IOWA CITY — BallHawks. DoughBoyz. Big Ten Bullies. Whatever you want to call them, the Iowa defense put on a vintage performance in the Hawkeyes' 40-16 win over visiting Washington on Saturday afternoon.

The big-play festivities started with DT Yahya Black blocking a 32-yard field goal on the Huskies' first drive of the game, and by the time the dust settled, Iowa had added an interception, a fumble recovery and three fourth-down stops.

"That [field goal block] was big," said defensive tackle Aaron Graves, who had a pair of sacks and forced fumbles on the day. "They were moving the ball well, and for them to have zero points come out of that was a really big momentum shift for us."

"Obviously we don't even want them getting down there, so taking the field goal instead of seven points is good, but blocking the field goal is even better," said linebacker Jay Higgins. When you have a guy like Yahya up there, those are realistic plays for us."

Indeed, the Hawkeyes responded with a nine-play, 80-yard drive, punctuated by a six-yard score for All-American candidate RB Kaleb Johnson to put the Hawkeyes on the board first.

Unfazed by an empty drive to start the game, the Huskies then drove down for a game-tying touchdown on the ensuing possession, and it looked as if Iowa's defense would have another day struggling to disrupt an accurate quarterback like Will Rogers. The Huskies were 4-6 on third-down conversions on their first two drives — and one of those two "stops" turned into a fourth-down conversion on the touchdown drive.

"They drove it the first two times, drove it right down the field," said head coach Kirk Ferentz, who celebrated his 200th win as a Hawkeye coach with the 40-16 victory. "That was a little disconcerting when you see them possess the ball like that. They're not just possessing the ball, but they're moving it."

Washington would go 1-for-9 on third-downs for the rest of the game.

"It definitely wasn't the playcalling, it was literally just us," said Higgins. "We just played better football. We decided it was on us to get off the field and I feel like coming out that was our emphasis for sure."

To be fair, Higgins — ever eager to hand credit to his teammates — may have elided some actual strategic adjustments from the staff.

"I thought we came out and made the right adjustments and that led to the 1-for-9," said cornerback Jermari Harris. "Being better leveraged -- putting us in better position leverage-wise. Being able to see the formation and make a check. Little things like that."

Harris was in on the big-play fun, picking off a Rogers pass deep in Hawkeye territory and returning it to near midfield.

"We were in man-to-man," said Harris. "Earlier in the game, he had run an out-route, and I figured it'd be an out-route [again] so I changed to play heavy on him. I knew I had over-the-top help, I stepped up and turned and the ball was right there."

Though Harris' return contributed to a short field, he wanted more.

"I should have scored," he said with a wry deadpan. "Should have scored. Should have made that jump over and scored."

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The defense's disruptive plays not only kept the Huskies from being competitive on the scoreboard, they made the offense's job easier — both in terms of field position and putting pressure on the other team.

"[Causing turnovers] gives us momentum," said Johnson. "We're attacking, and they just failed to score, and it's time for us to score."

The turnovers and fourth-down stops, coupled with some dynamic returns by Kaden Wetjen, helped Iowa achieve a starting field position of its own 45-yard line. The Huskies, who did not force a turnover in the loss, averaged starting on their own 24.

"The amount of times we had a short field, it makes our job a lot easier when we don't have to travel 30 yards just to get into enemy territory," said QB Cade McNamara. "It allows us to be a little more aggressive, and that's the momentum and the pace we're able to play with when we're able to use the momentum of the defense and then we're able to get off the ball like we do."

Indeed, the combination of a ball-hawking defense, an advantageous special teams unit and a bruising ground game sounds a whole lot like the "complementary football" that Ferentz has made central to his program philosophy, and he has 200 wins as the Hawkeyes' head coach to show for it.

That all said, Washington outgained Iowa, 393 yards to 328. The Huskies managed 23 first downs. If it weren't for the big plays, this game might have ended differently.

"Thinking back on it, there was a lot of meat left on the bone still," said Graves. "There was a lot of plays where we broke contain and could have had even more sacks. There's a lot to improve on."

But...

"But we're really going to enjoy this one," Graves said.