Iowa 22, Rutgers 0: A Complete Game
All season long, Iowa fans and observers have wondered what the 2023 Hawkeyes could look like with an offense that could carry its own weight next to spectacular defensive and special teams units. Saturday's decisive 22-0 win over Rutgers provided the best look yet at what a complete Hawkeye team could do this season -- and it was impressive.
22 points isn't the most stunning offensive point total, but it came after Iowa had scored just 10 points in back-to-back games. Before Saturday, the Hawkeyes hadn't scored more than 20 points in a game since September -- a 26-16 win over Michigan State.
Iowa also left a fair number of points on the field on Saturday -- Drew Stevens missed a 47-yard field goal on Iowa's opening drive, Deacon Hill threw an interception right before halftime with Iowa on the Rutgers goal line, and a Hill fumble forced Iowa to settle for a field goal on a fourth quarter drive -- but the overall offensive production was as impressive as it's been all season.
The Hawkeyes finished with 402 yards of offense in the game, which is not just the most Iowa has recorded in a game this season, it's the first time Iowa has eclipsed 400 yards of total offense since a 51-14 win over Maryland in 2021. Iowa hit that 400-yard milestone with impressive balance as well -- 223 yards through the air and 179 yards on the ground.
It was the kind of game where even true freshman tight end Zach Ortwerth ripped off a 54-yard catch-and-run.
Regarding that 223-yard passing performance -- Deacon Hill had the best game of his Iowa career by a mile. Hill finished 20-of-31 for 223 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. It was not a perfect game by any means -- the interception right before halftime was a poor decision and an even worse throw and the fumbled snap late in the fourth quarter was yet another moment of bad ball-handling from Hill.
Still, the 20 completions almost doubled Hill's previous career high (11 against Michigan State) and the 223 passing yards was over 100 more than he's had in any prior game and the most by any Iowa quarterback since Spencer Petras threw for 246 against Michigan last season.
Hill spread the ball around, with seven different Iowa players recording at least one reception, including five different wide receivers or tight ends. Addison Ostrenga was a reliable safety blanket with eight catches for 47 yards, while Nico Ragaini had four receptions for 47 yards. Kaleb Brown finished with three receptions for 27 yards -- and his first career touchdown at Iowa, the cherry on top of Iowa's 22-0 sundae.
Iowa's 179 yards on the ground came from a three-headed attack at running back. Leshon Williams led the way with 63 yards on 13 carries, though he saw very limited action in the second half. Kaleb Johnson returned to the field and finished with 54 yards on 10 carries, including an explosive 27-yard run down late in the game. Jaz Patterson rounded out the trio with 14 carries for 53 yards and a game-icing touchdown.
Perhaps most impressive about the performance by the Iowa offense in this game? Iowa had zero (0) three-and-out series in the game. The Iowa offense was able to stay on the field today and that sustained presence eventually turned into long drives which eventually turned into actual points.
After a punt to start the second quarter, Iowa punted just one more time for the rest of the game. The remaining eight Iowa drives:
* Field Goal
* Interception
* Punt
* Field Goal
* Touchdown
* Field Goal
* Touchdown
* End of Game
For arguably the first time all season, the Iowa offense just worked in this game. Brian Ferentz designed an effective gameplan that mixed the run and the pass effectively and kept Rutgers off-balance and he (mostly) called the right plays at the right time to keep things ticking forward. A banged-up offensive line allowed zero sacks and only a handful of negative plays all day. The pass-catchers had just two drops all game. The offense just worked.
22 points is not a lot of points, even if it feels a 40-point explosion by the standards established by this season's Iowa offense. 22 points is also more than enough support for a defense that continues to get better at tightening the screws on opposing offenses week after week.
The defense was just a few minutes away from posting a shutout against Northwestern last week; they completed the shutout this week and did so with ease -- Rutgers never got closer to the end zone than the Iowa 37-yard line and ran just four plays in Iowa territory in the second half.
The final three quarters were an absolute master class by Phil Parker's defense. After allowing 78 yards to Rutgers in the first quarter, this is what the Iowa defense did in the remaining three quarters:
* 2nd: 9 plays, 29 yards
* 3rd: 13 plays, 30 yards
* 4th: 7 plays, -10 yards, interception
Rutgers finished the game with more punts (9) than passing completions (7) or first downs (also 7).
While the offensive breakthrough will be one of the key storylines from this game (and deservedly so), the defense once again deserves plenty of credit for the victory. The Iowa offense began to figure things out in the second quarter -- Deacon Hill went 10-of-13 for 105 yards and led Iowa to a field goal and what should have been another scoring drive before halftime -- but the score was still just 3-0 in favor of Iowa at the break. With Rutgers getting the ball to start the second half, the game could have easily swung in favor of the Scarlet Knights.
The Hawkeye defense made sure that never came close to happening. Jay Higgins & Co. forced Rutgers punt on that first drive of the second half, then forced three straight three-and-outs as the Iowa offense began to find its footing and put together multiple scoring drives. Higgins led Iowa with 8 tackles and Nick Jackson added 7 tackles and a sack, but this was a true team effort.
Officially, Iowa only recorded a single sack and a single QB hurry, but the Hawkeyes still managed to shrink the pocket for Rutgers QB Gavin Wimsatt and make him uncomfortable. The front seven also bottled up a potent Rutgers rushing attack; the Scarlet Knights entered this game with the second-best running game in the Big Ten (184.7 ypg) but finished with just 34 yards on 23 carries (including sack yardage). Kyle Monangai, the Big Ten's leading rusher, was limited to 39 yards on 13 carries.
This win, coupled with losses by Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Minnesota today, means that Iowa has already locked up a share of the Big Ten West title. Iowa enters the final two weeks of the regular season at 5-2 in conference games; no other West team has fewer than four losses in league games. A win against Illinois next week will clinch a spot for Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game with one week remaining. After playing its most complete game of the season, Iowa should have no shortage of confidence entering the final two games of the regular season.