Behind defense and special teams, Iowa overcome a devastating injury to Cade McNamara early in the game and beat Michigan State 26-16 on Saturday night. But what did we take away from that performance?
THE OFFENSE IS STILL BROKEN
How the offense would respond after a dreadful showing against Penn State was one of the biggest questions for Iowa heading into the Michigan State game. Iowa got the win on Saturday night, but questions about the offense have only intensified, especially in the wake of McNamara's injury.
McNamara guided Iowa on a scoring drive on the opening possession of the game, settling for a field goal after the drive stalled out near the MSU red zone. He only played two more snaps after that drive before suffering a significant-looking non-contact injury and leaving the game. McNamara finished 3/5 for 46 yards.
With Deacon Hill taking over at quarterback for the rest of the game, Iowa finished with a paltry 222 yards -- 170 in 3+ quarters after McNamara's departure. Iowa finished with 14 first downs for the game and converted only 2 of 13 third downs. The Hawkeyes averaged just 3.8 yards per play for the game. The rushing stats were even more grim -- Iowa running backs carried the ball 22 times for 66 yards, or 3.0 yards per carry.
There's no question that injuries have had an enormous negative impact on Iowa's offense this season. Iowa has now lost its best quarterback (McNamara), running back (Kaleb Johnson) and tight end (Luke Lachey) since the season began -- and another key running back option (Jaziun Patterson) has also missed the last two games. Johnson and Patterson are expected back within the next few weeks, but Lachey and McNamara are likely done for the season.
Iowa's offense wasn't operating at a high level even before all those injuries happened -- the Hawkeye red-zone touchdown rate is now 53% (8 touchdowns on 15 attempts), tied for worst in the conference -- and it's only going to be harder to operate without so many key parts now.
The Hawkeyes relied on a familiar bag of tricks on Saturday night to earn a win, using a defense that was able to force stops and turnovers and excellent special teams to create scoring opportunities (and outright scoring plays). We'll find out just how far that smoke and mirrors routine can carry them over the remaining seven games this season.
THE DEACON HILL EXPERIENCE
Official word on Cade McNamara's condition is still pending, but absolutely none of the signs thus far suggest an injury that he'll be able to return from quickly. He suffered a non-contact injury, left the game while putting no weight on his left leg, and was on crutches the rest of the night. That all seems to point toward a lengthy absence for McNamara.
With McNamara sidelined, Deacon Hill looks to be the man at quarterback for Iowa. (Music City Bowl starter Joe Labas missed almost all of fall training camp due to injury, but has been practicing again lately.) In Hill's first extended action for Iowa, he finished 11/27 (40.7%) for 115 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. He also had a pair of short gains on QB sneaks and was sacked once for a loss of nine yards.
Hill's numbers ween't great -- but they also should have been better than they were. Iowa receivers and tight ends were credited with six drops in the game, with five of those passes coming on passes thrown by Hill. (More on the drops in a moment.)
Overall, there were positives and negatives to take away from Hill's performance. While Hill is never going to be mistaken for a mobile quarterback, the fact that he isn't dealing with a leg injury that limits his mobility (like McNamara was all season) does open up some playcalling opportunities. There were more roll-outs with Hill behind center than Iowa ran with McNamara all season. The QB sneak also made its return to the playbook, with Hill effectively using it to pick up a first down on 3rd and short.
Hill showcased a strong arm -- in fact, it was a bit too strong at times. Hill threw a few too many bullets and didn't have enough touch on several of his passes, which contributed to a few of the drops among his pass catchers. That's something that could improve as Hill gets more reps, though.
Decision-making was also a mixed bag for Hill. He was at his best on short, safe passes; the interception he threw came on a long, cross-field pass into coverage. He had a few other questionable throws and was a bit lucky to only have one interception in the game.
GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS FOR RECEIVERS
The good news for Iowa wide receivers -- they were a much bigger part of this game than they have been in other games this season. Receivers finished with six receptions for 64 yards in this game, led by Diante Vines with three catches for 35 yards. Nico Ragaini also had two catches for 18 yards and Seth Anderson had one reception for 11 yards. More importantly, Iowa receivers were targeted throughout the game -- they finished with 18 targets in the passing game.
The bad news for Iowa wide receivers was dropped passes. Iowa's receivers could have had even more catches if they had been able to hold onto the ball -- officially, Vines had two drops (which could have been three), and Ragaini and Kaleb Brown were also given a drop apiece by the scorers.
*Tight ends Erick All and Addison Ostrenga were also credited with drops, giving Iowa six total for the game.
The Iowa offense struggles enough to move the ball and score points without factoring in dropped passes as well. Three drops came on first down and two came on third down; it's hard to say which set of drops were more damaging.
Vines had a third-down drop on Iowa's drive before halftime; a catch there would have put Iowa near midfield with 43 seconds to go, which would have put field goal range (MSU also wouldn't have had an opportunity to hit a 58-yard field goal right before halftime.) In the fourth quarter, with Iowa trailing 16-13, a third-down drop by Brown past the sticks stopped another drive.
On the other hand, the first down drops took Iowa off-schedule on offense and put Iowa in 2nd-and-10 situations -- which frequently turned into 3rd-and-long situations (which, in turn, frequently beget fourth-down punts). Between McNamara and Hill, the Iowa offense is 6/20 for 85 yards and two interceptions when throwing the ball in 3rd-and-7 or longer situations this season. Iowa has also lost 37 yards on 12 rushing attempts (including sacks) in 3rd-and-7 or longer situations. Avoiding those situations is an absolute necessity for the Iowa offense, and a key part of that is the receiving corps not dropping catchable passes.
SPECIAL TEAMS SAVE THE DAY
LeVar Woods is magic. Iowa almost certainly does not win this game (or even keep it competitive) without standout special teams play. Iowa got big plays in almost every facet of special teams play in this game.
KICKING: Drew Stevens went 4/4 on field goal attempts in the game, drilling from 40, 53, 36 and 34 yards on his attempts. With an offense that struggles so badly to score touchdowns (just one offensive touchdown in 15 drives on Saturday), Iowa needs to take points anywhere it can find them and make the most of any potential scoring opportunity -- having a kicker as reliable as Stevens is a huge boost in that regard.
PUNTING: There were times during the game when Tory Taylor's punts were overshadowed by the punts of Ryan Eckley, his Michigan State counterpart. Eckley had four punts of 50+ yards, including a 67-yard bomb, and placed three inside the 20-yard line. In fact, he had three inside the 10-yard line. But he also had a 15-yard shank that led to an Iowa field goal and his final punt of the game was a line drive down the middle of the field that Cooper DeJean returned for a touchdown.
Taylor was simply a steady performer. He averaged 48.9 yards on his seven punts, including two 50+ yard kicks, and put two punts inside the 20-yard line. But the most important thing Taylor did was avoid any crippling mistakes -- in a close game, mistakes like that can be very costly, as Michigan State can attest.
PUNT RETURN: Cooper DeJean let a few punts go over his head early in the game, which led to punts downed inside the 20-yard line for Eckley and resulted in terrible starting field position for Iowa.
In fact, DeJean only returned one punt in the entire game. Suffice to say, he made the most of that one return:
DEFENSE MADE PLAYS
When Iowa needed the defense to make plays against Michigan State, the defense answered the call. Michigan State finished with 349 yards of offense and averaged 4.6 yards per play, but the Iowa defense did a good job of getting stops when it needed to do so. Iowa held Michigan State to just three field goals on four attempts, with two of the field goal tries coming from 50+ yards. MSU's only touchdown in the game came on a scoop-and-score fumble recovery on defense.
Iowa also did a much better job of getting timely stops and getting off the field. Michigan State only had two drives all game that were longer than six plays (none after the second quarter) and only three drives that gained more than 35 yards. Sparty ran 17 more plays than Iowa (76 to 59), but that was mostly a function of the Iowa offense's inability to stay on the field (two turnovers, six three-and-outs), which gave the MSU offense ample opportunities on offense.
The Iowa defense was at its best in the second half, too. After MSU went up 16-10 on the fumble return touchdown, these were the Spartans' next six drives:
- turnover on downs (stuffed QB sneak on 4th-and-1)
- punt
- 50-yard field goal attempt (missed)
- punt
- punt
- punt
After MSU rolled up 227 yards of offense in the first half (5.7 yards per play), the Spartans had just 127 yards (3.4 ypp) after the break. The Iowa defense also forced four turnovers (two interceptions, a fumble, and a turnover on downs) after halftime, which the offense was able to turn into two field goals, including the game-icing field goal with 59 seconds to go.
The punts on three consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter (including MSU's only three-and-outs of the game) helped swing the game. The second of those three punts led to Iowa's game-tying field goal, while the third punt resulted in Cooper DeJean's game-winning punt return.
The lack of game-breaking pass rush remains a concern for the defense: Iowa again recorded zero sacks and has only three on the season, tied for worst in FBS. At a minimum, the pressure was there in some respect: three QB hits plus eight additional QB hurries helped the defense's performance overall, especially as the Hawkeyes tightened the screws in the second half. Despite not getting much help from their counterparts on offense, the Iowa defenders were able to slam the door on the Spartans' upset when it mattered the most.
