With their annual showdown out of the way, Iowa and Iowa State hit the road this week. The Hawkeyes were in control from the outset and scored on four of their first five possessions and rolled past the Cyclones 35-7 in Iowa City.
The Cyclones could not slow down the Iowa offense in the opening half and the hawkeyes finished the game with 275 yards of rushing and 204 of passing. Adam Robinson finished with a career high 156 yards of rushing and fellow sophomore Jewell Hampton saw his first action since the 2008 season and rushed for 84 yards in 20 carries.
Ricky Stanzi connected on 11 of 18 passes with a couple of touchdowns as the hawks controlled the ball in the opening half and scored three second quarter touchdowns to build a 28-0 lead at the halftime break. The Cyclones offense was only on the field for three plays in the opening quarter and it was a struggle all day long.
Iowa state managed only 78 yards on the ground and quarterback Austen Arnaud was intercepted three times. Arnaud finished with 197 yards of passing but much of that occurred long after the outcome was no longer in doubt. The cyclones did manage to punch in a touchdown late in the game to avoid the shutout. It was their first touchdown in the series since 2006.
Next up for the Hawkeyes a tough non conference trip to Arizona for a night game. The Wildcats are 2-0 and after opening with a 41-2 win at Toledo they opened their home schedule by crushing the Citadel.
The cyclones will need to put Saturday’s loss behind them in a hurry as next up is their Big 12 opener against Kansas state in Arrowhead Stadium. The Wildcats are 2-0 after opening with a 31-22 win over UCLA and then beating Missouri State 48-24 on Saturday.
One year ago in Arrowhead they edged I.S.U. 24-23 by blocking a PAT in the final minute of play.