Iowa lineman Gennings Dunker evaluates pros and cons against Iowa State
Iowa’s right tackle made some great blocks that helped Kaleb Johnson make big runs, but the Hawkeyes lost a thrilling battle to Iowa State 20-19.
IOWA CITY — What looked like a win for Iowa at Kinnick Stadium turned into a Cy Hawk classic in the blink of an eye, adding to the excitement and fear of the 69,250 spectators in attendance, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of black-and-gold fans watching the national CBS broadcast at home.
And Iowa fans have become accustomed to the traditional formula: take the lead and fight for survival.
Only this time the formula didn’t work.
Iowa’s defense had a chance to end the game, but there was a hole in it.
Two consecutive passes from Rocco Becht to Jaylin Noel set up a 40-yard gain with 10 seconds left, and rookie kicker Kyle Konrardy broke the hearts of Iowa fans with a 54-yard field goal with six seconds left to put the South Uprights ahead 20-19.
What a win for Iowa State.
What a collapse for Iowa.
The blame for this Hawkeyes loss is huge and starts with the offense. From the red zone mistakes in the first half to the complete collapse of the offense after a 19-7 lead, it will hurt. Even a botched two-point conversion in the third quarter must be examined in the wake of this game.
The Cyclones deserved this win. They kept fighting. They were down 13-0 in the third quarter, but then they made a crucial interception by Cade McNamara that seemed to turn the momentum. Even 12 points later, they fought back. And when their backs were against the wall, they delivered.
Iowa, on the other hand, failed in the decisive phase. On every level. From a five-star safety who missed a 75-yard touchdown to an inept passing game in the second half – the Hawkeyes fully deserved this defeat.
Iowa’s last five offensive plays: punt, punt, punt, punt, punt and interception on a Hail Mary with 1 second remaining.
Hard to swallow. Hard to explain.
Kaleb Johnson’s big game was not enough
After coming off the bench at halftime in Iowa’s opening game, Johnson was a productive player for the Hawkeyes from the start.
It’s important to remember that Iowa’s offense took a 6-0 halftime lead against Illinois State. Johnson, back in action after serving a first-half suspension, rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 11 runs in the opening game, part of a 34-point explosion that marked Iowa’s best first half in seven years.
Fast forward to Saturday, and Johnson — who began the season ranked No. 3 — was the starter. And it was more than deserved after head coach Kirk Ferentz noted that Johnson’s running performance against Illinois State was the best he’d ever seen from the Ohio product. On Saturday against Iowa State, Johnson got a shotgun handoff on Iowa’s first play and gained five yards with seemingly no effort. On the next play, he gained six yards on a screen pass.
On Iowa’s next possession, Johnson did what he does best. After an under-center line call against Iowa State’s three-man front, Johnson got a handoff to the right and charged home through a scoring crease created by fullback/tight end Hayden Large and right tackle Gennings Dunker. A 27-yard touchdown run gave Iowa a 7-0 lead with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
Johnson took advantage of his nine first-half carries against the Cyclones, rushing for 105 yards. That included a 37-yard run on a toss sweep near the end of the first half that set up Drew Stevens’ second field goal of the game and gave him a 13-0 halftime lead.
If you take Johnson’s first four quarters of the season and put them together, this is what you get: 20 carries, 224 yards and three touchdowns.
Johnson’s dominance continued in the third quarter as he ran for 54 yards and capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown, increasing Iowa’s lead to 19-7.
But Johnson can’t be a one-man show. He finished with 25 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. McNamara, on the other hand, completed 13 of 29 passes for 99 yards and two interceptions.
Some observations (and tinkering) around the Iowa defense
Iowa State entered Saturday’s game with a highly touted passing offense, featuring two top receivers in Jayden Higgins and Noel. How would the Hawkeyes defend them?
It started well. Later it got bad.
Iowa State’s first five possessions resulted in just 37 yards on 17 plays. And that doesn’t include the minus 22 yards from five penalties (more on that later). Becht started with 4 of 7 passes for 17 yards and an interception.
Iowa used a strong 4-3 defense, a variation of the usual 4-2-5 formation. That meant a lot more use for sixth-year outside linebacker Kyler Fisher, moving Sebastian Castro to strong safety and taking Xavier Nwankpa off the field.
Nwankpa’s role diminished significantly in the third quarter after he was substituted for Koen Entringer. It looked like Nwankpa made a mental error in coverage that allowed Noel to look over Iowa’s defense and score a 75-yard touchdown on the first play after Iowa took a 19-7 lead on Johnson’s second touchdown of the game.
Entringer, who has made an incredibly quick recovery from a torn ACL suffered in the Citrus Bowl, is a name to keep an eye on in Iowa’s secondary. The redshirt sophomore from Ypsilanti, Michigan, has impressed coaches in practice.
But the secondary didn’t hold up when it mattered most. The 30-yard pass to Noel down the right sideline when Iowa State had no timeouts and less than a minute to play was something defensive coordinator Phil Parker will have a hard time accepting.
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The audience in Kinnick was a factor early on
The renovation of Kinnick Stadium’s north end zone was fully completed in 2019, and Kirk Ferentz said at the time that it was a turning point. The way the three-level structure goes up almost vertically (in a space that previously had only one level) meant there was more noise in the stadium, especially at that end of the field. And that was bad for visitors.
Who could ever forget the 2021 top-five clash against Penn State? The Nittany Lions blew a 17-3 lead that Saturday at Kinnick and famously committed eight false starts in their collapse – including three in the same game with their backs to the noisy North end zone.
Saturday’s first quarter had a Penn State feel for 2021, with Iowa State committing three pre-snap penalties on its first five official snaps – including two consecutive flags that put the Cyclones back at their own 2-yard line on their first possession.
Those flags led directly to a conservative third-down call and a punt that gave Iowa possession at the Cyclones’ 43-yard line. Two plays later, Kaleb Johnson glided into the end zone on a 27-yard touchdown run to give the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead.
On Iowa State’s next possession, another snap infraction on third-and-2 led to a third-and-long, and Max Llewellyn took advantage with a sack on Becht to force a punt.
The first quarter didn’t end in the North’s end zone. Becht’s second pass attempt of the game was intercepted by Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins inside the Cyclones’ 20-yard line and he returned it to the 12-yard line. Iowa capitalized on the loss with a 23-yard field goal from Stevens and a 10-0 lead with 13:38 left in the second quarter.
Of course, the North end zone never sleeps. When Iowa State seemed to be getting some life into things late in the first quarter, Konrardy attempted his first collegiate field goal attempt for the Cyclones, a 41-yard kick into the cheering and screaming North stands. The kick sailed wide left, securing Iowa’s first-half shutout.
But when it came time to end the game, Konrardy was more comfortable kicking south. And he ruined Iowa’s day and put a big question mark over the rest of the season.
Hawkeyes columnist Chad Leistikow has worked for The Des Moines Register and USA TODAY Sports Network for 29 years. Chad is the 2023 INA Iowa Sports Columnist of the Year and NSMA Co-Sportswriter of the Year in Iowa. Join Chad’s texting group (free for subscribers) at HawkCentral.com/HawkeyesTexts. Follow @ChadLeistikow on X.
