CHICAGO — With Iowa's passing game struggling and Northwestern working with a backup quarterback, oddsmakers were expecting a low-scoring game at Wrigley Field. And boy, did the Hawkeyes and Wildcats deliver.
Iowa used a 3rd-quarter punt block by Anterio Thompson to set up a Deacon Hill touchdown pass to Addison Ostrenga, and Drew Stevens nailed a 53-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to give Iowa the 10-7 win.
The 17 total points, well below oddsmakers' over/under of 31.5 at kickoff, makes this the seventh-highest scoring game at Wrigley Field this season.
Iowa's victory pushes its record to 7-2 (4-2) with three games left in the regular season, and the Hawkeyes now hold sole possession of first place in the Big Ten West after previous co-leaders Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska all lost on Saturday.
The game, nominally a home game for Northwestern but on a "neutral" site at Wrigley Field 10 miles to the south, brought Iowa fans out in full force. The Friendly Confines were packed with Hawkeyes, to at least an 80/20 ratio. "Chicago's Big Ten Team" is a brand, not a statement of fact.
After Brian Ferentz's fate for 2024 and beyond was sealed by Beth Goetz on Monday, an obvious question loomed about what effect his lame-duck status would have on the Iowa offense. The answer: not much... outside of a couple snaps for all-everything CB/PR Cooper DeJean. DeJean took a jet sweep for seven yards, then ran the same action as a decoy on the next play (a first-down rush for Leshon Williams).
Beyond the exotic personnel, though, Iowa's offense suffered the same low output as in weeks past.
Hill's stats were typically meager, if at least with a better completion percentage: 10-15 passing for 65 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Hill still has plenty of room to improve situationally, though; in the first half, Iowa had the ball inside the Northwestern 40 on three possessions, right on the precipice of field goal range for Stevens.
The last offensive snap of those three possessions:
3rd and 6, NW 31: Strip sack, loss of 8, punt
3rd and 6, NW 32: Screen pass, loss of 4, missed FG (doink)
2rd and 6, NW 26: Interception
Iowa's inability to convert field position into points in the first half meant the margin of error for defense and special teams was once again vanishingly slim. A heroic goal line stand by the Iowa defense (briefly) preserved Iowa's 7-0 lead in the fourth quarter.
A three-and-out by the Iowa offense produced a punt deep in Iowa territory and Northwestern used the subsequent short field (22 yards after a long punt return) to finally score a touchdown. After the Wildcats tied the game, Hill and the Hawkeyes were looking at overtime unless the offense could put together a scoring drive in the twilight of regulation (and, well, the actual sun)
Challenge accepted.
Hill found embattled wide receiver Kaleb Brown for a key 23-yard reception on the final drive to get Iowa inside Wildcats territory, and Stevens' game-winning kick left no doubt:
Iowa returns to Kinnick Stadium next Saturday for a tilt against Rutgers (6-3, 3-3). The Scarlet Knights took a 9-7 lead into halftime against the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, but ultimately fell 35-16.
