Iowa Football: Hawkeyes shut down Terps at home

Iowa football dominated the Maryland Terrapins on a very windy afternoon in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes shut out the Terps 23-0.

The Iowa Hawkeyes took no prisoners Saturday afternoon against Maryland, shutting out the visiting Terrapins 23-0. The Hawkeye defense was especially impressive, holding the Terps to 63 total yards.

It was a very windy day in Iowa City, with gusts up to 45 miles per hour. It certainly affected the play calling for both teams. A week after Iowa quarterback Nate Stanley threw for six touchdowns against Indiana, he only threw for 86 yards and one score against Maryland.

With the Iowa passing game held in check, the running game was the Hawkeyes bread and butter. Running back Ivory Kelly-Martin led the team with 98 yards and the team combined for over 220 yards on the ground. The time of possession also heavily favored the Hawkeyes as they controlled the ball for over 40 minutes.

The defense was the story of the day though. Maryland was stuck in neutral the whole game. The Terps, averaging 245 yards on the ground coming into the game, could only muster a total of 68 yards rushing. Running back Ty Johnson did not even get his first carry in the game until the second half. Iowa held Maryland to 115 total yards on the day.

With their offense doing nothing with quarterback Kasim Hill, interim head coach Matt Canada tried to kick start them by bringing in Tyrell Pigrome. That proved to be a mistake when a fumbled exchange on a jet sweep was kicked by Pigrome and picked up by the Iowa defense in the end zone for a touchdown.

Overall the Iowa offense was not outstanding, but it did not need to be. The Iowa defense smothered Maryland all day long in the shutout. The Hawkeyes move to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten to keep pace in the race for the West division crown. The Terps fall to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the conference.