Iowa Football: 3 takeaways from blowout victory over Michigan State
By Ryan Kay
In what was supposed to be an intense, close battle turned out to be a blowout as Iowa football smacked Michigan State around.
805. 49. 878. Final. 7
The game started with the Hawkeyes driving the length of the field on the first drive of the game and scoring a touchdown that seemed effortlessly for Iowa’s offense. Then the Hawkeye defense came up big when Iowa defensive back Jack Koerner picked off an errant Rocky Lombardi pass.
On Iowa’s second possession, it went down the field again and on third-and-12, quarterback Spencer Petras threw an impressive touchdown pass to Brandon Smith to make the score 14-0.
Both offenses stalled on their next drives.
After the Hawkeyes’ defense came halted the Spartan defense for the third straight drive, Iowa’s special teams made an impact returning the Spartans punt into Michigan State territory. The Hawkeye offense marched down the field once again. Iowa running back Tyler Goodson ran for his second touchdown of the game to give Iowa a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.
On the fourth offensive drive of the game for Michigan State, Rocky Lombardi, who is an Iowa native, the made a costly mistake resulting in a turnover. On an apparent blown screen pass, he threw his second interception of the game giving the Hawkeyes the ball in Spartan territory. However, Michigan State’s defense stopped the Iowa offense forcing a field goal attempt that was unsuccessful for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s punt return played well the entire first half but came up huge when Charlie Jones returned the punt 52 yards for a touchdown to give the Hawkeyes an empowering 28-0 lead. Then it was Iowa’s defense’s turn to score a touchdown when Lombardi threw his third interception of the game when Hawkeye defender Riley Moss caught the misguided pass and returned it for a score.
The third quarter resulted in a touchdown each for both teams and Iowa didn’t continue to dominate on both sides of the ball but they maintained control of the game resulting in an impressive victory to give the Hawkeyes their first victory of the season.
Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz looks to have turned the season around for his team and his program as a whole with the win on Saturday afternoon.
Let’s take a look at the three takeaways from Iowa’s impressive victory over the Spartans.