Oct. 18, 2014
By JAMES ALLAN
hawkeyesports.com
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The University of Iowa football team scored the final 10 points, but it wasn’t enough in a 38-31 road loss at Maryland on Saturday afternoon at Capital One Field at Bryd Stadium.
The Hawkeyes started the game off fast, leading 14-0 midway through the first quarter. The Terrapins scored 31 of the next 38 points to build a 38-21 lead before Iowa tried to rally. The victory moves Maryland’s record to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play; Iowa falls to 5-2, 1-1.
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“We couldn’t have gotten off to a faster start, but we certainly didn’t take advantage of that,” said UI head coach Kirk Ferentz. “Anything that we tried to do, wanted to do, or wanted to be, went the opposite way. We didn’t play the run well, didn’t tackle well, penalties… if you do enough of that stuff, and a mishap in the kicking game, that all adds up to a lot of missed opportunities.
“To Maryland’s credit, they played well. They out-played us in every phase; it’s a team loss all the way.”
The Hawkeyes out-gained the Terrapins, 433-418, in the game, as Iowa finished with 116 rushing yards and 317 through the air. Iowa committed three turnovers and had an uncharacteristic seven penalties for 65 yards.
“Any time you turn it over that isn’t a good thing,” said Ferentz. “We’ve done a good job on penalties; we came into the game leading the Big Ten in that regard. The things we do well and have done well, didn’t show up today. We had five major penalties, and those are hard to overcome.”
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Junior Jake Rudockcompleted 32-of-56 passes for 317 yards and two touchdowns, but he also had a pick-six interception early in the fourth quarter. Senior Mark Weisman finished with 78 yards on 10 carries and had two scores, and senior Damon Bullock had eight catches for 100 yards.
Iowa’s defense had four sacks and four tackles for loss and forced two turnovers with senior Quinton Alston (12 tackles, eight solo) and junior Jordan Lomax (11 tackles, six solo) finishing with double-digit tackle totals. Junior Drew Ott had 2.5 sacks and an interception, while junior Sean Draper also had his first career pick.
Maryland used a balanced offensive attack, finishing with 212 yards on the ground and 206 through the air. Quarterback C.J. Brown completed 12-of-23 attempts for 120 yards and had a team-high 99 yards rushing on 21 attempts.
Backup quarterback Perry Hills was 5-of-10 for 86 yards with a touchdown, playing the third quarter in place of an injured Brown. Wide receiver Stefan Diggs led all players with nine receptions for 130 yards, which included a 53-yard touchdown reception from Hills.
The game started as well as Iowa could have hoped as the Hawkeyes forced the game’s first turnover on Maryland’s first offensive play of the game. Ott dropped back in coverage from his defensive end position and intercepted Brown, giving Iowa possession at the Maryland 32. Five plays later, Iowa led 7-0.
Rudock opened the drive with a 12-yard completion to tight end Jake Duzey into the red zone, and two plays later he found Bullock out of the backfield for 8 yards, setting up a third-and-1 from the 11. Weisman easily moved the chains with a 7-yard run to the 4 before scoring untouched to give the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead with 12:45 left in the first quarter.
Maryland moved 28 yards on the ensuing possession, and Iowa caught a break when Terrapin wide receiver Marcus Leak dropped a pass at the Iowa 5. After taking over at its own 20 following a Maryland punt, the Hawkeyes used a seven play, 80-yard drive to stretch the lead to 14-0.
On the first play, Rudock found Bullock wide open out of the backfield for a 52-yard gain to the Maryland 28, and junior Jordan Canzeri followed with a 14-yard rush into the red zone. Rudock converted a fourth-and-5 from the 9 with a 7-yard completion to Bullock, and on first and goal, Rudock rolled out on play action before flipping a 2-yard touchdown pass to Henry Krieger-Coble to five Iowa a two touchdown advantage with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
Maryland got its running game on track the ensuing drive — a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive. The Terrapins opened the series with three-straight runs of 4, 7, and 10 yards to midfield. Following a pair of short completions, Brown burst through for 19 yards to the 23 before Iowa appeared to have Jacquille Veii bottled up at the line of scrimmage before he broke free for a 23-yard touchdown run, making the score 14-7 with 3:40 left in the half.
After a pair of punts, Maryland evened the turnover battled by forcing a Hawkeye fumble, which led to a Terrapin field goal. On second-and-10 from the Iowa 34, Rudock found Duzey for a 19-yard gain, but Terrapin linebacker Yannick Ngakoue knocked the ball loose and Darius Kilgo recovered, giving Maryland possession at the 32.
The Terrapins quickly advanced to midfield courtesy of a 16-yard Brandon Ross run to the Iowa 45, and Brown followed with a 27-yard completion to Diggs to the Iowa 28. The Hawkeye defense held, and Maryland placekicker Brad Craddock connected on a 41-yard field goal, cutting the lead to 14-10 with 10:46 left in the first half.
After an Iowa three-and-out, Maryland took over in Hawkeye territory and drove 44 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Brown completed a 6-yard pass to Juwann Winfree to start the series before a 15-yard facemask penalty move the ball to the Iowa 23. On third-and-9, Brown eluded a sure Nate Meier sack before scrambling 13-yards to the 9. Two plays later Wes Brown scored from 1-yard out, giving Maryland a 17-14 lead with 6:47 remaining.
The defenses controlled the game to start the second half before Maryland used a big play to push their lead to 24-14. The Terrapins used a run-pass combination to move out of the shadow of its own goal line after starting the series at its own 8. On second-and-6 from its own 32, Hills hooked up with Diggs on consecutive completions, a 15-yarder and a 53-yard touchdown reception on a wide receiver screen.
Iowa’s offense gained some traction, using a six-play, 51-yard scoring drive to cut the lead to 24-21. The Hawkeyes ran for all but five yards on the series, including a 38-yard Weisman rush to the 2 and a 2-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Maryland’s defense pushed the Terrapin advantage back to 10 points early in the fourth quarter courtesy of a pick six by cornerback William Lively. On third-and-6 from the 42, Rudock targeted Bullock on a drag route along the sideline. Lively read the play and ran 45 yards untouched to give the Terrapins a 31-21 lead with 12:29 remaining.
Maryland stretched its lead to 38-21 with 4:58 left in the game, courtesy of a nine-play, 54-yard scoring drive. The Terrapins converted one third and one fourth down on the series — a 26-yard strike from Brown to Amba Etta-Tawo to the 8 on third-and-10 from the Iowa 34, and Wes Brown scored on a quick snap from 1-yard out on fourth-and-goal.
Iowa scored the final 10 points, the first seven of which came on a 12-play, 91-yard drive. Rudock completed 6-of-10 passes on the drive for 68 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown strike to Jacob Hillyer with 2:58 remaining.
On the ensuing kickoff, junior Marshall Koehn perfectly placed an on-side kick, where Hillyer snagged the ball in mid-air, giving Iowa possession at the 50. Iowa used 10 plays to cover 44 yards before Koehn connected on a 24-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to a touchdown with 1:19 to play.
After Maryland recovered a second Iowa onside kick, Iowa’s defense forced a three-out, allowing the Hawkeyes to take over at its own 20 with 59 seconds remaining. Iowa picked up one first down, but eventually turned the ball over on downs after failing to convert a fourth-and-4 from its own 38.
Iowa is idle Oct. 25. The Hawkeyes return to action Nov. 1, hosting Northwestern inside Kinnick Stadium. Game time has yet to be announced.
“We’ll lick our wounds here and go back to Iowa City,” said Ferentz. “It’s all about what we do from this point on. We have to improve, have to coach and play better, and give ourselves a chance to win games.”
