Fight for Iowa Football Moments, Presented by Coca-Cola

Hawk Talk Monthly — June | Single Game Football Tickets | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch – 2017-18 | I-Club Events Page | Android App | Sign Up For Season Tickets | Apple App

Editor’s Note: The University of Iowa Athletics Department, in conjunction with Coca-Cola, will produce exclusive video highlights of the top 10 Iowa football games over the past 20 seasons, as voted on by Hawkeye fans. Hawkeye fans will vote each week between two game options, with the winning game each week advancing as a top 10 moment. Beginning Aug. 13, the weekly countdown of the Top 10 games will begin, with Coca-Cola releasing 16 ounce cans across the Hawkeye State.  Fans will be able to view video highlights of each moment by scanning the Tigerhawk on the cans with the Hawkeye Sports App, via the new augmented reality feature coming to the Hawkeye Sports App later this summer. The release of the greatest moment of the past 20 years is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 8.

Fans can download the Hawkeye Sports App, free of charge, in the Apple App or Google Play stores.
 
Questions concerning the purchase of 2018 football tickets, including general public, University of Iowa faculty/staff and University of Iowa student season tickets by current students, should be directed to the University of Iowa Athletics Ticket Office. The office is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The office telephone number is 1-800-IA-HAWKS. Information is also available HERE.
 
 
By RICK BROWN
hawkeyesports.com
 
IOWA CITY, Iowa — It remains a topic of conversation when Keith Duncan returns to his hometown of Weddington, North Carolina. University of Iowa fans relish the memory to this day.
 
Duncan’s 33-yard field goal on the final play of the game gave the Hawkeyes a 14-13 victory over undefeated and second-ranked Michigan on Nov. 12, 2016, at Kinnick Stadium.
 
“When I go back to North Carolina, people will say, ‘Keith, I saw that field goal, it was fun,'” Duncan said. “It’s something I’ll never forget,and hopefully Hawkeye fans will never forget.”
 
Duncan’s field goal was perfect, matching the regular-season accomplishments of the 2015 Hawkeyes. That Iowa team went 12-0 for the first time in program history and capped it off with a 28-20 victory at Nebraska on Nov. 27.
 
“These guys were 12-for-12,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “You can’t do any better than that.”
 
A crowd of 90,830 came to Memorial Stadium to see if the Cornhuskers could end Iowa’s regular season on a sour note. There were head scratching statistics, numbers that would lead you to believe that Iowa left Lincoln with a loss.
 
Nebraska had 433 yards of total offense to 250 for Iowa. The Cornhuskers had an edge of nearly 13 minutes in time of possession. Iowa was 0-for-9 on third-down conversions, but never trailed in the game.
 
Iowa picked off Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong, Jr., four times. And the Hawkeyes got some good fortune along the way.
 
Defensive end Parker Hesse’s 4-yard pick-six gave Iowa a 14-7 lead with 6 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the first half.
 
The key sequence, one that helped keep perfection alive, came with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Nebraska scored to cut the deficit to 21-17. On the ensuing kickoff, Riley McCarron was hit by Antonio Reed and fumbled. But the Hawkeyes’ Desmond King recovered at the Iowa 32.
 
On the next play, Jordan Canzeri darted around the left end and went 68 yards untouched to pad Iowa’s lead to 28-17. Canzeri had scored on an identical play from 29 yards out earlier in the quarter.
 
A Nebraska field goal at 1:17 of the fourth quarter made it an eight-point game and everyone knew an on-side kick was coming. Iowa’s Henry Krieger Coble recovered and the Hawkeyes went into victory formation. A 12-0 victory formation.
 
“I was a little emotional coming off the field because I’ve never been on a team like this,” center Austin Blythe said. “Everyone plays for each other. It was a total team effort. That’s why we’re 12-0 now.”
 
Those lopsided numbers for yards, time or possession, and third-down efficiency meant nothing compared to the numbers on the Memorial Stadium scoreboard: 28-20.
 
“We’re not trying to be pretty,” Ferentz said. “Just productive.”
 
Iowa would go on to lose to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship game and Stanford in the Rose Bowl, but 12 victories remains a school record.
 
Duncan joined Rob Houghtlin in Hawkeye lore with his field goal. In 1985, Houghtlin kicked a 29-yarder on the final play to give the top-ranked Hawkeyes a 12-10 victory over No. 2 Michigan.
 
 “As a kicker, it’s something you always dream of,” Duncan said. “I was just fortunate it came against the No. 2 team in the nation. And it was a night game at Kinnick. It’s the best atmosphere in all of college sports.”
 
Before the game, Iowa linebacker Josey Jewell had told quarterback C.J. Beathard, “Give us 14 points and we’ll win the game.”
 
That sounded like a tall order. Michigan had averaged 52.5 points over its previous four games, and took a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.
 
But then momentum seemed to swing. After Ron Coluzzi’s punt was downed at the Michigan 2-yard line, Jaleel Johnson wrapped up running back De’Veon Smith for a safety. It was 10-8 at halftime after an Akrum Wadley 3-yard touchdown catch. A two-point conversion pass was unsuccessful.
 
Iowa’s first lead of the game came in the third quarter, on Duncan’s 25-yard field goal. Michigan countered with Kenny Allen’s 51-yard field goal with 9:35 left in the game.
King’s 8-yard punt return, and a facemask penalty, gave Iowa the ball at the Michigan 36 with 1:23 remaining. Wadley had 23 carries for 115 yards in the game, just the second player to break the century mark against Michigan’s defense all season. He also had five catches for 52 yards. The fifth and final one was a 10-yard pickup to start the final drive.
Three players later, Beathard gained eight yards on a sneak to put the ball at the Michigan 15. Iowa called time out to stop the clock.
 
As Duncan was lining up to kick, he noticed something.
 
“A lot of people don’t know this, but Michigan had just 10 people on the field,” Duncan said. “They called time out. I didn’t know if it was to ice me or put 11 people back on the field. When they came back out, they still only had 10 people. If 11 had been out there, it might have been a different story.”
 
When he watches video of his winning kick, Duncan sees the middle of Michigan’s line get penetration, and Drake Harris leap high with his arm outstretched to try and block it.
 
“God had me in his hands when I was kicking that,” Duncan said. “I was happy and fortunate about that. It was a great day for Iowa.”
 

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