Washington’s trip to the Midwest was met with the physicality of Iowa’s brand of football. “They’re good on defense, they’re big, they’re hard to block, [and] they’re hard to run against,” Jedd Fisch said after the game. Washington hit three 30-plus yard plays on the day, but it wasn’t sustained. The Husky offense moved the ball effectively for a large part of the game, but it struggled when it got near or inside of the red zone. Washington also lost the field position battle, consistently giving Iowa short fields and opportunities. A critical third-quarter play on fourth down felt like the “must-have” for Washington, but it fell short and the game proceeded to get out of hand. With the 40-16 victory over Washington, Kirk Ferentz celebrates his 200th win at Iowa.
Fourth and 11 Play Call
Washington faced a critical fourth and 11 with around seven minutes left in the third quarter. The play call went to Jeremiah Hunter on the far sideline, but the great catch was ruled incomplete as Hunter landed out of bounds. Before the play, Washington was faced with a 23-10 deficit and was on the move into Iowa territory. An incompletion and a sack forced fourth down and a long 11 yards. It felt like this was a “gotta-have-it” drive for the Huskies. A score would have cut the deficit to just six points, keeping the team very much in the game.
“Well I knew they were going to play two-man,” Fisch said after the game. When Washington broke the huddle, Iowa showed that exact look. It was an out route to the sideline, and exactly the matchup Fisch wanted. The play design was to get leverage with their cornerback on the inside, Fisch detailed.
Hunter created that inside leverage Fisch was looking for. The wide receiver had a step to the outside, but a good play by TJ Hall allowed him to step in front of the pass and get a hand on it. The tipped pass stayed in front of Hunter, and the Cal transfer wide receiver made a great concentration catch. But his toes came down out of bounds, and Iowa took over. “I think we missed it by a few inches,” Fisch concluded. Fisch said that he needs to coach it a little better. He said they could bring the split receiver down a little more to create just a little more space on the play side of the field or stem the route a little bit straighter. At the end of the day, Fisch continues to show his aggressive nature as a playcaller. The look was there, but some minor coaching tweaks could be the difference.
Moving, But Not Scoring
Washington’s offense does not have issues moving the football up and down the field. The Husky offense outgained the Hawkeyes on Saturday, with 393 total yards. That’s compared to Iowa’s 328 on the day. The Huskies also ran 80 plays compared to Iowa’s 51. Washington, however, lost by 24 points. Fisch’s team came out strong. Four of their first six drives lasted eight or more plays, each amassing 50 yards or more. Two of which were 73-plus-yard drives. Prior to the fourth quarter when things were out of hand, Washington’s offense was averaging 5.4 yards per play through three quarters on one of the nation’s top defenses.
But when Washington found itself near or inside the opponent’s red zone, it became a different story. The Huskies opened the game at Iowa with a 14-play, 73-yard drive that advanced to the Iowa 11-yard line. But once there, a false start and stuffed plays forced a field goal attempt. Grady Gross then had his field goal blocked for the second time in as many weeks. Washington’s next drive reached the red zone again, this time a 75-yard possession. Again, a false start backed them up, this time out of the red area. Washington was able to recover and score on this drive with a five-yard pass to Denzel Boston. Washington would find the red zone just one more time in the first half, where it settled for a field goal.
Losing the Field Position Battle
Iowa gave itself a significant advantage in this game with how it won the field position battle. It came by way of takeaway, turnover on downs, and punt. Iowa’s average starting field position against Washington was its own 45-yard line. The Huskies, on the other hand, began at an average of their own 24-yard line. The Hawkeyes began on the plus side of their 35-yard line seven times in this game and scored on six of those drives. Iowa’s ability to capitalize on all but one of those drives made it difficult for the Huskies to find momentum.
After the game, Fisch listed several plays where Iowa was able to create those short-field situations for themselves. There was a strip sack, a long punt return, and two turnovers on down that all gave the Hawkeyes the football inside Washington territory. Iowa also had an interception to take over at their own 46, and a turnover on downs to take over at their own 39. The short fields contributed to the seven straight Iowa scores to end the game.
“A lot of that had to do with field position,” Fisch said in reference to the seven scoring drives. He complimented the Hawkeyes for being able to get those stops and create the plus-field situations. But for Fisch, he placed an importance on getting stops in critical times of the games. As plus-field opportunities are created, momentum tends to build quickly. “At the end of the half it was very disappointing,” Fisch said. Washington let up a 53-yard run to Kaleb Johnson with under 30 seconds remaining in the half. The big play led to three more Iowa points and a halftime lead of 10 instead of seven. “That’s something we gotta stop, that’s three times now.” Washington let up a late-half touchdown against Washington State and Rutgers this season. The end of the half today was a separator in this contest.
Kaleb Johnson Rolls On
The nation’s second-leading running back entering this week just made another case for himself in the Heisman conversation. On Saturday at Iowa, Johnson rushed 21 times for 166 yards and two rushing touchdowns. The Hawkeye tailback also caught a touchdown pass out of the backfield. All afternoon in Iowa City, the Hawkeyes got everything they wanted with the tailback. On the year, Johnson now has 937 rushing yards and 12 rushing scores. He’s been nothing short of elite this season. His performance against a Washington defense that has allowed 3.92 rush yards per attempt this season was exceptional. Today, Johnson averaged 7.9 per attempt. Iowa won this game exactly how it needed to. It ran the ball 37 times compared to 14 pass attempts. It won the field position battle and capitalized every time it could.
