Hawkeyes prevail in bizarre block party

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Sept. 5, 2009

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — When former University of Iowa head football Hayden Fry spoke to the current Hawkeyes yesterday at practice, he told them they couldn’t win all their games if they didn’t win the first one. After a bizarre, emotion-zapping ending that featured two blocked field goals in the final seven seconds, the Hawkeyes did indeed win the first one, 17-16, over Northern Iowa this afternoon in Kinnick Stadium.

After being held in check most of the second half, Northern Iowa put together a 9-play drive that placed the ball on the Iowa 23-yard line with seven seconds remaining. Panther kicker Billy Hallgren, who was 3-for-3 in field goals, lined up for a 40-yard potential game-winner. Hawkeye defensive end Broderick Binns blocked the attempt, but Iowa stayed away from the ball and Northern Iowa tight end Ryan Mahaffey recovered.

Since the field goal attempt was on first down, the Panthers lined up for a 41-yard try with one tick remaining. This time Hawkeye linebacker Jeremiha Hunter came up with the heroics. Hunter got a mitt on the second attempt and when the ball wobbled slowly on the new Kinnick Field Turf, Iowa linebacker Pat Angerer pounced on it to preserve victory.

The final result gave Iowa its ninth consecutive season-opening victory and its 14th straight win over Northern Iowa. It obviously was not easy.

“That’s unbelievable,” UI head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “We’re thrilled to get victory. I give all the credit in the world to UNI. We’re very, very fortunate that our PAT-block team came through at the end.”

This was a back-and-forth slugfest and in this instance, the Hawkeyes didn’t take Fry’s pregame advice. The Hall of Fame Hawkeye said that when you’re in a fist fight, you need to establish momentum early and get it over. Iowa did grab a 3-0 lead on a 39-yard field goal by Daniel Murray with 9:17 left in the first period. But Northern Iowa scored the next 13 points and instead of winning by knockout, the Hawkeyes were forced to go the distance and win by points.

“Typically we’re a team with a lot of work to do this time of year,” Ferentz said. “We did win and we didn’t blow it. They played an excellent football game and they were better than us most of the game.”

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi completed 22 of 34 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked four times. Tight end Tony Moeaki caught 10 passes for 83 yards and a score and wide receiver Marvin McNutt caught five for 48. Adam Robinson was the leading rusher with 63 yards on 15 attempts with a touchdown.

Defensively, free safety Brett Greenwood and linebacker Pat Angerer had 12 tackles and Tyler Sash compiled 10. Christian Ballard and Karl Klug both had sacks.

Both teams had more than 300 yards of offense (Northern Iowa 354, Iowa 329). The Hawkeyes had 19 first downs to 18 by the Panthers. Perhaps the biggest unsung hero for Iowa was punter Ryan Donahue, who had five kicks for a net average of 43.2 yards and four inside the 20.

Iowa won the toss and opted to begin on offense. Highlighted by three pass completions from Stanzi to McNutt (for 29 yards), the Hawkeyes drove 52 yards on 14 plays and grabbed the early lead with Murray’s boot. Running back Paki O’Meara handled the bulk of the duty, carrying the ball six times for 16 yards. Three of those runs picked up first downs.

Northern Iowa’s defense turned in the first big play of the game when defensive tackle Chuck Kinney jumped on a Hawkeye fumble at the Iowa 28. The Panthers were limited to six yards on four plays and settled for a game-tying 39-yard field goal by Hallgren.

It took a great drive and a great catch to put Northern Iowa in the lead for the first time. The Panthers drove 91 yards on 15 plays that ended with a diving grab by Mahaffey from quarterback Pat Grace. The scoring play came on third-and-8, the third third-down conversion by Northern Iowa in the series, which chewed 8:24 of game clock.

Donahue did his best to affect momentum with a 56-yard punt late in the second period, which — coupled with a Northern Iowa illegal block penalty — left the ball on the Panther 1. On third-and-9, Grace hooked up with receiver Maurice Turner for 11 yards and Northern Iowa avoided its field position woes.

The Hawkeyes had their work cut out for them at halftime. Northern Iowa held statistical edges in almost every category, including total yards (152-104), time of possession (2:16 advantage) and quarterback sacks (4-0). McNutt remained a bright spot for the Hawkeyes, grabbing four receptions for 44 yards.

The second half started as a fumble fest with Northern Iowa losing the ball on the opening kickoff at its own 28 and then Iowa giving it right back two plays later when O’Meara had the ball stripped by Panther Ben Boothby. Grace then aired it out for a 50-yard completion to Jarred Herring to Iowa’s 17. Hallgren kicked a 34-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-3 with 12:27 left in the third period.

The Hawkeyes responded with their most impressive drive of the day (six plays, 70 yards) to reduce the margin to three. Stanzi completed four passes for 53 yards (two to Moeaki for 33 yards) before Robinson rushed on consecutive carries. The first Robinson run was for six yards to the Northern Iowa 11 and the second was a scoring jaunt off left tackle at the 9:41 mark in the third.

While Iowa’s defense remained strong, the Hawkeye offense was unsuccessful on two third-period opportunities to add points. Murray narrowly missed a 48-yard field goal four plays after Iowa took possession just inside Panther territory. Then, on first down from the Northern Iowa 44, Stanzi connected with Paul Chaney, Jr., for a touchdown pass that was called back because of holding on left guard Adam Gettis. The holding miscue simply prolonged the inevitable: Stanzi was going to get his first touchdown pass very soon.

Robinson carried the ball three times for 19 yards and Stanzi completed all four passes for 64 yards. The recipient of the go-ahead scoring reception was Moeaki from six yards. Two huge receptions on the drive were a 29-yard completion to Trey Stross and a 22-yarder to Derrell Johnson-Koulianos.

Although Iowa controlled the third period, the Panthers would not go away. The Hawkeye lead was whittled to 17-16 after a 12-play Northern Iowa drive culminated with a 39-yard field goal by Hallgren.

Ferentz said a key play in the game occurred with just over nine minutes left. Faced with fourth-and-2 from the Northern Iowa 32, Robinson was stopped for no gain. The Panthers then went on a 12-play, 46-yard scoring drive (cutting the lead to one) and then an 11-play, 69-yard drive to end the game.

Incidentally, the final Panther drive resulted in no points.