Iowa's empty trophy case will remain that way for at least a few more weeks after a 9-6 loss to Iowa State on Saturday afternoon. We have all of your news and notes from the annual Cy-Hawk battle, including our weekly game balls on offense, defense, and special teams.


Game Balls

OFFENSE: Damon Bullock - You could probably make a strong case that by scoring only six points and frankly not looking very good all day, that no one deserves a game ball. But, if you are going to hand one out, then it would have to go to Bullock. He, along with every other receiver, had a drop in the passing game, but he also piled up over 100 yards of total offense and was Iowa's biggest threat on offense. Bullock finished the day with 53 yards rushing and 56 yards receiving against the Cyclones.

DEFENSE: James Morris and Anthony Hitchens - It's impossible to single out one over the other after their performance today. Hitchens was a monster in the first half and seemed to be everywhere as he finished with 13 tackles in the first half and 19 for the game. Morris rebounded for his play against Northern Illinois with his best game as a Hawkeye. The junior middle linebacker finished the day with 13 tackles, a forced fumble, a pass breakup, and an interception that he returned 49 yards. Defense wasn't the issue for the Hawkeyes on Saturday.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Mike Meyer - Last week, Meyer earned co-special teams player of the week honors after hitting on four of five field goals. This week he was a perfect 2-2. While both were chip shot field goals of 23 and 21 yards, he knocked them home. Meyer also had one touchback on a kickoff and probably would have had another if not for wind.

NEWS AND NOTES

INJURY REPORT

DE Joe Gaglione missed a few plays with an injury. He returned to action. DB Tom Donatell got the wind knocked out of him and missed a few plays. He also returned to action. DB B.J. Lowery started today after leaving the game last week. DE Melvin Spears missed last week due to injury. He was in uniform today. DE Riley McMinn did not play last week due to injury. He returned today and played, picking up one tackle.

TURNOVER MARGIN

Iowa won the turnover battle for the second time this year. The Hawkeyes were +2 against the Cyclones with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. On the year, Iowa has four forced fumbles and two interceptions.

THIRD DOWN

Iowa was 5-17 on third down against Iowa State. For the year, the Hawkeyes are 13-35 (37%) Iowa State was 7-17 today. For the year, the conversion rate against the Hawkeye defense is at 41%.

RED ZONE WOES

Iowa's woes inside the 20 yard line continued on Saturday against the Cyclones. While the Hawkeyes were 2-2 with two short field goals, getting into the end zone continues to be a problem. Iowa is now 0-6 in the red zone when it comes to scoring touchdowns. Iowa State was 2-5 in the red zone today. On the season, Iowa's opponents are scoring touchdowns 29% of the time in the red zone.

TACKLING MACHINES

As mentioned earlier, Anthony Hitchens had a huge day. HItchens finished with 19 stops against Iowa State. He took over the team lead in tackles for the year with 27. James Morris had an active day with 13 stops. He is second on the team 20 tackles this year. LB Christian Kirksey had nine tackles on Saturday and Micah Hyde had 8 stops on the day.

CAREER DAY FOR C.J.

TE C.J. FIedorowicz had a career day with 61 yards receiving for the Hawkeyes on four receptions.

LOW SCORING CONTEST

The Hawkeyes and the Cyclones combined to score just 15 points in the annual Cy-Hawk battle. That's the lowest total since Iowa's 10-3 win in 1988

LINE MOVES

DL Steve Bigach got the start today at defensive tackle. Starting at defensive end were Joe Gaglione and Dominic Alvis. Louis Trinca-Pastat started at the other tackle position. Iowa had a heavy rotation on the defensive line today with eight players seeing action.

NICKEL COVERAGE

Iowa didn't run as much nickel coverage this week as they did the previous week. When they did, Greg Castillo was Iowa's nickel defensive back, replacing Anthony HItchens in coverage.

BOWL REPS

Representatives from the Fiesta/Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl and Capital One Bowl were guests at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

KICK COVERAGE TEAMS

Kickoff Return: K. Davis, Garmon, Gimm, Staggs, Kreiger-Coble, Weisman, Duzey, Rogers, Hillyer, Lowdermilk, and Perry.
Kickoff Coverage: Swanson, Nielsen, Weisman, Lowdermilk, Collins, Draper, Buford, Law, Castillo, Meyer, and Hillyer.

NEXT UP

Iowa's next opponent is Northern Iowa. The Panthers are 1-1 on the season with a win on Saturday over Central State (Ohio). UNI lost their opener, 26-21 against Wisconsin. Kickoff is set for 2:30 pm next Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.


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