Iowa and Iowa State will try to bounce back from heartbreaking losses on the road this week. Wisconsin scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Hawkeyes fell in Madison 17-13. Iowa’s defense was outstanding but the Hawkeyes need to find some offense or it is going to be a long season.
The Hawks managed only 59 yard of rushing and only 169 through the air. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz says getting yards was tough on both sides of the ball with two great defenses. The Hawkeyes missed several chances to take control of the game but could not take advantage of three Wisconsin turnovers.
Ferentz says it’s important to get points on those turnovers. Iowa is 2-2 and hosts Indiana this weekend. Iowa State coach Gene Chizik called it a special teams meltdown. The Cyclones squandered a late 11 point lead in a 36-35 loss to a Toledo team that was 0-3 entering the contest.
The Rockets returned a kickoff for a touchdown, scored a touchdown on a botched ISU punt and Cyclone kicker Brett Culbertson missed a potential game winner in the final seconds. Chizik says he’s never been involved in losing a game like that, and he’s very disappointed for the team. Chizik says no one stepped up enough, including the coaches.
Iowa State is now 1-2 heading into their Big 12 opener at Nebraska. Chizik says they did some nice things defensively, but had a special teams meltdown in every way they could melt down.