Iowa is back on top for the in-state rivalry, taking down Iowa State 20-13 for another road victory in Ames. The Hawkeyes reclaim the Cy-Hawk Trophy and also improve to 2-0 on the season in a crucial season for the program.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Iowa was in total control with a 20-3 lead over the Cyclones. Things got interesting in the final period, including when Iowa State stopped the Hawkeyes on 3rd-and-short to get the ball back one final time.

Fortunately, Kirk Ferentz’s defense stood tall one final time to slam the door shut and get the win. Here are 3 takeaways from the game:

Jaziun Patterson brings some juice to the offense

Patterson is a redshirt freshman who is behind Kaleb Johnson on the depth chart. That’s not going to change with Johnson still the lead RB for the Hawkeyes, but Patterson showed he has some juice to bring to the offense.

On the game’s opening drive, Patterson broke free for a brilliant 59-yard run to set up a short field goal for Iowa. Then, in the second quarter, Patterson scored the only offensive touchdown for the Hawkeyes with a 4-yard run.

Patterson finished the game as Iowa’s leading rusher with 86 yards on 10 carries. He’s certainly a piece the Hawkeyes can try to work into the game plan a bit more moving forward.

Cooper DeJean, Sebastian Castro shine in defensive performance

Iowa’s defense stood tall time and time again throughout the game, and DeJean and Castro led a lot of that push from the secondary. DeJean led the Hawkeyes with 10 total tackles and 6 solo tackles to go with 0.5 TFL and a pass breakup.

Castro chipped in 4 tackles (3 solo) and a pass breakup of his own, but his highlight came in the second quarter. He secured his first career interception and rolled all the way back for a pick-6, giving Iowa a crucial score before halftime.

Offense still a work in progress?

An ugly trend for Iowa is starting to resurface after back-to-back games without reaching 30 points. Iowa State was understandably playing hard in a rivalry game, but that doesn’t change the ugly look of the Hawkeye offense.

Cade McNamara finished the game 12-for-22 passing the ball and is just north of 50% passing to start the season. He accounted for 123 yards passing without a touchdown and did throw an interception.

Unfortunately, the passing game is just a part of the struggles. Kaleb Johnson carried the ball 15 times for 28 yards, an average of 1.9 yards per carry.

Overall, Iowa had just 112 yards rushing, 3.9 yards per carry and 235 total yards of offense. That lack of output forced Iowa’s defense to be on the field for over 33 minutes against the Cyclones.

That type of performance might be enough to beat Utah State and Iowa State, but it’s not going to cut it in B1G play.