Dog bites man, Hawkeyes edge UNI

IOWA CITY - In hindsight, this was as predictable a result as University of Iowa football games have.

Northern Iowa pushes the Hawkeyes harder than they want to be pushed, shows all sorts of savvy and skill, makes Iowa fans sweat. And ultimately isn't quite good enough to jump over the hump and stun the state's marquee football program.

Somewhere from the 22 extra scholarships an FBS program has against an FCS program, Iowa got second-half, highlight-show plays from receivers Tevaun Smith, Derrick Willies and Damond Powell. Maybe there wouldn't have been room for one of those guys at Iowa had it been restricted to 63 schollies instead of 85.

Iowa had a little too much in its 31-23 win over the Panthers Saturday, with 'little” being the operative word. It was a one-score game, just like it was here five years ago when the Hawkeyes won 17-16. It was a game UNI absolutely, positively could have won, just like five years ago.

But the Panthers need to be near-perfect to win here, and made 16 penalties to Iowa's four. Few of the flags were hard to dispute. Many were maddening.

'We made plays on offense, we made plays on defense,” Panthers Coach Mark Farley said. 'The penalties set us back.”

A holding call wiped out a touchdown on UNI's first possession, which ended with a field goal. A delay-of-game infraction was the first thing that happened after David Johnson went 60 yards with a Sawyer Kollmorgen pass to take the Panthers to Iowa's 15 late in the first half. That drive also ended with three points.

The biggest of the teeth-grinders was when UNI had 2nd-and-goal at the Iowa 5, took a 6-yard sack, then had back-to-back delay penalties before an incompletion forced another field goal.

Kollmorgen passed for 380 yards. But the delay penalties, he said, 'were unacceptable on my part.”

There were pass-interference calls, unsportsmanlike-conduct calls, consecutive offside calls on Iowa's second touchdown drive … ugh. But the way the Panthers performed otherwise? Truly inspired.

'I just know they're an excellent football team,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said.

'It's no different than '09 or '12 (a 27-16 Iowa win), the last couple times we've played them. It's been a knockdown, dragout fight, and today was the same.”

Should it be? You're an elitist if you say no. Northern Iowa is a pedigreed FCS program, with the kind of stability and soundness that Iowa enjoys.

'I don't think anyone in our camp underestimated the challenge that was in front of us,” Ferentz said.

Johnson showed what he has shown repeatedly in his career, which is that he is a special talent. When has a visiting running back or receiver come here and had three plays of 50-plus yards?

'I don't think people will understand,” said Iowa linebacker Quintin Alston, who saw a lot more of Johnson running past him than he would have liked. 'They are a really good team, and that's a really good back, probably one of the best backs we'll see all season.”

Johnson wasn't a revelation. The way UNI's offensive and defensive lines matched up with Iowa's was.

'I'm not comparing us to them,” Farley said. 'I just know if you can come down here and you can go toe to toe with that football team, you can go toe to toe with anybody. That's a dang good football team and that's about as good an offensive line as what you'll see play this game at the college level.”

Five years ago, Farley looked and sounded distraught in his postgame press conference. Saturday, his head was high and he managed a smile or two.

'It would be really easy to put Iowa on a pedestal,” he said. 'But now we've put our program in position that we can come down here day in, day out, and go head to head at the line of scrimmage.

'I think they're very good. But I think there's a lot of equality, in my opinion, about our program and this program.”

However, Iowa played lockdown defense on UNI's last two possessions. And, the Hawkeyes committed four penalties, not 16.

The Panthers played beautifully in many ways and Iowa won by a touchdown. In other words, it was totally predictable.

l Comments: (319) 368-8840; mike.hlas@thegazette.com