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Iowa football: Report card for blowout win over Michigan State

Rolando Rosa

By Rolando Rosa

Published:

Iowa earned its first victory of the season in resounding fashion, as the Hawkeyes handled visiting Michigan State 49-7 on Saturday.

Iowa scored more points against Michigan State than in the first two games combined (40). Iowa scored touchdowns in versatile fashion, reaching the end zone on offense, defense and special teams.

With the victory, longtime Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz surpassed late Penn State coach Joe Paterno for fourth all-time in B1G wins.

Ferentz lauded his team for Saturday’s dominant display; his team had started 0-2 for the first time since 2000.

“Just very proud of our team today. Just really proud of their effort, their effort all week, and obviously the performance today was really everything we had hoped for,” Ferentz said. “I thought the guys played really hard out there. They played tough and they played physical. Just really pleased.”

Here’s the Week 3 report card for Iowa:

Offense: A

With a commanding 35-0 lead at halftime, the Iowa offense nearly exceeded its point total for the first two games  in two quarters.

One of my goals for Iowa this week was to run the ball more consistently and the Hawkeyes did just that.

Tyler Goodson rushed for a pair of first-half touchdowns and finished with 113 yards.

Goodson then shook free for a career-high 71-yard run in the third quarter.

Mekhi Sargent made the most of his 9 carries, adding two second-half touchdown. Charlie Jones chipped in 38 yards on his two jet sweeps.

The Iowa rushing attack finished with an impressive 226 yards. Goodson was confident that the Iowa running game would perform to its capabilities.

“I think it’s all about having a fresh mentality going into each and every week that we’re going to be successful in the run game,” Goodson said. “That’s just got to be my mentality, the offensive linemen’s mentality, all starters in the football game.”

The offensive linemen made it an emphasis in practice to sustain their effort.

“The O-line this week, we keyed in on just finishing drives,” tackle Alaric Jackson said. “(Getting) the extra 1, 2 yards. The little details and stuff.”

With the running game clicking, not much was required of quarterback Spencer Petras, who completed 15 of his 27 passes for 167 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions. Petras’ touchdown pass was a 14-yarder to Brandon Smith to give Iowa a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

Petras completed 11 of his first 14 passes as Iowa jumped to a 21-0 advantage. The numbers don’t jump out for Petras, but after having 3 interceptions last week, this was definitely a more stable showing. Petras was much more patient and careful with the ball, which helped him get his first victory as a starting quarterback.

Defense: A

The Iowa defense was simply outstanding. Another two of my goals for this week were to avoid defensive lapses and win the turnover battle. Check and check on both fronts.

Iowa forced Michigan State quarterback Rocky Lombardi into 3 interceptions, all in the first half. The Spartans’ only score came in the third quarter.

Riley Moss scampered for a 54-yard pick-six with 1:30 remaining in the first half to put Iowa ahead 35-0.

The other interceptions were by Barrington Wade (second quarter) and Jack Koerner (first quarter).

It all went according to plan based on how Iowa intended to harass Lombardi. To the delight of Iowa defensive end Chauncey Golston, Lombardi was rattled early and often.

“Earlier this week in film, the D-linemen were talking that when he sees pressure, you can see he flinches and stuff like that,” Golston said. “So we knew that if we got pressure early and consistently, he would throw high passes and stuff like that. That happened a few times on key third downs, where he threw the ball high … There was one time where (we) got a bull rush and put the offensive linemen in his face. Just little stuff like that, helping out our secondary whenever we can.”

Iowa also clamped down the Michigan State running game. The Spartans tallied just 59 yards on 32 carries for a meager 1.8-yard average.

Golston made his presence felt with 1.5 sacks and two tackles for loss. Seth Benson led Iowa with 8 tackles.

The Iowa defense showed flashes in the first two games. The third time was the charm to put it all together for a complete performance.

Special teams: A

The fifth and final goal I had for this week was for Iowa to find some magic on special teams. Jones answered the call in a massive way.

The Buffalo transfer and walk-on totaled 105 yards on his five punt returns, including a spectacular 54-yard score with 1:57 left in the first half to put Iowa up 28-0.

Jones took pride in being able to create a spark.

“It’s something we’ve been talking about in meetings,” Jones said. “(A good return) definitely brings a ton of energy to the sideline. It brings up everyone’s energy. So, yeah, it definitely had an impact on the game.”

Ferentz raved about the strides Jones has made on special teams and hinted that he’s trending toward more reps on offense as well.

“I haven’t had an anxious moment with him back there,” Ferentz said. “I just feel really good with him back there fielding: Good judgment, good ball skills … To watch the way he’s performed three weeks now, it’s really great. He’s a pretty good player on offense, too, so you’ll see him keep working forward that way, as well.”

Iowa punter Tory Taylor had a strong outing. Taylor tallied 321 yards on his 7 punts for average of 45.9. Taylor booted a 61-yard punt in the victory.

Keith Duncan missed his lone field goal try but converted all 7 of his extra point attempts. Iowa held Michigan State to 40 yards on 3 kickoff returns.

Rolando Rosa

Rolando Rosa brings his experience covering college football to Saturday Tradition. Follow him on Twitter @RolandoRosa3.