Coker Left, Coker Right, Coker in the Endzone

Oct. 15, 2011

IOWA CITY, Iowa – When push came to shove, it wasn’t flash and dash or hurry-up. No, instead, it was good old fashioned in-your-face offense, black-and-goal style, that was the difference-maker on “ANF Day” Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium.

Tied at 17-all late in the third quarter after a 47-yard Northwestern field goal, Iowa’s offense took possession on its own 36…and the Hawkeyes decided to play bread-and-butter Big Ten Conference football, sophomore running back Marcus Coker football.

A gain of 5, then 4, then 3, then 8, then 3 again, then 7, then 6 and, finally, 1 for six. Add the Mike Meyer point-after and a game that was beginning to look like a nail-biter became a Hawkeye blowout after James Vandenberg found Marvin McNutt on a 35-yard crossing route for seven on the UI’s very next possession.

The touchdown was McNutt’s 21st as a Hawkeyes which tied him with former Hawkeyes Danan Hughes and Tim Dwight as the most ever by a UI receiver.

“I love it, I love it, I love it. Two tight ends taking care of the d-line and the big back taking it all on his shoulders. Touchdown Iowa! It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Ed Podolak
Hawkeye Radio Network

Each team added two more touchdowns and the Hawkeyes’ another Mike Meyer field goal to get a final score of 41-31 in favor of the good guys in black and gold. The win pushed Iowa to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten. Northwestern fell to 2-4 and 0-3.

Make no mistake, however, as pretty as some of the touchdown strikes were from Iowa’s talented young signal-caller – including the thing of beauty to Iowa’s talented senior wideout – this game was won with the ground game. Not only did Coker give Iowa a lead it wouldn’t give back, it chewed up the clock, giving an Iowa defense that “gave great effort,” according to Kirk Ferentz, some much-needed bench time.

“I love it, I love it, I love it. Two tight ends taking care of the d-line and the big back taking it all on his shoulders. Touchdown Iowa! It doesn’t get any better than that,” offered Ed Podolak of the Hawkeye Radio Network.

“That was Herculean,” Podolak’s sidekick, Gary Dolphin, chimed in.

Herculean? Yeah, sure. But maybe Larry Csonka is a better comparison.

Like the former Miami Dolphin great, Coker punished the Wildcat defense on the Hawkeyes’ first scoring drive of the second half. Truth be told, he punished the `Cat defense all evening. The powerfully built, 6-foot-2, 230-pound sophomore from Beltsville, Md., led all rushers with 124 yards on 22 carries, a healthy 5.6 yard-per-carry average.

“It was the key to the victory, that drive and Coker’s performance in that drive. After that, the Hawkeyes controlled the line of scrimmage and controlled the game,” Podolak added.

Iowa returns to action next Saturday when Ferentz’s squad entertains Indiana at 11 a.m., Iowa time, inside historic Kinnick Stadium. The game is the Hawkeyes’ annual Homecoming event.