Game Report: Iowa Hawkeyes 24, Utah State 14

IOWA CITY — A look at Iowa football’s 24-14 win over Utah State Saturday at Kinnick Stadium.

Turning point

Simple enough. On Iowa’s second play of the season, Cade McNamara hit a wide-open Seth Anderson deep for a 36-yard touchdown.

It was 7-0 just 42 seconds into the 2023 season, and it was the first time a Kirk Ferentz Iowa team ever scored a passing touchdown on its first possession of the season.

“Oh man!” McNamara said after the game. “I was so fired up to be able to hit that.”

“It was really electric,” said Anderson.

It was a longer scoring pass than the Hawkeyes had all last season.

None of this was new stuff for McNamara (21 TD passes at Michigan) or Anderson (7 TD catches at Charleston Southern last year). It was new for a lot of other people in the stadium, though.

The Hawkeyes made it 14-0 on their second possession, and brought it home from there. It wasn’t pretty for much of the final three quarters, but it sure was familiar.

By the numbers

1 — Iowa scored more touchdowns in the first minute of this season’s opening game than it did in all 60 minutes of last year’s, a 7-3 win over South Dakota State with the Hawkeyes’ points coming on a field goal and two safeties.

4 — Ike Larsen of Utah State got his fourth career blocked punt, a school record. It came in the second quarter, and yet Tory Taylor’s kick still bounced and rolled 37 yards.

7 — Iowa tght end Luke Lachey matched his career-high with seven catches. Over half of his 73 yards came after the catch.

32 — It was the first time in 32 years that Iowa passed for a touchdown on its first drive.

6/66 — The loss dropped Utah State’s record against Top 25 teams to 6-66.

100 — This was Iowa’s 100th win in a season-opener. It has 33 losses and two ties.

Notebook

* Iowa’s first six completions went to six different players. By game’s end, however, tight ends had 10 catches and wide receivers just four.

* The Hawkeyes got a lot of first-half help by Utah State penalties. In the first half, the Aggies had two personal fouls, one for leverage. They also had a face mask infraction and a block below the waist.

In the fourth quarter, a USU personal foul for illegal hands to the face turned a potential third-and-8 at the Iowa 23 into a first-and-10 at the 11, and the Hawkeyes scored two plays later.

Utah State added another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the ensuing kickoff.

* Hawkeyes radio analyst Ed Podolak was affected by this weekend’s death of famed singer/songwriter/entrepreneur Jimmy Buffett at age 76.

When Iowa defeated Georgia Tech in the 2010 Orange Bowl, the venue in Miami Gardens, Fla., was called Land Shark Stadium. It was named for Land Shark Lager, part of Buffett’s Margaritaville enterprise.

Podolak says Buffett wrote a song for him on his 1983 album “One Particular Harbour” called “We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About.”

* Former star defensive end A.J. Epenesa returned to his Iowa alma mater for the game. More importantly for the future of the Hawkeyes, prized recruit Iose Epenesa was with his brother, who soon starts another season with the Buffalo Bills.

* Outside of Utah State’s radio crew, no media from Utah covered the game in person.

* The stadium video boards were on the fritz for much of the first half. Some wags suggested Iowa’s two touchdown passes more or less freaked out the electronics.

Injury and availability report

Iowa junior cornerback Jermari Harris, listed as first-teamer on the depth chart, did not play. He will be held out one more game, Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. Freshman Deshaun Lee started in Harris’ place and made tackles on Utah State’s first two plays.

Safety Xavier Nwankpa left the game in the third quarter with cramping issues and didn’t return, but Ferentz said he’s fine.

Second-team offensive guard Beau Stephens was listed as “out” before the game.

Iowa’s next game

Iowa plays Iowa State in Ames Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on Fox. The Cyclones built a 30-0 early third-quarter lead and beat Northern Iowa Saturday, 30-9.

Comments: mike.hlas@thegazette.com