In the end, it had to go like this, didn't it? The last Big Ten West game to ever be played in Kinnick Stadium had to play the hits. Neither Iowa nor Illinois broke the 20-point barrier (or even threatened to), nor did either team even threaten to surpass 300 yards of offense. This was Big Ten West football in its purest form: lots of defense, lots of punting, and the occasional outburst of offense. Fortunately for Iowa, Kirk Ferentz hasn't just mastered that form -- he essentially invented it.
This was a textbook Iowa football game for the 2023 season: a strong start followed by a big lull and then -- somehow -- a successful ending. Iowa started four drives in the first quarter; two ended in Illinois territory (one for a missed 53-yard field goal, the other for Iowa's first touchdown of the game) and two others ended near midfield.
The first drive led to a brilliant Tory Taylor punt that pushed Illinois back to its own 7-yard line; three plays later, Joe Evans sacked Illinois QB John Paddock in the end zone to give Iowa a 2-0 lead.
After a 14-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that put Iowa up 9-3 in the second quarter, the Iowa offense's production evaporated. It was a script we've seen play out several times previously this season: the offense has success on the early, scripted plays, but is mostly helpless to make adjustments in the final three quarters.
The grim results against Illinois:
1st quarter: 132 yards, 6.6 yards per play
2nd quarter: 43 yards, 2.4 yards per play
3rd quarter: 42 yards, 3.8 yards per play
4th quarter: 64 yards, 4.0 yards per play
Iowa's six possessions between the touchdown drive in the second quarter and the game-winning touchdown drive in the fourth quarter?
Iowa ran 27 plays between the touchdown drives and gained 63 yards, an average of 2.3 yards per play. Then, out of nowhere, a game-winning drive.
The drive began before the offense took the field, with Kaden Wetjen, replacing the injured Cooper DeJean at punt returner, fielding the ball at the 29-yard line and breaking tackles and wriggling for extra yards for a 17-yard punt return that set Iowa up near midfield at the Iowa 46-yard line.
That game-winning drive?
* First-and-10 IA 46: 2-yard Kaleb Johnson run
* Second-and-8 IA 48: 3-yard Leshon Williams run
* Third-and-5 ILL 49: laser of a pass from Deacon Hill to Nico Ragaini for 9 yards (first down)
* 1st-and-10 ILL 40: deep pass to Kaleb Brown, incomplete -- defensive holding penalty
* 1st-and-10 ILL 30: 30-yard Kaleb Johnson run -- TOUCHDOWN
Kaleb Johnson's sophomore campaign hasn't gone the way anyone expected three months ago -- last year's freshman phenom missed time this season due to injury and even slipped to third on the running back depth chart, behind both Williams and redshirt freshman Jaz Patterson. But with the Big Ten West on the line, Johnson came through with the biggest run of the day -- and one of the biggest runs of the season.
Drew Stevens' ensuing extra point was blocked, which made for a nerve-wracking ending -- with Iowa only leading 15-13, Illinois just needed a field goal to win and placekicker Caleb Griffin had already converted a 53-yard field goal earlier in the game. But the blocked extra point just gave the Iowa defense a chance to underline its own contribution to this victory.
The Iowa defense started strong with a safety on the third play of the game, but as Illinois settled into the game, the Illini began to have some success against the Hawkeye defense. Illinois picked up 202 yards in the second and third quarters and averaged 4.9 yards per play.
Still, the Iowa defense was doing a good job of bending but not breaking, with the greatest example of that bend-but-don't-break ethos coming on the last play of the third quarter. On 3rd-and-1 at the Iowa 11, Paddock tried to bounce a run outside for a first down, but Sebastian Castro read the play perfectly and sliced him down at the line of scrimmage for no gain.
If Illinois gets a first down there and goes on to score a touchdown to go up 17-9, Iowa would have been in a deep hole. Instead, Iowa got a stop and forced the Illini to settle for a field goal and a 13-9 lead, which kept Iowa within striking distance.
After Johnson's touchdown run and nursing a slim 15-13 lead, the defense came through with its biggest series of the game.
* 1st-and-10 ILL 25: 7-yard pass from Paddock to Casey Washington
* 2nd-and-3 ILL 32: 1-yard run, Reggie Love III
* 3rd-and-2 ILL 33: incomplete pass, broken up by Joe Evans
* 4th-and-2 ILL 33: incomplete pass, broken up by Joe Evans
In-between third and fourth down, the Illini lined up to punt but they bailed on that idea when Iowa lined up in a strong look to stop a potential fake punt (a la the infamous fake punt that Bielema's Wisconsin team ran successfully against Iowa in 2010). Instead, they opted to go for it with 3:44 remaining, only to see the ball swatted out of the air for the second-straight play by Joe Evans.
Evans, the sixth-year senior who transformed himself from a scrawny scout team player to a stalwart member of Iowa's defensive line, came through with three of the biggest defensive plays of the night, on Senior Day. That's about as perfect a script as you can write.
The turnover-on-downs was the only turnover forced by the Iowa defense; the Hawkeyes racked up a stunning 13 pass break-ups in the game (led by four from Jermari Harris and three from Evans), but couldn't manage to turn any of those break-ups into actual interceptions. No matter -- the turnover-on-downs did the trick of getting the ball away away from Illinois.
With 3:41 remaining, Iowa still needed to pick up a first down to truly ice the victory and deny Illinois another chance at a game-winning drive. Three plays later, Kaleb Johnson picked up his second-biggest run of the day, a 12-yard run on 3rd-and-8 that gave Iowa the game-clinching first down.
All season, Iowa relied on the defense and special teams to carry this team and it took a total team effort -- with key contributions from the offense, the defense, and the special teams -- for Iowa to get this ninth win of the season and secure a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis in two weeks.
The special teams unit endured an off day from Stevens (who missed a 52-yard field goal in addition to his blocked extra point) and sorely missed Cooper DeJean's presence as a punt returner and a gunner on the punt coverage unit, but still got a big play in the return game from Wetjen when they needed it most. This was another game where the field position battle was critical and Tory Taylor came through once again in his final appearance at Kinnick Stadium. He boomed eight punts for 413 yards (a 51.6 yard average) and his perfectly-placed punt at the start of the game set up Iowa's safety three plays later.
The defense also missed DeJean -- Deshaun Lee, his replacement, was targeted relentlessly all game long -- but they still kept the game within reach until the offense could mount its game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Jay Higgins (12 tackles, one pass break-up), Jermari Harris (8 tackles, 4 pass break-ups), and Joe Evans (4 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and 3 pass break-ups) were especially great, but every player in Iowa's starting eleven made at least one key play over the course of the game.
While the offense went stagnant in the second and third quarters (and part of the fourth), it also made just enough plays to earn the victory. Deacon Hill finished 19-of-29 (66%) for 169 yards and a touchdown -- and (crucially) avoided any turnovers. Kaleb Brown continued his breakout trajectory with seven receptions for 70 yards. And Williams (16 carries, 54 yards) and Johnson (10 carries, 53 yards) provided to be an effective combination at running back to get Iowa over the line.
It wasn't pretty and it wasn't easy -- but when has it been for this team this season? Key players dropped like flies week after week, but this team stuck together and kept fighting. Their reward? 2023 Big Ten West champions and a shot at an outright Big Ten championship in two weeks.
