The Iowa football team drops to 1-1 on the season after a 16-13 loss to Iowa State. This is the second-straight loss to the Cyclones and the third in the last four years.
Quarterback Mark Gronowski finished the game with 83 passing yards on 13-of-24 attempts for no touchdown and one interception, along with 16 rushes for 37 yards. Running back Kamari Moulton logged 60 rushing yards on 11 attempts, and wide receiver Jacob Gill racked up five catches and 52 yards.
“Just a disappointing outcome for us. And I don’t think it was our preparation or effort,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said psotgame. “The preparation was good during the week and our effort was good today… We’ll go through the tape, see we can learn, and then, most importantly, see what we can do moving forward.”
First half
The first quarter was dominated by Iowa State as the Cyclones outplayed the Hawkeyes to a 106-23 yard discrepancy . Despite the scoreless start for Iowa, it only trailed by six points as cornerback T.J. Hall had two huge pass break-ups — one that would’ve put Iowa State in the red zone, and another in the end zone. The Cyclones settled for field goals on both of those drives.
“Preparation and opportunity,” Hall said. “Mental focus… Wanted to make sure my footwork was good. I worked on it all week during practice and it showed today.”
The Hawkeyes recovered its own punt around the Iowa State 33 with three seconds left in the first quarter, and quarterback Mark Gronowski used his legs to pick up 13 yards and a first down.
Though they were stopped from reaching the end zone in the beginning of the second quarter, kicker Drew Stevens nailed the 31-yard field goal to put Iowa on the board.
The two teams logged three straight three-and-outs before Gronowski was picked off by Iowa State’s Jeremiah Cooper and returned 24 yards down to the Iowa 18. The Cyclones went the distance in five plays capped off by a Rocco Becht two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Benjamin Brahmer for the game’s first score.
The Hawkeyes, however, responded with a 17-play, 85-yard drive that resulted in six first downs and a Gronowski two-yard touchdown rush to cut the Cyclone lead to 13-10 right before halftime. Iowa State was held to 26 total yards in the second quarter.
“I really came into this game a lot more confident, a lot more calm. Was able to make a lot more better decisions throughout the game,” Gronowski said. “We were running a ton of [run-pass options] just trying to attack those safeties, and we’re trying to get aggressive in the run game.”
Second half
Iowa State was halted to a three-and-out in the first drive of the second half, partly due to another Hall pass break-up that likely would’ve resulted in a 70-plus-yard touchdown pass. Iowa’s offensive momentum carried over in a 16-play, 77-yard drive over 9:28 that ended in a Stevens 36-yard field goal to knot the score at 13 apiece.
The Cyclones, in dire need of a score, pushed a drive just beyond the halfway mark into Iowa territory before Hall and Kobe Entringer broke up a Becht potential touchdown pass, forcing a punt. The Hawkeyes also drove down to around the midfield mark before punting away.
With the game on the line, Becht led a 13-play, 55-yard drive into Hawkeye territory to set up kicker Kyle Konrardy for a 54-yard field goal attempt and knocked it in for the 16-13 lead with 1:52 to go.
After four tries, two of which Gronowski was sacked for a loss of yards, Iowa turned the ball over on downs. Iowa State secures its second win in a row over the Hawkeyes.
“It definitely hurts,” Hall said. “Besides just the rivalry game, but any game, it’s always going to be a disappointment. We wanted to get it done for all the seniors that have played in their last Cy-Hawk game. But it’s not the end of the year.”