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Join us as we follow Cody Hills and the #IowaSim20 this season to preview each game as the Hawkeyes work their way through the 2020 schedule.
Since Cody started the #IowaSim in 2013, it is 70-15 in correctly picking the winner of each week's game and 1-0 so far in the 2020 season.
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After receiving the opening kickoff, the Hawkeyes got the running game going early with a pair of Tyler Goodson runs resulting in a quick first down. Then they went to the air with a short screen pass to Goodson followed by Spencer Petras hitting Ihmir Smith-Marsette, but a dropped pass on third down led to an early punt from Tory Taylor.
Following the punt, Northwestern took over at the 30-yard line and went to work. Jestin Jacobs had an early tackle for loss for the Hawkeyes, but Wildcat quarterback Peyton Ramsey found tight end John Raine for a first down on the next play. With Northwestern going no huddle, they quickly moved down the field mostly through the run game with Isaiah Bowser getting the majority of the work and the Hawkeyes were hurt by a roughing the passer penalty on Zach VanValkenburg. Northwestern's drive ended up stalling out at the 20-yard line, which led to a 36-yard field goal by Charlie Kuhbander to put the Wildcats up early 3-0.
After a kickoff return by Ivory Kelly-Martin, Iowa's offense took over at the 31-yard line and Petras went to work in the passing game with a completion to tight end Sam LaPorta for eight yards. A seven-yard run by Goodson on the next play gave Iowa the first down. After a couple short runs by Goodson, Petras found LaPorta again over the middle for another first down. A Petras incompletion and a Paddy Fisher tackle for loss on Goodson forced a third and long, but Petras was able to find Tyrone Tracy Jr. for a gain just short of the first down. Keith Duncan came in to try a 48-yard field goal and it was good to tie things up at 3-3.
With Northwestern starting their next series at the 25-yard line after a touchback, the Wildcats quickly went back to work and a pair of Ramsey completions had them across midfield in no time. Then, a screen pass to Bowser netted 20 yards and Ramsey completed a sideline route to Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman for another 20 and Northwestern was suddenly down to the 6-yard line. The next play was a handoff to Bowser, which resulted in the first touchdown of the game as Northwestern took a 10-3 lead after an 8-play, 73-yard drive.
Iowa's next offensive possession saw a quick three and out from the Hawkeyes. With the Wildcats taking over at the 36-yard line, the first quarter ended with the score Northwestern 10, Iowa 3, and it was time for a virtual wave to the University of Iowa Children's Hospital.
Northwestern was in business after a roughing the passer penalty on Daviyon Nixon gave them a first down. An option pitch from Ramsey to Bowser moved the Cats into the red zone, but Iowa cornerback Riley Moss was able to break up a pass in the end zone on third down to force a Northwestern field goal. The 41-yard kick from Kuhbander was good to put Northwestern up 13-3.
On the ensuing kickoff, Smith-Marsette was able to break a nice return, but it was called back due to a penalty on Monte Pottebaum. As the Hawkeye offense took the field, Petras dropped back to pass on the first play and threw an interception to Northwestern safety JR Pace. The Hawkeye defense held though, forcing a three and out, which led to quite a conservative call by Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who chose to punt instead of trying a 51-yard field goal or just going for it on fourth and five.
A good punt did pin Iowa deep, however, as the Hawkeyes took over at the 14-yard line. The Iowa offense continued struggle and was quickly off the field again with Taylor coming on for another punt. With 4:55 remaining in the second quarter, Northwestern had racked up 146 yards on offense and Iowa only 76.
As Northwestern continued to go no huddle, the Cats methodically marched down the field and were once again helped out by a roughing the passer penalty on Nixon, which was the third time the Hawkeyes had been flagged for that on the day. With Peyton Ramsey now 14/19 passing for 126 yards, the Hawkeyes were finally able to force a fourth down at the 20-yard line, which led to another field goal Kuhbander to give Northwestern a 16-3 lead.
With the Hawkeyes set to receive, there was 2:36 remaining in the first half as Smith-Marsette took the return out to the 30-yard line. Things started off well with a 12-yard run by Goodson followed by a 24-yard completion to Tracy, which put the Hawkeyes in business, but a big loss on a screen pass and a couple incompletions slowed down the offense. Through the air, Petras was now 10/16 passing for 73 yards and one interception. On came Keith Duncan to attempt a 54-yard field goal and it was good to make it a 16-6 game.
After receiving the kickoff, Northwestern's offense got going with a 16-yard completion from Ramsey to Chiaokhiao-Bowman. Two plays later though, it was the Hawkeye defense that came up with a huge play as cornerback Matt Hankins picked off Ramsey to give Iowa the ball at the 42-yard line. After the play, virtual Pat Fitzgerald gave Ramsey an earful for the turnover right before the half.
The Iowa offense took the field at the 42-yard line with 46 seconds left on the clock. On the first play though, Petras was sacked for a loss of six and the Hawkeyes had to use their first timeout. The next play was an eight-yard completion to Smith-Marsette and Iowa used their second timeout. With the ball on the 39-yard line, it was third and eight for the Hawkeyes, currently just 1/6 on third down, and it was about to be 1/7 as Petras was sacked again by the Northwestern defense, this time linebacker Paddy Fisher, as both teams let the clock run out from there.
Heading into halftime the score was Northwestern 16, Iowa 6.
With Northwestern receiving to start the second half, the Hawkeye defense was going to have to hold strong and that is exactly what they did. After two Isaiah Bowser runs and a short completion to Malik Washington, the Wildcats were three and out and forced to punt to Iowa. After an 11-yard punt return from Charlie Jones, Iowa's offense was back on the field, but were three and out themselves as Petras tried running the option on third down to no avail and Taylor punted it back to Northwestern.
On the next possession, it was Matt Hankins that came up with a big pass deflection on third down to force another Northwestern punt. Taking over at the 20-yard line, Iowa's offense was not able to get anything going as they dropped to 1/9 on third down after a sack on Petras by Northwestern defensive end Earnest Brown. Tory Taylor came in to punt again and Northwestern took over near midfield.
After a Ramsey completion to Kyric McGowan, the Hawkeyes were hit with another roughing the passer penalty, their fourth of the day, as this time it was defensive tackle Jack Heflin moving the Wildcats all the way down to the 21-yard line. Bending, but not breaking, the Iowa defense was able to hold Northwestern to a field goal as Kuhbander was good from 28 yards to give Northwestern a 19-6 lead.
With three minutes to go in the third quarter, the Iowa offense still had just 108 yards on the day and it was time to get to work. After Goodson was thrown for a loss on first down, Petras was able to connect with LaPorta on consecutive plays to get a much needed first down for the Hawkeyes. That put LaPorta up to six catches for 69 yards on the day. As the Hawkeyes crossed midfield, Petras hit LaPorta for another completion and Northwestern was called for roughing the passer to tack on 15 yards to the end of the play. Now in business at the 19-yard line, Goodson ran for eight yards and then Petras found tight end Shaun Beyer in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. Keith Duncan's PAT was good and the score was now Northwestern 19, Iowa 13.
Now only up by six, Northwestern's offense took the field with the ball at the 25-yard line and just over one minute remaining in the third quarter. Facing third and 11, Ramsey went deep to Riley Lees and it was complete for a big gain, but came back on an offensive pass interference. Now looking at third and 21, Ramsey was sacked by Jack Heflin on the last play of the third quarter.
Following an eight-yard punt return by Charlie Jones, the Iowa offense had the ball near midfield to begin the fourth quarter. On the first play, Petras dropped back to pass, had all day, and found Brandon Smith for 16 yards. Next was a draw play to Goodson for a short gain. After that, Petras dropped back to pass and looked for Tracy, but was intercepted by safety Brandon Joseph.
The Northwestern offense took over and fed the ball to Bowser, who now had 26 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown on the day. Ramsey picked up a big first down using his legs and was up to 25 yards rushing on the day. Now at midfield, the Iowa defense needed a stop. However, facing a third and 10, Ramsey not only completed the pass to Lees for the first down, but Iowa was hit with yet another roughing the passer penalty, their fifth of the game. This time it was Jestin Jacobs on the late hit, moving Northwestern down to the 20-yard line. The very next play Ramsey hit running back Drake Anderson on a screen pass for a touchdown and suddenly it was a 25-13 lead for Northwestern, who went for two but failed to make it.
Needing to score some points in a hurry, Iowa's offense took the field with 5:44 remaining in the fourth quarter. On first down, Goodson found lots of running room with a 16-yard gain. The next play was an incomplete pass, but a roughing the passer penalty gave the Hawkeyes a first down. Two plays later the Wildcats were flagged again for a late hit on Petras, this time on a third and 12 play, and the Hawkeyes received another first down. Mekhi Sargent entered the game and gained eight yards on his first carry. Now in business at the 16-yard line, Sargent ran it again and gained 11 yards. On first and goal from the five, Petras called his own number on a zone and ran it in for the touchdown. With Duncan's extra point, the score was now Northwestern 25, Iowa 20.
After a touchback, Northwestern's offense took the field with 4:02 on the clock. Expecting to get a steady diet of Isaiah Bowser, the Hawkeye defense was ready and Jack Koerner tackled him for a loss on first down. However, the next play saw Ramsey throw complete to Lees for a first down. Next, Bowser ran for four yards as Northwestern started to milk the play clock. A Ramsey pass to McGowan gave the Cats another first down and the Hawkeye defense was on their heels.
With the clock still running, Ramsey ran the ball on first down and was tackled by Dane Belton for no gain. Chewing up the clock facing second and 10, Ramsey kept the ball and ran for a first down yet again. With only two minutes remaining, the Hawkeye used their first timeout. After a Drake Anderson run went for no gain, Iowa quickly used its second timeout. On second and 10, Ramsey was thrown for a loss and the Hawkeyes called their final timeout with 1:54 on the clock. Facing a third and 13, this was do or die time for the Iowa defense. They were able to stuff a run by Bowser, now at 29 carries for 73 yards on the day, and the Cats faced fourth down. With the clock running, Northwestern decided to punt from the 40-yard line and it went for a touchback.
As the Iowa offense took the field, there was 1:07 remaining on the game clock and the Hawkeyes had no timeouts. On first down, Petras' pass was knocked down by the defense, but there was yet another roughing the passer penalty on the play.
Now at the 35-yard line, Petras dropped back to pass and found Goodson for a nine-yard gain. The offense hurried up to the line and killed the clock on second down. Now facing third and inches with 49 seconds remaining, Petras avoided the blitz and dumped it off to LaPorta for a 10-yard gain. Now at midfield, Petras hit Tracy for 17 yards and then clocked it with 30 seconds remaining.
With the Hawkeyes at the 28-yard line, Petras took the snap and found Tracy over the middle gain for an 19-yard gain. Hurrying up to the line, Petras spiked it to stop the clock at 23 seconds remaining.
With Iowa at the nine-yard line, Petras took the snap and threw to the back corner of the end zone where he found Brandon Smith for the go ahead touchdown.
A flag on the play for roughing the passer, of course, was declined.
Leading by one, Iowa decided to go for the two-point conversion and Petras connected with Beyer to make it a 28-25 lead for the Hawkeyes with 18 seconds on the clock.
After a touchback, Northwestern's offense took the field at the 25-yard line with 18 second remaining and trailing 28-25. On their first play, the Wildcats inexplicably tried a running play with Bowser that only gained four yards and quickly used a timeout. Next was a short completion from Ramsey to McGowan and another timeout. Now facing third and two from the 33-yard line and 10 seconds left, Ramsey found McGown for a 13-yard gain. Hurrying up to the ball, the Wildcats ran a play instead of using their final timeout and completed a short pass, but sure enough Iowa was called for roughing the passer on the play.
The penalty gave Northwestern the ball at the 33-yard line with Cats needing just a field goal to tie. Instead of kicking a 50-yard field goal into the wind, however, virtual Pat Fitzgerald decided to run a play. Ramsey dropped back to pass and threw into the end zone, but it fell incomplete to give the Hawkeyes the victory.
Final score: Iowa 28, Northwestern 25.
The player of the game was Spencer Petras, who finished 24/36 passing for 231 yards with two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.
Season record in correctly picking the outcome: 1-0
Career record in correctly picking the outcome: 70-15
