Iowa rolls to 512 yards, 42 points during win

Sept. 6, 2008

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa football media fact book received a workout for a second Saturday as the Hawkeyes scored on their first two drives, grabbed a 35-0 halftime lead and coasted to a 42-0 win over Florida International in front of a 32nd consecutive sellout crowd inside Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa is now 2-0 for the third straight season, FIU is 0-2.

“I’m happy about the outcome of the game and that’s two weeks in a row,” UI head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We’re doing some good things.”

Knowledge-seekers planted on press row in the Paul W. Brechler Press Box were loaded with questions during the contest:

When is the last time an Iowa running back rushed for more than 100 yards in the first quarter?

Shonn Greene did today (101 yards in the first quarter, 130 for the game).

How long has it been since the Hawkeye defense posted a shutout?

It happened today for the first time in 12 games (35-0 win against Syracuse on Sept. 8, 2007).

When is the last time Iowa scored more than 40 points in back-to-back outings?

Way back in 2003…(56-3 over Buffalo on Sept. 6, 40-21 over Iowa State on Sept. 13).

The Hawkeyes had their way with FIU to the tune of 512 total yards, while holding FIU to 218. After the final gun sounded, Ferentz was ready to savor this win, rather than immediately look forward to the home game against Iowa State on Sept. 13.

“We’ll have plenty to work on this week,” Ferentz said. “We need to worry about getting better. We’re a young team that’s just trying to get better.”

One player who looked noticeably better was quarterback Ricky Stanzi, who responded to his first career start by completing 8 of 10 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 30 yards on five carries.

“Any time you go out for your first start, there is no reason not to be nervous,” Stanzi said.

Hawkeye running back Shonn Greene topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight game. He picked up 130 on 13 carries with a long of 35. Derrell Johnson-Koulianos (90 yards) and Brandon Myers (60) both had three pass receptions. Five other Hawkeyes — Allen Reisner, Colin Sandeman, Brett Morse, Andy Brodell and DeMarco Paine — all had two catches. Johnson-Koulianos had 131 all-purpose yards.

Twenty-seven different Iowa players had tackles in the game, led by Jeremiah Hunter with 10. Karl Klug added nine tackles and two sacks and Adrian Clayborn, Diauntae Morrow and Amari Spievey had six stops. A.J. Edds and Pat Angerer both had interceptions.

“This team we played today is trying to work through some things offensively,” Ferentz said. “We played a little more intense today. For the most part we did pretty well out there. It looked like we were working harder up front.”

Greene opened the scoring by carrying the ball three times for 36 yards on the first Hawkeye drive. The big gain was a 21-yard pick-up, but the most dramatic was the scoring play where four different FIU defenders made contact with Iowa’s 235-pound bull on an 11-yard rumble. The PAT kick by Trent Mossbrucker made it 7-0 just 2-minutes, 35-seconds into the game. After allowing a 13-yard gain on a rush by FIU’s Julian Reams on the first play by the Golden Panthers, the Hawkeye defense held. A third-down pass attempt was batted away by Spievey. Mitch King applied the quarterback pressure.

It took 53 seconds for Iowa to pad its first-quarter advantage to 14-0. On first-and-10 from the Iowa 41, Stanzi hit a wide-open Johnson-Koulianos in stride for a 59-yard touchdown. It took some nifty twisting and jumping for Johnson-Koulianos to remain in-bounds and inside the pylon. The drive covered 71 yards on four plays.

The ground assault continued as Iowa upped its lead to 21-0 with 29 seconds left in the first quarter. After a Jake Christensen to Myers 9-yard completion, the Hawkeyes kept it on the ground the next four plays to get on the board again. Greene carried three times for 43 yards and Paki O’Meara raced in untouched from 17 yards for the score.

Stanzi connected with Myers on a tight end swing screen for a 23-yard touchdown with 8:11 left in the half. When Myers caught the ball, he had a convoy of blockers — Rob Bruggeman, Kyle Calloway and Seth Olsen — to face a lone FIU defender who was overwhelmed and a non-factor for the tackle. Stanzi completed all three pass attempts on the drive — 10 yards to Johnson-Koulianos and nine yards to fullback Brett Morse. The PAT by Daniel Murray made it 28-0.

Sandeman joined the scoring parade with 2:49 left before halftime. Despite being held early in the pass route by FIU’s Kreg Brown, Sandeman hauled in a perfectly placed pass from Stanzi in the right corner of the south end zone. Murray converted his second PAT and the Hawkeyes led 35-0. Stanzi was part of the two biggest plays of the drive — an 18-yard run on a play that looked like a sack and then on a 38-yard completion to Reisner.

Iowa got the ball back one more time before the break when Angerer intercepted a Paul McCall pass and returned it 12 yards to the Iowa 47. The Hawkeyes opted against running the 2-minute offense and were content with a five-touchdown advantage at halftime.

Greene, who amassed 101 yards in the first quarter and 110 by halftime, led an Iowa ground game that picked up 167 yards on 25 attempts. Stanzi gained 30 yards on five carries and completed 8 of 10 passes for 162 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson-Koulianos, Myers and Brodell all had two receptions. The Hawkeyes had 15 first downs to FIU’s 5. Iowa led the yardage battle, 338-73.

Jewel Hampton and Christensen were the Hawkeye leaders during the fourth-quarter scoring drive that made the final 42-0. Hampton carried three times for 17 yards and Christensen completed a 21-yard pass to Johnson-Koulianos before connecting with Sandeman on a 23-yard scoring toss.