The last time Iowa and Michigan State faced off, the Hawkeyes won 49-7 -- a very abnormal result for this series in the very abnormal conditions that were the COVID year of 2020. On Saturday night, Iowa and Michigan State squared off under the lights at Kinnick Stadium -- and what ensued was an Iowa-Michigan State game that was much more fitting for this series, full of defense, special teams, and plenty of chaotic football.
Saturday's game featured a potentially catastrophic injury to Iowa QB Cade McNamara in the first quarter, as well as yet another stop-and-start outing from the Iowa offense. It also featured a pair of game-saving (and game-winning) moments of brilliance from Cooper DeJean, including his game-winning punt return late in the fourth quarter. It was a game that featured 13 punts, seven made field goals, and more touchdowns on defense and special teams than offense.
In fact, it's hard to find a more fitting stat for an Iowa-Michigan State game than this: in a game that featured 42 points, there was just one (1) offensive touchdown.
Iowa won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. The impact of the discussion all week about the involvement (or lack thereof) of Iowa's receivers in the passing game was immediately apparent: Cade McNamara's first two passes of the game were completions to Diante Vines (for 23 yards) and Nico Ragaini (for 14 yards). Iowa moved the ball down to the edge of the Michigan State red zone before its opening drive stalled out and the Hawkeyes were forced to settle for a 40-yard Drew Stevens field goal.
Michigan State's opening drive petered out after a 10-yard gain on the first play, but Spartan punter Ryan Eckley rocketed a punt that was downed at the Iowa 3-yard line. This was the first indication that punting would matter a great deal in this game.
Unfortunately, the ensuing Iowa drive may have been one of the most costly of the entire season. Backed up to the 2-yard line after Leshon Williams lost a yard on first down, Cade McNamara was flushed from the pocket and tried to scramble forward for a few yards -- only to immediately collapse to the ground with a non-contact injury. McNamara was helped off the field while putting no weight on his left leg and did not return to the game. In the second half, he was on the Iowa sideline in street clothes and on crutches.
In McNamara's absence, Iowa turned to Wisconsin transfer Deacon Hill at quarterback. Hill's first two full drives as quarterback were unsuccessful -- he went 2/5 for 12 yards (a pair of 6-yard completions to Vines), but both drives ended in three-and-outs and punts by Tory Taylor.
But Iowa's offense did finally click with Hill under center on his third full drive, with 6:04 to go in the second quarter. The Iowa drive was set up by an impressive interception by Cooper DeJean at the edge of the end zone, which stopped a Michigan State drive that seemed to destined to end in points (and extend their 6-3 lead). Instead, that takeaway gave the ball to the Iowa offense at its own 20-yard line.
What ensued was Hill's most successful drive of the day. He connected with Erick All on a crossing route on first down that All was able to extend into a 32-yard gain with a catch-and-run down the sideline. A 15-yard roughing the passer penalty moved Iowa all the down to the MSU 33. After a 2-yard Kamari Moulton gain, Hill went back to All for 17 yards. After another short run by Moulton, Hill connected with All again -- this time on a short pass that All turned into a 13-yard touchdown thanks to some impressive tackle-breaking efforts.
That drive was not the beginning of a breakthrough for the Iowa offense, though; Iowa went three-and-out on its next possession. Michigan State drove the ball 35 yards in 35 seconds before halftime, setting up a booming 58-yard field goal by Jonathan Kim that set a new Kinnick Stadium record for longest field goal -- and cut Iowa's lead to 10-9.
While Iowa had the halftime lead, there were several stats trending in Michigan State's favor -- the Spartans had out-gained Iowa 222 to 135 yards in the opening half and had a 14-7 edge in first down. They also had a 39-24 edge in total plays and a 18:41 to 11:19 edge in time of possession -- advantages that had grown during a second quarter in which the Spartans held the ball for over 10 minutes and ran 15 more plays than Iowa (26 to 11). The overworked Iowa defense wore down in the second half against Penn State last week; trying to prevent a similar outcome this week was paramount.
The third quarter upped the chaos factor in the game -- after Sebastian Castro jumped a route and recorded Iowa's second interception of MSU QB Noah Kim in the game just five plays into the second half, the Hawkeyes took over at midfield. There was no opportunity to use that good field position, though -- Leshon Williams fumbled on Iowa's first play after the interception and the ball was immediately recovered for a scoop-and-score by Michigan State LB Cal Haladay.
Iowa's ensuing drive was actually its longest of the second half -- the Hawkeyes went 43 yards on five plays thanks to a 15-yard pass from Hill to TE Steven Silianos, 6- and 7-yard runs by Kamari Moulton, and a roughing the passer penalty on MSU. Unfortunately, the drive ended when a wobbly cross-field pass by Hill was intercepted by Angelo Grose.
The Iowa defense held firm after the interception, though, forcing a turnover on downs when the Spartans surprisingly tried to convert 4th-and-1 on their own 30-yard line. A QB sneak attempt by Kim was met with a wall of Iowa defenders for no gain.
Granted starting field position at the MSU 30, the Iowa offense actually went backwards, landing at the MSU 25 after Hill was swallowed up for a 9-yard sack on third down. Drew Stevens bailed the Iowa offense out with a 53-yard field goal, though, cutting Iowa's deficit to 16-13.
After Iowa and Michigan State traded punts, with field position steadily tilting in favor of the Spartans, MSU got the ball down to the Iowa 28, before a false start penalty pushed Michigan State back to the 33-yard line. Jonathan Kim, who had just hit that Kinnick Stadium record 58-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter, saw his 50-yard field goal attempt careen off the upright.
The Iowa offense was not able to take advantage of this good fortune. In fact, these were the drives for the Iowa offense in the second half:
* fumble
* interception (after 5 plays, 43 yards)
* field goal (after 4 plays, -5 yards)
* three-and-out, punt
* three-and-out, punt
* punt (after 8 plays, 33 yards)
* field goal (after 7 plays, 20 yards)
* field goal (after 6 plays, 14 yards)
Fortunately, the Iowa defense and special teams were able to pick up the slack. Michigan State had just two three-and-outs all game -- both came in the fourth quarter. In-between those three-and-outs was a five-play drive that ended in another MSU punt.
After scorching his previous punt for 67 yards, Eckley shanked his next punt for just 15 yards, gifting Iowa starting field position on the MSU 38. Seven plays later, Drew Stevens nailed a 36-yard field goal to tie the game at 16-16 with 5:19 to play.
Stevens' field goal try came on 4th and 1 from the MSU 18 yard line. Kirk Ferentz passed on an opportunity to have Deacon Hill attempt a QB sneak for a first down on that fourth down play -- despite the fact that Hill had been very successful on a QB sneak on a 3rd and 1 earlier in the drive.
That decision wound up being a moot point, courtesy of Cooper DeJean. After the Iowa defense was able to force another three-and-out (aided by back-to-back false starts by Michigan State on third down), DeJean fielded the ensuing punt -- and swiftly ran Iowa into the lead.
MORE: Cooper DeJean Punt Return TD Seals Iowa Win
On Michigan State's next drive, the Iowa defense came up aces yet again, with Nick Jackson and Jay Higgins combining for a punishing hit on MSU WR Tre Mosley that jarred the ball loose. Ethan Hurkett pounced on the ball for the recovery and Iowa took over at the MSU 30-yard line. Six plays later, Drew Stevens iced the victory with his fourth field goal of the game, a 34-yard kick that gave Iowa a 10-point lead with 1:03 to play. There was still time for one more Noah Kim interception (by Jermari Harris) as Iowa finished off a 26-16 win after outscoring Michigan State 16-7 in the second half, all courtesy of the defense and special teams.
Iowa was outgained 127-87 in the second half and the Iowa offense averaged just 2.5 yards per play after halftime, and finished with 222 yards of total offense for the game. Deacon Hill went 11/27 for 115 yards, a touchdown, and an interception -- though he was also the victim of several drops (Iowa receivers and tight ends were officially credited with six drops) as well.
Ultimately, Iowa leaves this game with even more questions about the offense (especially after the serious-looking injury to McNamara), but for one night at least, defense and special teams were enough to carry Iowa to victory once again.
