Hawkeyes pull away for victory over Trojans
The story of the Iowa Football season in 2024 appears to be the one half of good football and one half of less than stellar football.
That happened once again this week as the Hawkeyes stumbled around in the first half, trailing 14-10 to Troy, before scoring 28 points after the break on their way to a convincing 38-21 victory over the Trojans.
The Iowa ground game was once again taking center stage. Led by Kaleb Johnson, Iowa rushed for 284 yards on the afternoon. It marked the third straight game that Iowa has gone over 200 yards. The last time that happened for a Hawkeye team was back in 2013.
Johnson got Iowa on the board after a scoreless first quarter. Cade McNamara hit Jarriet Buie for 19 yards on third down and then Addison Ostrenga hauled in a 6 yard pass to get Iowa near the red zone. A costly pair of personal fouls on Troy pushed Iowa from the 21 yard line to the four before Johnson rushed into the end zone for a 7-0 lead.
Big plays by the opposing team once again haunted Iowa on Saturday. This time it was another long bomb. Troy receiver Devonte Ross, who was the star of the game for the Trojans, caught a 63 yard bomb to tie the game at 7-7.
Iowa then answered back, but with just a field goal after a drive that began with Johnson rushing for 29 yards stalled out. Johnson finished the day with 173 yards rushing and a pair of scores. Drew Stevens knocked home a 42 yard field goal and it felt like the game would go to the halftime break at 10-7.
But, the Trojans had other ideas. Ross, this time as a punt returner, raced down the sidelines 77 yards for the score. Troy went to the break leading 14-10 as boos rained down on the Hawkeyes.
The second half was a different story for Iowa. On their second drive of the second half, Iowa took over at their 30 yard line and got moving quickly. The highlight of the drive was a 33 yard pass to Kaden Wetjen and then backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan hit a shovel pass to Ostrenga for a touchdown. When Iowa was inside the ten yard line, Sullivan was the quarterback of choice for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa’s defense then got involved in the scoring column . With 2:41 left in the third period, Jermari Harris picked off a pass and thanks to a couple of key blocks, raced into the end zone for a 28 yard interception return touchdown and a 24-14 lead for the Hawkeyes.
Once again, Troy did not go away. Three plays later it was once again Ross causing headaches for the Iowa secondary. He caught his second touchdown of the day, this one from 62 yards and it was 24-21, Iowa heading into the fourth quarter.
The Hawkeyes wasted no time answering back. Once again it was Johnson doing the finishing touches as he raced 33 yards, seemingly untouched for the score to make it 31-21. Iowa completed the scoring for the day on the next drive. Jaziun Patterson got his first work of the season and scampered 39 yards for the score and a 38-21 victory for the Hawkeyes.
Iowa is now 2-1 on the season and travel to Minnesota next Saturday with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m.
