Hawkeyes can still Harmon-ize: Kevin's 179 yards, 3 TDs lead Iowa to blowout of outmanned ISU, 48-9

(Published 9/20/1987)

AMES -

Chuck Hartlieb and the Iowa Hawkeye offense met in perfect Harmon-y Saturday.

Hartlieb made the most of his first start as Iowa's quarterback and Kevin Harmon rushed for a career-high 179 yards and three touchdowns as the Hawks executed the anticipated rout of Iowa State.

It was 48-9 before an ISU record of 54,101 fans in Cyclone Stadium. It was Iowa's fifth straight one-sided win in the series.

After some early excitement, the game unfolded about as most thought it would. Iowa was simply the stronger team, especially after Iowa State's Derek DeGennaro tossed a pair of momentum-swinging interceptions in the second quarter, enabling the Hawkeyes to expand a 10-6 lead to 24-9 at the half.

"I'm not going to fool myself," first-year Iowa State Coach Jim Walden said. "I don't know if we can beat Iowa under any circumstances. We certainly can't beat Iowa when we turn the ball over on our half of the 50 like we did in the first half.

"After that, it was pretty much what you saw. It was a better team taking the starch out of a not as good team."

But, hey, it wasn't a day without its moments for Iowa State and its fans. The Cyclones led briefly, 3-0, and Iowa's lead was just 10-6 when the Hawkeyes capitalized on the interceptions.

"At the same time we were having some problems, they started adjusting to what we were doing and we got pretty limited on what we could do," Walden said. "Then it just got kind of yucky. Their ability and our inability blended into a bad mess."

The numbers tell the story. Iowa outgained the Cyclones 449 total yards to 211. Harmon's steady performance was one reason.

"I knew Harmon could run," said Iowa Coach Hayden Fry. "I thought he had an extremely good day. Our offensive line and fullbacks worked extremely hard.

"Our priority was our running game and I think they accomplished it well."

Iowa State scored on its first possession of the game, driving 66 yards in 14 plays to Jeff Shudak's 27-yard field goal. Starting quarterback Brett Sadek was 4 for 5 on that drive.

Iowa went after the running game immediately. Harmon carried the ball on seven straight plays to open Iowa's first possession, a 50-yard drive which ended in Rob Houghtlin's 30-yard field goal.

After Iowa State stalled, Iowa mixed it up on a 56-yard drive. Hartlieb completed a 22-yard pass to Marv Cook and a 17-yarder to Quinn Early before Harmon turned in two 11-yard runs, the second one for the go-ahead touchdown. Houghtlin's kick made it 10-3 with 1:25 left in the first period.

But Shudak, who has seven field goals in two games, pulled ISU within striking distance with his 47-yarder in the opening moments of the second period.

Later in the half, Houghtlin, who kicked a career-best 55-yard field goal in the third period, missed from 42 yards out, kicking into a brisk wind.

DeGennaro took the controls for the Cyclones and ran into trouble right away. On second-and-14, his pass was intercepted by Iowa's Kerry Burt and Iowa took over on the ISU 39.

Harmon again carried most of the load and on third-and-2 from the 3, followed blocks by fullback David Hudson and Dave Alexander into the end zone for his second touchdown. Houghtlin's PAT made it 17-6.

Moments later, Iowa's Sean Ridley intercepted DeGennaro again and Iowa started on State's 37. Six plays later, Harmon bolted in from the 3.

Sadek fired a 46-yard pass to Eddie Bridges, who made a splendid leaping catch, to help Iowa State drive to Shudak's 34-yard field goal as the first half ran out.

As expected, Iowa's muscle wore the Cyclones down in the second half.

The Hawkeyes added the 55-yard Houghtlin field goal and Hartlieb's 8-yard scoring pass to Hudson for a 34-9 lead after three quarters.

It got worse in the final 3 1/2 minutes when Tony Stewart, who rushed seven times for 32 yards in his long-awaited Iowa debut, scored from the 1 and Tom Poholsky, Iowa's third quarterback this day, ran in from the 3.

Hartlieb had little trouble directing the Hawkeyes. The pass protection was exceptional.

"I only got pressured once," he said. "I was a little nervous before but it was just a matter of getting on the field and reacting to what Iowa State did."

What Iowa State couldn't do was put much pressure on the senior from Woodstock, Ill. Walden said his team couldn't contend with Iowa's size up front.

"We've got 220-pounders up there trying to play against the size of those guys," he said. "Those guys are hay-eaters. They are five guys up there who could eat a bale of hay a day. That was a total mismatch."

Meanwhile, Iowa limited the Cyclones to just 24 second-half yards.

Linebacker J.J. Puk and tackle Myron Keppy led Iowa's defense with eight tackles each. Nose guard Dave Haight and Ridley at linebacker added six each, along with cornerback Greg Brown. That meant four of Iowa's leading tacklers played in the front seven.

But for Iowa State, three of the leaders were defensive backs, not a good sign. Linebackers Chris Moore (13) and Randy Richards (12), the Cyclones' most-experienced defenders led the way, but defensive backs Chad Welding (9), Ray Carreathers (7) and Jeff Dole (6) had to make far too many stops.

"They played real well," Fry said of Iowa State. "They played hard and came after us and moved the ball. Hopefully, they'll come on and have a good ballclub and a good season. There is room in the state of Iowa for two good teams."

But for now, as anticipated, there is just the one.