Dec. 30, 2006
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SAN ANTONIO – Drew Tate’s 274 passing yards along with Andy Brodell’s Alamo Bowl record and career-high 159 receiving yards weren’t enough as Texas squeaked by Iowa, 26-24 in the 2006 Alamo Bowl.
The game featured three lead changes in front of an Alamo Bowl record crowd of 65,875.
“Things really worked for us offensively,” Brodell said. “Give credit to everyone on this team. I think the effort was there today.”
“We felt we needed to get back to the basics,” Kirk Ferentz said. “The team practiced hard all month and this is a real tough game to lose.”
Iowa opened the game with an impressive nine play, 77-yard drive to take an early 7-0 lead. Albert Young recorded a 26-yard run, his longest carry of the season, to the one-yard line and bulldozed his way past the pylons on the following play. The drive marked the first time this season that Iowa scored points on its opening possession.
Tate and the Iowa offense took over on its own 37-yard line after the Hawkeye defense forced the Longhorns to a three-and-out on its first drive of the game.
On the first play of the drive, Brodell took a pass from Tate and sprinted 63 yards to the endzone to give Iowa a 14-0 lead. The reception was the longest touchdown pass in Iowa bowl game history and Brodell’s longest career catch.
Texas trimmed the Iowa lead to 14-3 after an eight play, 33-yard drive ended in a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Bailey.
After a Texas punt pinned Iowa at its own three-yard line, Tate orchestrated a 13-play, 83-yard drive, highlighted by a 41-yard screen pass to Brodell and a 29-yard, third and 13 conversion pass to Scott Chandler to give Iowa a first down at the Texas seven-yard line.
Two plays later, a scrambling Tate threw a pass from the right sideline, across the field to a wide open Chandler in the endzone for what appeared to be an Iowa touchdown. The officials, however, ruled that Chandler was in a position on the line of scrimmage to be deemed an ineligible receiver downfield, and the play was disallowed.
On the following snap, Tate lobbed a pass once again to Chandler in the endzone, but Thorpe Award winner Aaron Ross intercepted the ball and gave Texas a chance to score before halftime.
Colt McCoy and the Longhorn offense started the game 0-4 on third down conversions, but converted four-straight third downs on their final drive of the first half en route to a 20-yard touchdown pass to Limas Sweed.
Texas cut the Iowa lead to 14-13 after Bailey hit a 43-yard field goal on the first drive of the third quarter.
Iowa caught a big break after Ross fumbled an Andy Fenstermaker punt and Charles Godfrey recovered the ball at the Texas 35-yard line. The Longhorn defense stopped Iowa on three-straight plays and Kyle Schlicher hooked a 45-yard field goal wide-left, which gave Texas the ball on its own 28-yard line.
McCoy wasted no time in giving Texas its first lead, throwing a 72-yard touchdown pass to Jamaal Charles on the following play to make the score 20-14.
Brodell and Tate executed a wide receiver screen to perfection once again with 1:08 remaining in the third quarter, this time for a 23-yard touchdown pass and Iowa regained the lead, 21-20.
Texas followed Iowa’s touchdown with an 11-play, 72-yard drive, including a crucial fourth-and-one conversion, and scored the go-ahead touchdown on a two-yard run by Selvin Young. The subsequent two-point conversion by Texas failed but the Longhorns gained a 26-21 lead.
Iowa battled back on its first drive of the fourth quarter and Schlicher hit a 38-yard field goal to make the score 26-24.
The Iowa defense stopped Texas on its next drive and the Hawkeyes took over on the Texas 48-yard line after an 18-yard punt by Greg Johnson. Iowa couldn’t get within field goal range and was forced to punt.
Texas ran the ball on its next five plays, forcing Iowa to use all three of its timeouts. The Hawkeye defense came up with a huge stop and Texas had to punt with 10 seconds remaining in the game.
Johnson then boomed a 56-yard punt and Dominique Douglas was tackled at his own 17-yard line with two seconds left on the clock. Iowa’s final play was unsuccessful and Texas escaped with the win.
Tate finished 15-25 with 274 yards, two scores and one interception in his final game in a Hawkeye uniform.
“I though Drew competed extremely well today,” Ferentz said. “Both quarterbacks played well and I really thought Drew’s effort was superb.”
“Drew made some great checks at the line when we had those screen passes,” Brodell said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from Drew. He is a great leader who played his heart out today.”
Even with the loss, Ferentz said the effort from his team shows promise for next season.
“We need to look forward after this game,” Ferentz said. “If we play with this effort and toughness all the time, we are going to win a lot of ball games. I think a lot of good days are ahead.”
By Aaron Blau, Iowa Sports Information