Three Plays: Complementary football beats Kentucky

Iowa ended the season on a strong note on New Year’s Eve by defeating Kentucky in the Music City Bowl. Kirk Ferentz’s squad did not stray far from its identity in the 21-0 victory.

Behind stellar special teams play and dominant defense, the Hawkeyes cruised to an easy win by limiting Kentucky to 2.7 yards per play and having a plus-14 yards field position advantage (Own 35 to Own 21) over the Wildcats.

Plays made in the kicking game and on defense by the Hawks were the difference in the game.

Cooper DeJean makes a huge return

Over the last month of the season, Iowa turned to sophomore cornerback Cooper DeJean at punt returner. The former four-star recruit has scored multiple defensive touchdowns this season and played quarterback in high school. DeJean entered the postseason averaging over 17 yards per punt return.

The playmaker provided a huge field position win for the Hawks in the first quarter.

After Kentucky’s second possession, the Wildcats had a chance to get a huge early field position win punting around midfield. Wilson Berry then delivered a good punt that was fielded inside the 10. But the Cats were unable to get DeJean on the ground.

Despite having DeJean bracketed by the coverage team, Andru Phillips misses a tackle at the 10-yard line that would’ve pinned an anemic offense back early in the football game. Instead, DeJean extends the play by nearly 30 yards on the return.

That play helped give Iowa the early field position advantage. Iowa’s next punt would pin Kentucky deep allowing the Hawks’ next offensive possession to start at the Kentucky 42. They would cash that in for six and never look back.

Sam LaPorta creates an unexpected explosive

Thanks to some transfer departures and ineffective recruiting, Iowa entered the Music City Bowl with a bad situation at wide receiver. Therefore, the tight ends were going to be very important for redshirt freshman quarterback Joe Labas. Offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz did a good job of creating some easy early throws for his new QB.

One of those throws was a screen pass to star tight end Sam LaPorta. Iowa’s leading receiver then made the biggest play of the game with a strong run after the catch.

On the first play of Iowa’s only offensive touchdown drive, Ferentz dials up a tight end screen and LaPorta breaks multiple tackles on a 27-yard gain. That great individual effort allowed the Hawks to score a touchdown on the very next play.

After being given a very short field thanks to strong defense and special teams, Iowa played complementary football by scoring a touchdown and taking an insurmountable lead against a laboring Kentucky offense.

Costly mistake ends game

After Kentucky got in an early hole following Iowa’s only offensive touchdown things didn’t feel great. They became worse when Destin Wade threw a pick-six on the very next possession. But the game officially ended just before halftime.

Facing a third-and-long at their own seven, Kentucky put Wade in a tough situation. Cooper DeJean made the true freshman pay with another pick-six.

Wade first works his eyes to the boundary and does not see anything before looking to the field. The quarterback then tries to make a very long throw off of his back foot. DeJean is able to break on the throw and score an easy defensive touchdown.

Iowa’s complementary football smothered Kentucky on Saturday. The Hawks took care of the football on offense, dominated the field position battle in the kicking game, and dominated on defense.