Iowa football vs Ohio State: Kirk Ferentz calls timeout, negating successful fake punt

Iowa football can’t seem to get out of its own way at Ohio State.

Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter and having already missed a field goal, the Hawkeyes’ offense got to a 4th-and-inches near midfield. Iowa had just turned the Buckeyes over on downs, and getting points on the subsequent drive would’ve been a big momentum swing.

Head coach Kirk Ferentz seemingly thought so as well and sent out the punt team to run a fake, where the ball was directly snapped to one of the players lined up in front of punter Rhys Dakin. Iowa successfully converted the fourth down, only for the referees to signal that Ferentz had called a timeout right before, negating the play.

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Having already played his hand, Ferentz then had his team do a real punt after the timeout, but Dakin did not hit it well and the ball only went 22 yards.

Ohio State then appeared rejuvenated and converted consecutive plays of 21 and 23 yards. But luckily for the Hawkeyes, star linebacker Jay Higgins forced a fumble and recovered the ball to keep Iowa’s deficit at one score.