Final score: Iowa 45 Illinois 16

Quick recap 

Illinois really brought the fight to Kinnick Stadium in the first half, but eventually, Iowa’s talent and experience proved to be too much as the Hawkeyes scored their first B1G in of the season.

The first two quarters were ugly, particularly for Iowa. Nate Stanley couldn’t get the offense moving and the Hawkeyes had a pair of turnovers in the first 30 minutes. With Jeff George, Jr. under center for Illinois, the Illini had just enough offensive firepower to hang in the game.

But a successful fake punt late in the first half really propelled Iowa’s offense. The Hawkeyes were able to score  a touchdown before the end of the second quarter and took a 17-13 lead into the locker room. After that, Kirk Ferentz’s bunch was firing on all cylinders. Even Brandon Snyder, who tore his ACL just six months earlier, got in on the action, returning an interception for a touchdown in his first game of the season.

Iowa went on to outscore Illinois 28-0 in the second half.

Key play: Brandon Snyder’s pick-six

Yea, that fake punt proved to be important, but Snyder’s pick-six really ended this game. Illinois was trailing 17-13 and was threatening to retake the lead in the third quarter. But on a severely underthrown pass, Snyder walked into an interception and returned 89 yards for the score.

The Illini were able to get back within a score at 24-16, but the offense couldn’t really muster anything substantial after the interception. Snyder essentially put the game out of reach.

Stat of the game: Illinois’ four turnovers

Illinois has enough trouble moving the ball offensively. Turnovers and penalties have compounded the problem so far this season and Saturday was no different.

A fumble on the first play of the game, two interceptions inside the 25-yard line, and an interception thrown late in the game were really costly for the Illini. Iowa took advantage of most of those mistakes, scoring 17 points off those four turnovers.

Sure, Illinois’ offense looked a little better this week, but those mistakes were too much to overcome in Iowa City.

What it means

This was an important game for both teams.

After losing close games to Penn State and Michigan State, it would’ve been easy for Iowa to play dejected and count itself out of the B1G West race. And for the first half, that’s the type of game the Hawkeyes were playing.

Eventually, though, Iowa snapped out of its trance and was able to score a nice home victory and its first conference win of the season.

For Illinois, another lopsided loss is disappointing, but there were some nice things to take away. Jeff George, Jr. and the offense looked solid through the first half. There was actually some signs of life, which is more than you can say about this team from the past two weeks.

Iowa feels better because it scored the win, but the Illini showed some slight improvement this weekend.