After a rocky start, the Iowa defense buckled down, especially against the run, and that helped the Hawkeyes to a 33-23 victory on Saturday afternoon. Dane Belton was one of the ringleaders of the defense playing without Jack Koerner on the back end. He came up with his team leading fifth interception and broke up two other passes.

Following the victory, Belton talked about the adjustments they made following the first Illini scoring drive, the defense without Koerner on the back end of it, and the interception he made in the game.