For the second straight week, not a lot of positives.
The ‘Cats lost in a game that was close at halftime (again), with a third quarter collapse leading to an uneven 40-14 score in Iowa City. Let’s take a look at who is on the rise and fall after this one.
Stock Up
Theran Johnson
“Don’t throw toward Theran Johnson” continues to be a true statement. With Iowa looking to capitalize off a turnover, Johnson came up with a turnover of his own, picking off Cade McNamara midway through the second quarter, returning it 85 yards for the pick six. Johnson’s dance moves also deserve a a stock up after celebrating in the endzone, although it did earn him an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. After a career-high three pass breakups against Indiana and Maryland, Johnson is proving he’s one of the conference’s best corners.
Northwestern’s Development
It was the former transfers from Northwestern that helped Iowa in this game. Brendan Sullivan changed the game for the Hawkeyes after replacing McNamara in the second quarter. He completed nine passes for 79 yards while rushing for 41 yards and a touchdown. Jacob Gill also had three catches of his own. Both of these players started their careers in Evanston, transferring away after the end of spring ball this year. The ‘Cats should get some credit for their play…right?
The Hawkeye Wave. Basketball season is soon. The field hockey team is national contenders again.
This game was tough. I would be lying if I wrote about anything else in this game that was good. The Hawkeye Wave is one of the best traditions in all of sports and it was awesome to see live. Northwestern’s field hockey team just clinched a share of the Big Ten title yesterday and can win it outright tomorrow. The team scored 18 goals last weekend, more than the football team has scored in the last two games combined. Northwestern fans can look forward to the basketball teams putting up points with their first exhibition games coming up in the next few days.
Honorable mentions: Iowa 80 Truckstop, student journalism, press box mac-n-cheese, ten different players with a reception
Stock down
Coaching decisions
The Wildcats continue to play scared football. For the second straight week, David Braun opted to have Luke Akers attempt a long field goal instead of going for it on fourth-and-2. For the second straight week, Luke Akers missed the field goal short. Northwestern also seemed scared to throw the ball. After the safety in the second quarter, the ‘Cats ran the ball seven straight times to end the first half, despite having multiple third-and-long plays. Braun also decided to not run a play call from Northwestern’s 35-yard line with 30 seconds remaining in the first half and a timeout in his back pocket.
The flaws in the coaching decisions stem from all the way back in spring. In what turned out to be a rematch of last spring’s quarterback battle, Brendan Sullivan outplayed Lausch today. Perhaps having Lausch win the spring battle over Sullivan was one of the main mistakes the coaching staff made.
Anto Saka
The pass-rusher had a rough start early on in this one, committing two crucial penalties in the first quarter. On a third-and-10 opportunity for the Hawkeyes, Saka jumped offsides, which led to McNamara completing a 42-yard pass on the very next play. Later in the quarter, Saka hit McNamara late for a roughing the passer call on a third-and-20 play which would have resulted in a Josh Fussell interception. On Iowa’s first touchdown drive of the game, Saka narrowly missed sacking Brendan Sullivan. Instead, he allowed Sullivan to escape the pocket and pick up three yards on the scramble. Saka did not record a tackle in this game.
Special teams
Anytime you give up a 85 yard punt return for a touchdown, special teams need to be looked at. Add on the missed field goal from Luke Akers and it gets even worse. However, the punt returns from Northwestern are cause for the greatest concern. In the second quarter, Northwestern was pinned inside the 6-yard line on four straight punts. At a time when he should have let the football drop, Drew Wagner called for a fair catch on one of these punts with no Hawkeyes behind him. This would have been more of an issue but Iowa didn’t have a punt again until the fourth quarter with the game out of hand. Wagner did return a punt for a 72-yard touchdown but it was simply too little, too late. For a Northwestern team that prides itself in winning in all three phases, the ‘Cats simply got outplayed by one of the country’s elite special team squads.
Rushing attack (and defense)
It took over 25 minutes for someone other than Lausch to have a rush of over three yards. The team as a whole averaged a measly 1.8 yards per carry, simply not good enough when Lausch struggled to complete downfield passes. The defense also could not bring down Hawkeye ball carriers in a timely manner. Kaleb Johnson ran all over the field, scoring three touchdowns while helping Iowa average 5.1 yards per carry for a total of 198 yards. Northwestern’s tackling started strong, but as the offense’s rushing woes led to three-and-outs, the other end of the ball faded to Johnson’s prowess. Not a healthy sign for the best attributes of both sides of the football.
Honorable mentions: Jack Lausch, big plays allowed, third quarter collapse, vibes on the drive back to Evanston