With his team on top 10-0 early in the second quarter of a Kinnick Stadium meeting with Northwestern, Hawkeyes quarterback Ricky Stanzi got turned the wrong way in the Iowa end zone.
A subsequent sack and strip by Wildcats defensive end Corey Wootton led to a Northwestern touchdown. The sprained ankle Stanzi suffered on the play all but led to the first loss of what had been a star-kissed Iowa season.
"It's a good play on their part, a bad play on ours," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said after his team lost 17-10. "Cost us a touchdown and a quarterback, unfortunately."
Behind relief quarterback James Vandenberg, a redshirt freshman, the Hawkeyes
couldn't muster any more points. They saw their hopes for an unbeaten season, if not a national championship opportunity, fall by the wayside three games short of the finish line.
"That was always in the back of my mind," junior receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos said. "It has never been done here before, and it is something I really wanted personally and for everybody. Now that opportunity, in the blink of an eye, it's gone. The best we can do now is 11-1."
The quest for that will starts next week in Columbus, Ohio, where the 9-1 Hawkeyes can stay alive in the hunt for a Big Ten Conference championship.
Ferentz said they almost certainly will have to do that with Vandenberg, not Stanzi, under center. The coach said a preliminary X-ray of Stanzi's sore right ankle did not reveal a break.
"The bad news is it's a severe sprain," Ferentz said. "My guess is he will be out of action here the next couple of weeks."
That means Vandenberg will get a couple of opportunities to improve on a
9-for-27, 1-interception, 82-yard passing performance in Saturday's relief effort.
A Keokuk, Iowan 17 days shy of his 20th birthday, Vanderberg's previous collegiate experience amounted to six plays at the end an early-season blowout over Iowa State. Three plays into Saturday's test, Vandenberg had his first throw intercepted by Wildcats linebacker Quentin Davie at the Hawkeyes' 46. Ten plays later, Northwestern had covered those 46 yards, scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard, Dan Persa pass to Blake Dunsmore.
Northwestern later added a 47-yard, fourth-quarter field goal for the only points of the second half.
Iowa's defense performed well, limiting the visitors to 239 yards, but Iowa's offense turned the football over four times in the second quarter and managed 121 total yards with Stanzi sidelined. The Hawkeyes ran for only 65 yards.
It was a frustrating development for a team that started the game with much promise. Stanzi hit Marvin McNutt for a 74-yard score on Iowa's third snap and the Hawks added a 39-yard Daniel Murray field goal on their next possession.
Stanzi was 4-for-8 for 134 yards passing with a second-quarter interception before he went down.
The Hawks did have a chance for more late-game magic, taking their last turn with the football with 2:04 remaining in the game and 83 yards to cover. The drive ended on four straight incomplete passes.
No perfect ending this time in a loss that stunted an Iowa winning streak at 13 games.
REPORT CARD
Offense: D
The Hawkeyes got off to a great start with a 74-yard touchdown pass from Ricky Stanzi to Marvin McNutt on the third play of the game and 10 points in the first 5:10. But things began to stagnate even before Stanzi left the game with a sprained ankle early in the second quarter. For the second consecutive week, they turned the ball over four times in one quarter.
Defense: B+
Northwestern didn’t exactly march up and down the field against the Hawkeyes. The visitors produced only 239 yards of offense, although they were 9-for-18 on third-down conversions. One of the Wildcats’ touchdowns was scored by their defense and the other came after another Hawkeyes turnover.
Special teams: C
Punter Ryan Donahue had a phenomenal day, averaging 47.0 yards a punt (including a 73-yarder) and pinning Northwestern inside the 20-yard line three times. The return units weren’t anything spectacular, but at least the new punt returner, Tyler Sash, didn’t fumble.
Coaching: C
The Hawkeyes seemed fired up and ready to play from the outset in a game in which it would have been easy to look ahead to next week. But the offense didn’t produce a point in the final 3½ quarters and the running attack continued to flounder, averaging only 2.4 yards per carry against a middle-of-the-road Big Ten defense.
— Don Doxsie
STAR OF THE GAME
Corey Wootton, Northwestern
The senior defensive end made the play that turned the game around, jarring the ball loose from Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi in the end zone early in the second quarter. Teammate Marshall Thomas pounced on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown that cut Iowa’s lead to 10-7 and changed the momentum of the contest.
NOTEBOOK
Conklin starts: Former Pleasant Valley athlete Brett Greenwood was in uniform for the Hawkeyes on Saturday but did not start at free safety for the first time all season.
Another Quad-Citian, former Assumption player Joe Conklin, took his place and made five tackles and grabbed his first career interception, on a long pass into the end zone late in the second quarter.
“We had a pretty good idea all week that Brett wasn’t going to be able to play,” Conklin said. “They wanted to wait and see how he felt in pregame warm-ups, though.”
Greenwood suffered a neck injury two weeks ago at Michigan State and played only one series last week against Indiana before going to the sidelines.
One that got away: Iowa did not score after its field goal with 9 minutes, 50 seconds to go in the first quarter, but it had one touchdown called back by a penalty.
Brandon Wegher sprinted 64 yards up the middle for a touchdown with less than 5 minutes remaining in the second quarter, only to have the play nullified by a holding penalty against center Rafael Eubanks.
Eubanks, who had a lengthy discussion with the official after the play, knocked a Northwestern player to the ground, but didn’t think he did anything to warrant a flag.
“He saw something, and he has to make the call,” Eubanks said. “I felt that it wasn’t holding, and I wanted to know what he saw.”
Active Angerer: Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer reached a career high in tackles Saturday with 17 — four solo tackles and 13 assists. His previous best was 16 last year against Wisconsin.
Return man No. 5: Iowa employed its fifth punt return man this season Saturday, and Tyler Sash, who also is the team’s starting strong safety, acquitted himself OK.
While two return men fumbled punts last week, Sash managed to hold onto caught four punts and returned them for 16 yards.
Wildcat domination: Northwestern has beaten Iowa in each of its past three visits to Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeyes have lost only nine of their past 52 games at home with the Wildcats accounting for a third of those defeats.
“They’re a good team, a smart group of guys,” Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer said. “They’re the kind of team that demands the best in you.”
Dynamic duo: Northwestern employed two quarterbacks almost interchangeably throughout Saturday’s game with normal starter Mike Kafka actually playing a little less than backup Dan Persa.
“Nick McCall and our offensive staff did a great job this week coming up with a plan how to utilize both guys’ strengths,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “I thought we executed the plan really well.”
Persa, who left the game with a hand injury in the fourth quarter, was the leading rusher in the contest with 67 yards on 17 carries. He also completed five of nine passes for 37 yards while Kafka was 10-for-18 for 72 yards.
FIVE PLAYS THAT CHANGED THE GAME
Quick strike
A Brett Morse drop and a 3-yard Brandon Wegher run had the Hawkeyes facing a third-and-7 on the game’s first offensive possession. Iowa went for it all. Marvin McNutt raced through the two-deep safeties and jetted home untouched for a 74-yard score. In league with big-play touchdowns a week earlier vs. Indiana, Ricky Stanzi at that point had completed three of his past five passes, all for more than 60 yards.
Iowa’s nightmare
The Hawkeyes were backed up to their own 6 after losing field position thanks to a Stanzi interception at midfield. Then Stanzi made a more costly mistake. Finding no open receivers while standing in the end zone, the quarterback stepped up then turned to escape onrushing ’Cats defensive end Corey Wooten, who punched the ball loose. Marshall Thomas fell on the ball and Stanzi stayed down, suffering an apparent ankle injury that knocked him out of the game.
The rookie mistake
On his ninth turn under center, James Vandenberg, below, dropped back to pass and failed to read linebacker Quentin Davie in coverage. He hit the Wildcats linebacker in the numbers to set Northwestern up at midfield. The ‘Cats drove the 46 yards in 10 plays to take a 14-10 lead they would carry into intermission.
The costly hold
Brandon Wegher broke the biggest run of the game and his young career late in the second quarter, a 64-yard dash to paydirt. A flag on the field ended that. Rafael Eubanks was called for a hold he disputed.
Field goal roulette
Northwestern stretched its lead to 17-10 on a Stefan Demos 47-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats converted three third downs on a 52-play drive to that score. Early in the third, Daniel Murray narrowly missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt at the same end of the field. The kick drifted wide left by inches.
UP NEXT
at Ohio State
When: Saturday,
2:30 p.m.
TV: ABC
Coach: Jim Tressel (9th season, 91-21)
Record: 8-2, 5-1 in the Big Ten
Who they've beaten: Navy, Toledo, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Mexico State, Penn State
Series: Ohio State leads 44-14-3
Of note: Iowa has lost 10 of the past 11 meetings and last won in Ohio Stadium in 1991.
On offense: Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor is fifth in the Big Ten in passing efficiency and has rushed for more yardage than any other QB in the league.
On defense: Going into Saturday’s action, the Buckeyes ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense and rushing defense.
