Rapid Reaction: Iowa trounces Northwestern, bounces Wildcats to 3-5

Northwestern men’s basketball opens its season in nine days!

It’s going to be a long drive back to Evanston.

Iowa rode a monster third quarter to a 40-14 win over Northwestern as the ‘Cats failed to score an offensive touchdown for a second week in a row.

Jack Lausch was unable to eclipse the 100-yard mark for the second straight week, adding two interceptions to another uninspiring ledger. The final stat line for the sophomore was 10-of-19 passing for 62 yards. Cam Porter had his best game since returning from injury with 13 carries for 50 yards on a day with very few positives for Northwestern.

Kaleb Johnson led the way for the Hawkeyes on offense, finishing the day with 14 carries for 109 yards and three touchdowns with all but four of those yards coming in the third quarter. Brendan Sullivan had his best showing in black and gold against his former team, passing for 79 yards and rushing for 41 yards and a touchdown after Cade McNamara was benched in the second quarter. By the end of the beatdown, Iowa’s offense finished with 350 yards compared to Northwestern’s 163.

The Hawkeyes won the toss and elected to defer to the dormant Wildcat offense. Lausch had the chains moving quickly for the ‘Cats, hitting Frank Covey II on a 12-yard curl on second down after a 2-yard run from Porter. A play later, Lausch found A.J. Henning on a scramble drill for 21 more.

With a third-and-three from the Hawkeye 33-yard line — a situation that screamed four-down territory — Lujan gave the ball to his bell-cow back who only picked up a yard, forcing Northwestern to trot out Luke Akers for a 49-yard field goal try. Akers missed short. One step forward, two steps back.

Iowa wasted no time making Braun pay. After a bevy of Wildcat lineman stifled Kaleb Johnson on his first carry for a loss of three, McNamara took the top off NU’s secondary with a 42-yard bomb to Seth Anderson, who beat Josh Fussell on a deep post.

Northwestern bent, but did not break. Iowa gave the rock to Johnson just twice in six red zone plays, while Theran Johnson smothered tight end Luke Lachey on a third down corner fade. Drew Stevens hit a 24-yard kick to give Iowa an early 3-0 advantage.

The ‘Cats found themselves facing third-and-long quickly after Iowa’s field goal. A one-yard dump-off to Henning followed by a two-yard carry from Himon forced Lausch to take a shot on third-and-7. Lausch had time but was unable to connect with Henning, forcing a Northwestern punt.

Iowa’s Kayden Wetjen got 12 on the return after a booming 51-yard punt from Akers to setup Iowa on its own 33-yard line. Northwestern had the Hawkeyes on the ropes facing third-and-long after a tripping penalty, but Iowa got bailed out by a roughing the passer penalty from Anto Saka. It was a brutal mistake that not only kept the drive alive but negated a Josh Fussell interception.

The ‘Cats were able to reset nicely, and Najee Story smothered Johnson in the backfield for a two-yard loss. Two incompletions later, and Northwestern had the ball back.

But not for long. Rolling to his left, Lausch threw a BRUTAL interception across his body to give Iowa the ball on Northwestern’s 26-yard line. It was arguably the worst decision that the sophomore had made in his Northwestern career, trying to force a ball into double coverage with space in front to run.

Thank god for Theran Johnson. Two plays after the Lausch interception, the red-hot junior corner picked off McNamara over the middle, took it 85(!!) yards back for a touchdown.

The pick-six not only brought the ‘Cats back into the game, but took McNamara out of it. Ferentz pulled his starter in favor of former-Wildcat Brendan Sullivan. Sully wasn’t able to make anything happen, but it’s Northwestern-Iowa, and defense is offense.

After a 41-yard punt pinned Northwestern on its own 6-yard line, Iowa’s Max Llewellyn sacked Lausch in the endzone for a safety. For those counting at home, that’s nine defensive points in the first 20 minutes, and the second consecutive week in which Lausch has taken a sack behind his own goal line. 7-5 Northwestern.

What followed was a ping-ponging of punts. The Wildcat defense forced back-to-back three and outs behind some great open field tackling from Coco Azema, but Northwestern just gave the ball right back. After the safety, Lujan did not put the ball in his quarterback’s hands again, drawing up six straight plays on the ground for a combined 14 yards.

The dam broke in the final minute of the second half. Kaleb Johnson finally got his after 29 quiet minutes, scampering for a 26-yard touchdown run that featured a slew of broken tackles and a stiff arm. Johnson had just four yards on seven carries before the touchdown, a more than admirable performance from an exhausted Northwestern defensive line against the Big Ten’s best back. 12-7 Hawkeyes.

The ‘Cats limped to the break behind some more interesting clock management. Porter ripped an 11-yard run on first down, pushing Northwestern to its own 35-yard line with just under forty seconds in the quarter.

Braun did not opt to run another play in the half. It’s an understandable call in theory, especially after the brutal fumble from a week ago that cost Northwestern a needless seven, but it was the first Wildcat first down in over 12 minutes. Running one more play to see if the ‘Cats could squeeze out a field goal probably would have made more sense.

The Iowa offense came out firing to start the second half. Sullivan settled in nicely after a poor first few drives, making some nice plays with his legs before rolling out to find a wide open tight end Johnny Pascuzzi for a 40-yard gain. A play later, Sully finished the job with a 6-yard touchdown run to give Iowa a 19-7 lead.

Northwestern started with great field position after an Iowa unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the return, but the offense continues to redefine mediocrity. Three plays later and the ball was back in the hands of Luke Akers.

Iowa’s Kaden Wetjen found himself with space on space after a line drive of a punt, capitalizing by dancing down the sideline for six to build Iowa’s lead to 19 points.

The Jack Lausch experience whimpered along with a fourth straight three-and-out. This time, Lujan trusted his quarterback to make a throw, but Lausch missed Henning once and Covey twice before another Akers punt.

Kaleb Johnson blew the game open the ensuing drive. The potential All-American broke off another big touchdown run — this time for 41 yards — to all but put this one to bed with 4:37 to play in the third, extending Iowa’s lead to 33-7.

Lausch’s offense did manage a first down — Northwestern’s first since 12:44 in the second quarter — but promptly threw his second pick of the day to Iowa’s Nick Jackson. Johnson scored his third touchdown of the day on the following drive to balloon the score to 40-7. The 25-yard run placed the junior back over the 100-yard mark for the fifth time this season.

Lausch was given one more drive under center before Braun pulled him for Ryan Hilinski with just over 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The sixth-year senior put together a few solid throws before a sack-fumble on the Iowa 22-yard line.

Northwestern scored a non-offensive touchdown AGAIN — this time, late in the fourth after a punt return touchdown from first-year Drew Wagner. It’s one of those stats that simply writes itself. Northwestern scored 14 points today, and ZERO of them came credit of the offense.

It’s a real bottom for David Braun’s squad in a season that had so much promise just two months ago. The Hawkeyes ran the clock out in front of a Kinnick Stadium that had all but emptied out with five minutes remaining.

Northwestern will be back in action next week at Purdue with kickoff set for 11 a.m. CST.