Iowa football survives upset scare from Troy in imperfect nonconference finale

IOWA CITY — Iowa football did not quite give its fans a full palate-cleanser Saturday after last week’s bitter loss to Iowa State.

But the Hawkeyes — 23.5-point favorites at Kinnick Stadium against a winless Sun Belt Conference team — escaped with a semisweet 38-21 win over Troy in a game that was closer than the final score would suggest.

Troy (0-3) led as late as midway through the third quarter — in large part thanks to some big plays on offense and special teams — but the Hawkeyes (2-1) finally reclaimed the lead, 17-14, with a Brendan Sullivan forward pitch to Addison Ostrenga for a 2-yard touchdown.

That lead grew with a Jermari Harris interception, which the sixth-year cornerback returned for a touchdown. It extended Iowa’s streak to 17 consecutive seasons with at least one pick-6.

After Troy cut the lead back down to 24-21, Iowa finally broke away in the fourth quarter with a Kaleb Johnson 33-yard touchdown run. Jaziun Patterson added to the Hawkeyes’ lead with a 39-yard touchdown.

“It was really hard-fought,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said of the win. “Credit to Troy. They came in here to win, certain about that. They have a good staff, a good group of players that played really hard.”

Quarterback Cade McNamara said after the game he was “really happy about how we responded.”

“Our ability to continue to respond has been a really good sign, and I think it’s going to help us lead to success down the road,” McNamara said.

The win, as evident by the surprisingly-close nature of the second and third quarters, was far from flawless for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa’s defense gave up 63 and 62-yard touchdown receptions to Troy wide receiver Devonte Ross, marking the second consecutive game in which the Hawkeyes surrendered a 60-plus-yard touchdown reception.

Ross also had a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the first half, which gave the Trojans a 14-10 halftime lead.

“Have you ever been to a game where three touchdowns got scored, and I don’t think anybody got a finger on the guy?” Ferentz told reporters. “Same guy, right? I’ve never seen that before. We don’t want to try that formula.”

Iowa also missed out on a golden opportunity in the first half of its gold-out game, failing to convert on fourth-and-1 from the Troy 16-yard line.

“We played a lot better in the second half,” Ferentz said. “Left the door open a lot in the first half. That was a little bit of a challenge.”

Ferentz said he was “underwhelmed” with the team’s pregame routine ahead of the game against Troy.

“It’s how you feel,” Ferentz said. “It’s the feeling you get. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. ... We’ll learn, and we’ll get better.”

There were other areas that showed significant improvement from last week. Most notably, McNamara completed 19 of 23 passes for 176 yards. (It was quite the contrast from his 13-for-29 stat line against Iowa State.)

Iowa also used Sullivan at quarterback in goal-to-go situations. He handed the ball off three times and then had the forward pitch for a touchdown to Ostrenga on his fourth snap of the afternoon.

It was Sullivan’s first game action as a Hawkeye after transferring from Northwestern in the spring. He also saw action at the end of the game when Iowa had a three-possession lead.

Johnson rushed for 173 yards while averaging 6.9 yards per carry. He is the first Hawkeye running back to surpass the 100-yard mark in three consecutive games since Jordan Canzeri accomplished the feat in 2015.

On the other side of the ball, the Hawkeyes held Troy to a mere 24 rushing yards on 21 carries — 1.1 yards per carry.

“That’s where defense starts in our minds -- defending the run,” Ferentz said. “It’s tough. If the other team can run, it will on you.”

The defense had four sacks, including two from Cedar Rapids native Ethan Hurkett. Both of Hurkett’s sacks were also forced fumbles (although Troy recovered it each time).

Hurkett, Ferentz said after the game, is a “really focused, intelligent guy.”

“Man, he works hard,” Ferentz said. “Great work ethic. He’s fought through the injuries and all that kind of stuff. He’s kind of like Joe Evans that he keeps coming at you.”

Saturday’s win comes with the caveat that Troy is in a clear rebuilding mode. The team has an FBS-low 12 seniors and experienced major roster turnover when its coach Jon Sumrall left for Tulane in the offseason.

Iowa will have mightier foes as it enters Big Ten play, which Johnson described as “big-boy football.” That starts next week as Iowa visits Minnesota for this year’s Floyd of Rosedale game.

The rival Gophers are coming off a much more comfortable 27-0 win over Nevada — one of the two other teams to defeat Troy so far this season.

“We’re going to enjoy this (win), but obviously there’s a lot of work to do,” Ferentz said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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