Iowa Hawkeyes deliver a masterclass on how to blow a football game

IOWA CITY, Iowa — As Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara’s Hail Mary heave fell 7 yards shy of the end zone and landed in the hands of Iowa State defensive back Darien Porter, shock turned into acceptance for the Hawkeyes.

After a dominating first half and twice leading by double digits, the No. 21 Hawkeyes taught a master-level class on how to blow a winnable ball game in a 20-19 loss to Iowa State. The blame is all-encompassing from scheme to execution. Everywhere you look, there was either a personnel breakdown or a head-scratching coaching decision. Everyone takes a bite of this sandwich.

Rather than address the issues chronologically, let’s begin with the Cyclones’ game-winning sequence. Iowa State kicker Kyle Konrardy drilled a 54-yard field goal with six seconds left to provide the winning margin. But the Hawkeyes committed two critical mistakes to put Konrardy in range. Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht completed a 30-yard pass up the right sideline to receiver Jaylin Noel, who streaked past defensive back Sebastian Castro for the reception. Castro was in man coverage but passed Noel off to safety Quinn Schulte, which left the receiver wide open.

That play might not have mattered had Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz chosen a different option on the previous possession. With time dwindling inside one minute, Iowa faced fourth-and-8 from its 46-yard line. Rather than call timeout, Ferentz elected to take a delay-of-game penalty with the clock hitting 40 seconds left. The decision backed the Hawkeyes up 5 yards for a punt that was fair caught at the Cyclones’ 22-yard line with 34 seconds left. The extra 5 yards were worth more than one extra second on the clock.

“I didn’t think yardage was very significant at that point in the field,” Ferentz said. “We were at midfield. Six of one, half-dozen of another. There was really no benefit, unless I’m missing something.

“He could punt the ball out of the end zone. It didn’t matter. The yardage really wasn’t important. But to your point, we could have. We took a couple timeouts home with us.”

But those plays don’t end up under a microscope if it wasn’t for the Hawkeyes’ goal-line calamities.  Twice in the second quarter, the Hawkeyes had the ball first-and-goal inside Iowa State’s 3-yard line — including one series starting at the 1 — only to wind up with field goals.

Both times, the Hawkeyes lined up in a four-tight end formation on first down. With first-and-goal at the 1, McNamara had a reverse-pivot handoff to running back Kamari Moulton, who was leveled by Iowa State defensive tackle Domonique Orange. The Hawkeyes attempted an inside zone but asked tight end Johnny Pascuzzi to block down on Orange, who tossed him aside. The run ended in a 3-yard loss. The next play was a reverse action run by receiver T.J. Washington for a 1-yard loss. A third-down incompletion led to a field goal. This entire series was set up by Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins’ interception at the ISU 12.

Three possessions later, Iowa drove the ball from its 20 to the Iowa State 3. On both first and second down from the 3-yard line, Iowa lined up with four tight ends. The first play was an incomplete pass and the second was a run for no gain. On third down, Iowa shifted to its two-tight end, two-receiver formation.  McNamara threw toward tight end Addison Ostrenga in the back of the end zone. While coverage was tight, it wasn’t an impossible throw.

In both cases, Iowa strayed from the personnel groupings it used to advance down the field. On the first series, offensive coordinator Tim Lester got too cute. The second time, Iowa State dropped eight defenders in the end zone on passing plays.

“We’ll obviously be reevaluating that again after (Sunday) when we look at the film and see what we need to do to be better, but it’s just an ongoing thing,” Ferentz said. “You want to have those things available certainly down in there where things are pretty tight. There are a couple plays there that obviously we could have executed better that pushed us back, set us back.”

Iowa could have survived the red zone issues and the late-game breakdown had the passing game been remotely effective for the final three quarters. After the first quarter, McNamara was 8-of-11 passing for 72 yards. Over the final three quarters, he was 5-of-18 for 27 yards and two interceptions.

Timing-wise, McNamara’s first interception ranks as the worst passing decision in recent Iowa memory. With a 13-0 lead early in the third quarter and the ball on Iowa State’s 42-yard line, McNamara rolled to his right, then threw across his body toward the left sideline. He badly underthrew tight end Luke Lachey, and Porter pulled down the interception. It came directly after a 30-yard Iowa State punt to open the second half, and the Hawkeyes could have ended the game’s competitive phase with a scoring drive. Instead, they gave the Cyclones life.

“I just made a dumb decision,” McNamara said. “I should have just thrown it away. I just can’t force a ball in that situation.”

McNamara’s inconsistency remains an issue for the offense. Last week, he completed 8-of-17 passes in the first half then hit 13-of-14 in the second. Regardless, Ferentz remains unwavering in his support of McNamara.

“We expect him to be our quarterback,” Ferentz said. “I expect some ups and downs. I’ve been saying it pretty consistently. He’s still working his way back into shape, as is our whole team with the offense and whatever. But we’ll get better. We’ll improve.”

Iowa’s defense is built to stop the run and not give up big plays. Yet in the third quarter, the Hawkeyes inexplicably gave up a 75-yard touchdown pass from Becht to Noel. Lining up in the right slot, Noel had a free release and had no mandated re-route when he reached the second level. Noel then raced past safety Xavier Nwankpa and was wide open for the score. Higgins took the fall for failing to re-route Noel while defensive coordinator Phil Parker benched Nwankpa for Koen Entringer.

Finally, the game might have gone to overtime had the Hawkeyes made a different choice one snap before Noel’s touchdown. Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson burst into the end zone from the 3-yard line to put the Hawkeyes ahead 19-7. Instead of kicking the extra point, Ferentz opted for a two-point conversion, and McNamara’s pass toward Reece Vander Zee fell incomplete. An extra point was critical.

“I thought it gave us our best chance to win the football game,” Ferentz said on why he opted for the two-point attempt. “To me, the bigger issue is us not getting one touchdown out of those two field goal opportunities, and we had the ball down inside there close. That’s obviously an area we’re going to have to improve on.”

It took a collection of errors and bad decisions for Iowa to lose this game, and that’s by no means a slight to Iowa State’s resilience. A week into September, questions are piling up for the Hawkeyes. There’s still time to come up with the answers, but the stench of this defeat will stick with them for the rest of this season and beyond.

(Photo of Cade McNamara: Matthew Holst / Getty Images)