNamara had Reece Vander Zee and missed him on a wide open shot in the end zone that should’ve been a touchdown, but McNamara failed to mark the freshman’s shoulder.
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11:41 3Q — Iowa 20, Washington 10 — A handful of Rogers passes progressed the ball up into Hawkeye territory, especially a 22-yard shot to Boston to the 25. That was interrupted by BallHawk cornerback Jermari Harris, jumping the route and intercepting Rogers with a 32-yard return to add to it. Iowa ball.
7:22 3Q — Iowa 23, Washington 10 — McNamara hit wide receiver Seth Anderson with a perfect ball in the gut for 19 yards — and 14 more after an unnecessary roughness penalty on Washington for slamming Anderson into the ground once the play was dead. But Washington’s defensive line knew it was going back to Johnson once up against the goal line and stuffed him.
Then backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan came in and bobbled the snap, lazily tossing the ball out to the sideline as he was being sacked. But his knee was down, saving the Hawkeyes from a fumble into a turnover and bringing Stevens in for three more on a 25-yard field goal.
END 3Q — Iowa 23, Washington 10 — A shared sack between Llewellyn and lineman Ethan Hurkett set the Huskies back to 4th and 11, and as Washington went for it, another beautifully placed ball by Rogers was bobbled and caught out of bounds. So it’s back to the Hawkeyes with a chance to close this thing.
Johnson jumped out and weaved around a handful of Huskies on his way for a 23-yard gain, ultimately taking us to the end of the third.
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14:56 4Q — Iowa 30, Washington 10 — And Johnson found the end zone again on a short handoff up the right-middle, his 13th touchdown this season that extended Iowa’s lead to 30-10.
12:51 4Q — Iowa 37, Washington 10 — Iowa’s defensive end Brian Allen sacked Rogers, and a three-yard pass over the middle to Washington receiver Keleki Latu on fourth down was not enough for a fresh set of downs. The turnover on downs thus gave the Hawkeyes excellent field position, which they took advantage of.
On the first play of the drive, McNamara hit backup receiver Dayton Howard for a 33-yard gain and a touchdown, celebrated with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spiking the ball on the ground. 37-10, Hawkeyes.
9:45 4Q — Iowa 40, Washington 10 — Yet another strong defensive stand brought about a Washington turnover on downs, and the same stand from the Huskies brought Stevens back in for a 51-yard field goal that connected.
Stevens has been on fire with the foot today, 4-of-4 on field goals for 12 points.
2:58 4Q — Iowa 40, Washington 16 — Even the second-string Hawkeye defensive line has stood tall, forcing the Huskies to their final option, which resulted in Williams Jr. connecting with Williams for six. And the two-point conversion failed. Of course, it won’t mean much regardless, the Hawkeyes riding the clock out to the end.
FINAL: Iowa 40, Washington 16.
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