EAST LANSING, MICHIGAN -- The Iowa defense bent too much on Saturday night against Big Ten rival Michigan State, allowing 32 points and 468 yards to the Spartans in the 32-20 loss.
"It didn't seem like we were doing much well, much very sharply," Kirk Ferentz said postgame. "It starts at the line of scrimmage, and their guys did a good job there. We didn't tackle well. From the sideline, you could see that. That was pretty much all over the field. It wasn't one position. It's hard to play good defense if you don't do that."
The bending started in the first half for the Hawkeyes, who trailed 12-0 at the break. In fact, Phil Parker's group bent so much, they didn't force the Spartans to punt a single time in the entire game.
"We were just looking for answers," senior captain and returning All-American middle linebacker Jay Higgins said. "Obviously, we were doing a good job of keeping them out of the end zone. They would drive it down the field and fizzle out, but we were trying to get a first three-and-out and not let them get down there that far."
The Hawkeye D continually allowed MSU to drive deep into Iowa's side of the field and lean on the Hawkeye defense, even if it didn't result in touchdowns (or even points) on every possession. The Spartans' had the ball for 39 minutes and 44 seconds to Iowa's 20:16, nearly a 2-to-1 advantage.
"We were doing something right defensively, but not enough to keep them off the board," Higgins continued. "I thought we did a good job of adjusting. We were changing things up, changing the game plan and that was working at one point. I really think it was on us in terms of tackling and execution."
With no Sebastian Castro, who was out with an ankle injury, and backup Koen Entringer going down near halftime, the group was already missing two of its most important pieces.
"Any time you got a senior leader like Sebastian not out there, especially the position he plays out in space and coverage, it's gonna be pretty hard," Higgins said. "We knew we had to step up. I mean, my goal today was just to take up some slack for Sebastian being out, but today was not the day to have a bad game."
Though Castro is such a integral player on the Iowa defense, Ferentz said it's no excuse for how his team played.
"In football, you're going to have guys missing," he said. "To say that was a big part of it, that'd be a crutch. Whoever is in there has got to be able to tackle."
Higgins blamed himself for the defensive difficulties.
"I definitely didn't play well enough to put my defense in the best situation," he said. "This wasn't the night to not show up. I've got to do better tackling and putting my guys in a better situation. I've got to make the plays I usually make."
He felt his struggles bled throughout the remainder of the defense.
"I was trying to get the team going, but when you don't have a mike backer playing well it's going to be hard to get off the field," he said. "I really just think it was on us, just tackling and execution."
Though Higgins took accountability for his side of the ball, Ferentz remained adamant that his group needs to improve as a whole.
"It was just everywhere," Ferentz said. "I didn't see anything that looked sharp or crisp from a tackling standpoint. Typically we're a pretty good tackling team. It's hard to be a good defensive team if you're not."
Going forward the Hawkeyes have five more games in conference play to right the ship defensively -- and to see if they've got the fortitude to push through the remainder of the season, despite the fact that a College Football Playoff berth is effectively off the table.
"We'll find out," Ferentz added. "We have no choice. We can't sit around and feel too bad for too long. We'll feel bad tomorrow, for sure. We'll look at the tape and see what we can learn. We'll make sure the guys get some rest. ... But, that's football. You've got to move on whether you win or lose."
