Final: No. 9 Iowa 35, Indiana 27

Key play: C.J. Beathard scrambles, converts huge third down

Iowa appeared ready to punt the ball back to IU leading 21-20. On third-and-11, Beathard scrambled to his left — something he hasn’t done well since the groin injury — and delivered a strike to Matt VandeBerg to keep the drive alive. It showcased everything Beathard is about — mobility, toughness and clutch. Without that conversion, Iowa punts the ball back to IU with a one-point lead and a tired defense. Instead, it set up a touchdown to give the Hawkeyes a two-possession lead that they wouldn’t surrender.

Telling stat: Nate Sudfeld held to 16-of-37 passing

This was a mix of a variety of things. Sudfeld was not at his best, his receivers didn’t give him any help, and Iowa defended the pass better than anyone has against IU. The way the Hoosiers have to play to win, that can’t happen. On a day in which Sudfeld became Indiana’s all-time touchdown pass leader, it was mostly a struggle in the passing game. Credit Jordan Lomax and Josey Jewell for coming up with some key plays in coverage and preventing IU from getting into a rhythm offensively.

Worth noting:

-Desmond King gets NCAA-leading eighth interception

Sudfeld is better than that. He’s smart enough to know that you don’t float deep balls for the Iowa corner to go and get. For whatever reason, quarterbacks still haven’t figured out that King is deadly on jump balls. What needs to happen for that to change? Does King need to start wearing a different color jersey so that quarterbacks know where he is at all times? Does he need to start playing with one hand behind his back? Something needs to happen, because clearly, King is not playing on the same level as the offenses he faces every week.

-Tevaun Smith takes targeting shot from T.J. Simmons

Usually targeting calls are questionable at best. The hit delivered by Simmons was textbook targeting. Not that it was intentional, but Simmons led with his head with Iowa’s top receiver defenseless over the middle of the field. The play ejected one of IU’s best defenders early while Smith had to go through concussion protocol and was sidelined for several Iowa series. It was a no-win situation for two of each respective units’ top weapons. Still, the call had to be made.

What it means: Iowa’s defense is better than you think, IU still can’t play in fourth quarter

Everybody — myself included — was talking about the fact that Iowa hadn’t seen an offense as potent as IU’s all year. For the vast majority of Saturday, Iowa shut down one of the B1G’s best passing offenses. For whatever reason, Jordan Howard wasn’t given more work in the second half. He was IU’s best offensive option, even when it fell behind by eight. The guy ripped off nearly nine yards per carry and he still couldn’t get enough looks in the second half. Maybe that’s part of the reason why IU is one of the nation’s worst fourth-quarter teams. Not to make excuses for the IU defense  — which continues to get gashed in the fourth quarter — but the Hoosiers don’t know how to take over a game late. That will continue to plague the Hoosiers until they get that fixed.