Iowa falls to Iowa State, 16-13

Same shit, new year as Iowa showed flashes of potential on offense but couldn’t get the job done in Ames, falling to the No. 16 Iowa State Cyclones 16-13.

It was another up and down day for new quarterback Mark Gronowski, who finished the day 13/24 for 83 yards and an interception passing, and 16 carries for 37 yards and a touchdown. Iowa’s receivers struggled, being led by Jacob Gill with 52 yards on 5 receptions and way, way too many misses. Aside from two strong drives that resulted in points, Tim Lester also called an extremely disappointing, predictable game.

It’s a tough way to enter the third week of the season and it’s going to bring a lot of questions from the fanbase. I for one never expected Gronowski to come in and be a Heisman candidate, but I think a lot of fans expected offensive improvement from the get-go this season. Injuries are playing a part, but receiver in particular looks awful once again in a year that was supposed to see great improvement.

So how did we get here? Let’s go back…

On the. first drive of the game, the Hawkeyes went 3-and-out, thanks to Gill being hosed on the spot of the ball (he was over the line).

The Cyclones responded by gashing the Iowa defense, but a key stop in pass protection and a holding call stalled the drive early, but the Cyclones still were able to get on the board first with a chip field goal, going up 3-0 early in the first quarter. It seemed like the Hawkeyes had gotten a stop on the next drive, but an absolutely horeshit gift from the officials giving Matt Campbell a timeout when he clearly had not called it in time, kept the drive alive. What should have been a Cyclone punt instead turned into the Cyclones continuing to march down the field and into the redzone.

Thankfully, Iowa’s pass protection came through once again and held the Cyclones to a field goal, giving them a 6-0 lead with 3:18 left in the first quarter.

Iowa’s response? A third consecutive drive with absolutely dogshit play calling and dogshit execution. Gill dropped a dime, Large missed a block, and Gronowski fumbled the snap on third down, forcing a third consecutive punt.

Then things got crazy.

The game stopped for what felt like forever as the Iowa punt went under review, as the ball potentially bounced off the tip of the returner’s finger, or into the butt of Lutmer, that was then recovered by Iowa. Thankfully the review was upheld and gave Iowa its best opportunity yet to get on the board.

Lester responded with Iowa’s first RPO play of the year that faked the Cyclones well with a Gronowski scramble for a first down. But once again the Hawkeyes turtled, running for two straight downs and throwing a too short pass on 3rd down, forcing a Drew Stevens field goal that was waaaaay too close for comfort.

The game settled in from there, with the Hawkeye defense forcing its first 3-and-out of the game, but Iowa could get nothing moving on its response drive once again despite opening the playbook and passing on early downs. The teams traded possessions from there until Gronowski threw a pick with just under 8 minutes left in the half that put Iowa State into back into scoring position.

5 plays later, the Cyclones found pay dirt.

That proved to be the wakeup call the Hawkeye offense needed. Patterson ripped off two big runs to move the chains, Gronowski found Sam Phillips for a 15 yard completion, and all the sudden the Hawkeyes were marching down the field as the clock hit the two minute timeout for the half. Iowa kept moving the ball but couldn’t convert on 3rd and 8, and looked like the Hawkeyes would have to settle for another field goal, but the Cyclones were called for defensive holding and unsportsmanlike conduct, giving the Hawkeyes a another breath of life and the ball on the 3.

Gronowski punched it in with his legs on the next play and suddenly the Hawkeyes were right back in to the game, 13-10 with 27 seconds left. 17 plays, 85 yards, and a 2-yard scamper for 6. That’s what I’m talking about.

The Cyclones started the second half with a deep play action throw downfield that was broken up thanks to beautiful coeverage from TJ Hall that was followed by a run stop behind the line of scrimmage by Hurkett. Becht couldn’t connect with his receiver on third and forever, and the Cyclones were forced into a 3-and-out in less than a minute of play.

Iowa, unfortunately, couldn’t catch a break, as Wetjen tried to return the ball but tried to get cute and got tackled for loss. Add in a holding call, and the Hawkeyes had to start from the 5. The Hawkeye offense, however, responded by following up its best drive of the season with another beaut, featuring Gronowski running the slow mesh to perfection, and a tush push on 4th and short for good measure. But finally, the Cyclones were able to stop a Gronowski run on 3rd down and the Hawkeyes were forced into a field goal. This time, Stevens had no issue and chipped in the field goal to tie things up at 13 all.

While 7 would have been great, it was another strong drive from the Hawkeye offense, ripping off 15 plays and nearly 10 minutes of clock.

Iowa State continued to play sloppy football in response, calling for a fair catch on the kickoff but letting it bounce on the ground, which forced them to start the drive on the 3 yard line. But it didn’t matter, as the well rested Cyclone offense put together a solid drive of their own, primarily through the air, to take the game into the 4th quarter.

But the media timeout helped Iowa’s defense respond with some huge stops, particularly on 3rd down when ISU’s receiver Overby couldn’t bring the ball into his chest and killed the drive, forcing the Cyclones to punt away a once promising drive.

A few plays into the drive, Gronowski took a gutsy shot downfield on 3rd and 2 that was called for pass interference, giving the Hawkeyes yet another huge break on a Cyclone error. Lester brought Patterson back on the new set of downs to push through the line of scrimmage and eat clock, but a strange run call on 2nd down that went for nothing forced Gronowski to throw on 3rd and long, and the Hawkeyes punted.

Iowa State responded by moving the ball efficiently and bleeding clock, partially thanks to two miraculous catches from TE Burkle that would be incompletions 99% of the time. Heading into the 2 minute timeout, the Cyclones faced 3rd and 9 on the 37. The Cyclones ran to set up a straight shot and Konrady hit a 54 yard field goal to take a 16-13 lead with 1:52 remaining.

In response, Gronowski completed a pass on first down but got sacked on 2nd down for 7 yards, forcing Kirk Ferentz to take his last timeout after only two plays and putting his quarterback in a rough situation. His response? Getting sacked again.

Ballgame.

This sucks. It’s not surprising, but it sucks. Iowa State is simply a better program than Iowa right now, and it’s not close.

Other quick random thoughts:

Monster games for Sharar and Lutmer. Two dudes who should make a name for themselves this season.

Iowa’s 17 play 85 yard drive was apparently the most plays in a drive for the Hawkeyes in 4 years. Oh.

This was one of the worst officiated football games I can remember watching in a long time. Horrible calls that impacted both teams multiple times, and way too many stoppages for review. The game had very little flow.

Two games in, I think it’s perfectly valid to ask questions about Gronowski and the passing game. He certainly looked better in the second half by far, but there are valid questions to ask about the offense here. Gronowski has certainly not lived up to the billing — or the paycheck.

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