After two weeks of offensive ineptitude, Iowa football fans were desperate for any signs of life, no matter the opponent.
They saw some. And then Mother Nature had other plans.
Iowa defeated Nevada 27-0 in a game that was initially delayed 80 minutes by stormy weather and later subjected to another lengthy delay. In a game that lasted about seven hours and spanned Saturday night into Sunday morning, the Hawkeyes saw season-highs in points (27), total yards (337) and yards per play (5.5) in their final non-conference game of the season .
Of course, that was good to see. And it was expected, Nevada entered Kinnick Stadium with one of the lowest ranked defenses (105th out of 131) in FBS football.
There was cautious optimism in the stadium, aided by pregame news that starting wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Nico Ragaini would play. And starting running back Gavin Williams was at full strength for the first time this season. There were no sweeping declarations to be made, but Iowa’s offense showed a few glimpses of progress just before the Big Ten play begins.
Iowa’s first few drives began in familiar fashion: quickly stalling out after an early first down, but lightning struck (for the first time) late in the first quarter. True freshman running back Kaleb Johnson took a carry 40 yards for the opening touchdown, Iowa’s longest play of the season.
Defensive back Cooper DeJean intercepted a pass on Nevada’s next possession to set the offense up for another short field. Four plays later, Spencer Petras found receiver Arland Bruce IV for a 21-yard touchdown on a perfectly designed and executed play to extend the lead to 14-0. The next Iowa possession? An 11-play, 69-yard drive that ended in a 43-yard field goal by true freshman Drew Stevens.
After scoring just 10 points in their first two games combined, Iowa’s offense accounted for 17 points in three possessions.
Offensive momentum slowed after the initial surge, with two short drives ending in punts before the delay. Their first drive post-delay did result in points, a 46-yard pass to Ragaini that set up a 33-yard field goal. Midway through the fourth quarter, Johnson recorded his second touchdown of the night on a 55-yard touchdown run for Iowa’s longest offensive play of the year.
Meanwhile, Iowa’s defense kept their intensity throughout the game.
Iowa’s defense forced their s shutout since 2016, moving them into a tie for the fourth most nationally with Penn State, UAB and Virginia Tech. It was a dominant wire-to-wire effort as the unit allowed only 2.2 yards per play. In addition to DeJean’s interception, linebacker Jack Campbell was the most active Hawkeye with nine tackles and defensive lineman Lukas Van Ness added 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
But overall, the weird pace of play due to weather stoppages leave much to be desired for Hawkeye fans. Yes, the offense showed signs of life but it was against an inferior opponent. Meanwhile, the offensive line broke down several times and the flow of the game didn’t allow them to get into a rhythm when they finished the second half.
The competition level is about to kick up. Iowa begins Big Ten play next weekend at Rutgers, its first road game of the season against a team that’s third in the Big Ten in total defense, just behind Iowa.
Is a now-healthy Iowa offense ready to take stride forward? That’s a question that’s largely left unanswered after Saturday night … uh, Sunday morning.
Ready or not, here comes conference play.
Kennington Lloyd Smith III covers Iowa Hawkeyes football and men’s basketball for the Des Moines Register. You can connect with Kennington on Twitter @SkinnyKenny_ or email him at [email protected].
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism