BLOCKED! Back-to-back kicks foiled as Hawks escape bizarre finish

IOWA CITY - This was passing an Appalachian State-sized kidney stone.

That's really the only point of reference you need. Of course, you remember Appalachian State going up to the Big House and upsetting Michigan to open the 2007 season.

The FCS school upsetting the Big Ten BCS bully. A national noisemaker on week 1.

“It was a little Appalachian State-ish,” Iowa linebacker A.J. Edds said.

It was an FCS-sized kidney stone for the Hawkeyes. They passed it, painfully and ever so closely, 17-16, before 70,585 shocked fans Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa defensive end Broderick Binns blocked Billy Hallgren's first 40-yard field goal attempt with seven seconds left. After a seven-minute review and with one second left on the clock, linebacker Jeremiha Hunter reached up with his right hand and smacked down Hallgren's second chance and the No. 22 Hawkeyes (1-0) escaped FCS No. 4 Northern Iowa (0-1).

What's the real-life equivalent of back-to-back blocked field goals?

“I feel like that'd be hitting green on roulette two times in a row, maybe,” said Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi, whose 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Moeaki with 13:18 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winner. “That's what I thought of right away. It's like hitting green twice in a row.

“That doesn't happen very often.”

Lightning striking twice, lottery numbers, whatever one-in-a-million cliche you want.

“I doubt there's a person in the stadium who's ever seen anything like that on TV or in person,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “It's just a bizarre deal and we're very fortunate.”

On the other sideline, UNI Coach Mark Farley was Hunter's right hand away from slaying the state's football giant.

“We wanted to win the line of scrimmage and we did that, we wanted to play 11 guys and have them beat the person across from them and we did that, and above all else, we said play with class and pride and they did that beyond words,” Farley said. “So that's why it's painful to lose this game, because they did everything we asked them to do.”

The Panthers claimed every meaningful statistic, outgaining Iowa (354-329), time of possession (31:56 to 27:59) and held Iowa to 87 rushing yards, a number helped by four sacks.

UNI quarterback Pat Grace outplayed Stanzi. Grace led a 91-yard TD drive in the first half that pushed the Panthers to a 10-3 halftime lead. He put UNI in position to win it, moving from UNI's 8 to Iowa's 24 in the final 2:14.

Grace finished 23 of 37 for 270 yards and a TD. Stanzi completed 22 of 34 for 242 yards, a fumble and a TD pass. Behind a makeshift O-line without tackle Kyle Calloway and guard Julian Vandervelde, the running game never showed and Stanzi was sacked four times. Two fumbles led to two Hallgren field goals.

The Panthers accounted for everything except double green in roulette, which came in the form of Hunter's right hand.

“We weren't even lined up the way we were supposed to be lined up,” Hunter said. “I noticed he was kicking really low. I told the defensive linemen to get their hands up because this is our season.”

Hunter then quickly corrected himself.

“Well, not our season, but this is a big game we need to win.”

He might have been right the first time.

The explanation for the second field goal attempt has some twists and turns. The officials needed seven minutes to decipher it, but both coaches said they were satisfied with the explanation.

First, the Panthers (0-1) attempted field goal No. 1 on first down. Second, the ball didn't cross the 3-yard neutral zone along the line of scrimmage, so it was live and UNI didn't surrender possession. The ball is dead if it crosses that neutral zone. Iowa players are coached to stay far, far away from a blocked field goal.

“The rule book is this thick,” said Edds, holding his hands a foot apart. “You have to be a theologian to figure it out.”

Hunter could have recovered and the game would have been over. Safety Tyler Sash had a shot. The Hawkeyes had it surrounded. UNI tight end Ryan Mahaffey pounced on it and, by rule, the clock stops when the offense regains possession.

The video officials reviewed whether the ball crossed the line of scrimmage and how much time was left on the clock.

Then Hunter's right hand tagged the ball. This time, linebacker Pat Angerer covered it up with both arms.

“I was just having a hard time believing that (the first block) took only seven seconds,” Ferentz said. “It seemed like it was about five minutes.

“It's kind of like when you're in a car accident. It just goes in slow motion.”

It was kind of like a car accident. The air bags worked.