Hawkeyes fall to Cyclones in triple overtime
Posted on 10. Sep, 2011 by admin in Iowa Football
By Brendan Stiles
HawkeyeDrive.com
AMES, Iowa — History repeated itself for the Iowa Hawkeyes at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, and in more ways than one.
Much like its last overtime loss in 2009 against Ohio State, Iowa had possession of the football in the final 1:17 of regulation. In this instance, the Hawkeyes had two timeouts to work with in that final 77 seconds in the fourth quarter.
But Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz elected to chew the clock and it ended up costing the Hawkeyes on Saturday, as they lost in three overtimes to Iowa State, 44-41. The loss drops Iowa to 1-1 on the season.
“Had we got the ball past the 30, we would’ve gone for it,” Ferentz said in his postgame press conference. “But we ran the ball on first down and didn’t get much.”
Like four of Iowa’s five losses last season, the Hawkeyes held a fourth-quarter lead with 5:50 when sophomore running back Marcus Coker ran in from one yard out. Sophomore wide receiver Keenan Davis converted the 2-point conversion to make it a 24-17 contest.
Then the defense got gassed by Iowa State quarterback Steele Jantz, who completed 25-of-37 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns to zero interceptions. This outing came for Jantz following an 18-of-40 outing that included three interceptions against Northern Iowa the week before.
The Cyclones would score touchdowns on each of their final four possessions.
“We weren’t able to keep them out of the end zone,” sophomore linebacker James Morris said following a seven-tackle performance. “At the end of the day, if we can’t keep them out of the end zone, it’s going to be tough to win.”
Iowa State won the coin toss in the first overtime. Coker scored from four yards out to put Iowa ahead 31-24, but the Cyclones responded when Jantz converted a fourth-down pass into the end zone for the tying score. With Iowa State ahead 38-31, the Hawkeyes would tie the game when Davis would score from 23 yards out on a pass thrown by junior quarterback James Vandenberg. The Cedar Rapids native led Iowa in receiving with five catches for 95 yards.
“They came down with a man coverage, and it was kind of a one-on-one route out there for him to win,” said Vandenberg, who was 16-of-28 passing for 207 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday. “He won. I got him the ball, and he did all the rest.”
In the third and what proved to be the final overtime, Iowa faced another third down and needed six yards to pick up the first down. Once again, quarterback James Vandenberg looked the way of Davis, who ended up dropping the ball.
“That’s a routine catch everybody should make,” Davis said.
Following a Cyclone penalty, it was 4th-and-1. Ferentz decided to take the points and put it on the defense to prevent Iowa State from scoring.
“I was hopeful we’d get a stop,” Ferentz said.
But in the end, the Cyclones pulled through when running back James White scored from four yards out before chaos ensued with fans and students storming the field.
“They did what they did all day,” senior defensive tackle Mike Daniels said. “They just came out and played.
“They were definitely the better team today.”
Iowa returns home for its next two games, with next week’s game taking place on Sept. 17 against Pittsburgh. The game will kick off at 11 a.m. Central and be televised on ESPN2. The Hawkeyes will look to avoid history repeating itself again when they play the Panthers, as Pitt won the previous meeting 21-20 at Heinz Field in 2008. The Panthers enter Kinnick Stadium with a 2-0 record following a 35-29 win on Saturday over Maine.
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