Iowa football rewind: Missed tackles haunt Hawkeyes in 32-20 loss to Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — In a game at Phil Parker’s alma mater, Iowa played anything but Phil Parker-esque football on the defensive side of the ball.

Iowa allowed 468 total yards — the most given up by Parker’s unit since Wisconsin had 473 yards in the 2019 Heartland Trophy game — en route to the Hawkeyes’ 32-20 loss to the Spartans.

Here is a closer look at what went wrong for the Hawkeyes’ usually-stout defense along with other observations from rewatching the loss:

Missed tackles galore

Iowa’s porous tackling was a principle cause of the uncharacteristically bad defensive showing.

Pro Football Focus counted 19 missed tackles from Iowa’s defense in the 32-20 loss to Michigan State. For reference, Iowa had only 38 missed tackles through its previous six games.

“I didn’t see anything that looked really sharp or crisp from the tackling standpoint, and typically we’re a pretty good tackling team,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said after the game. “But it’s hard to be a good defensive team if you’re not.”

Michigan State picked up 137 of its 231 rushing yards (excluding sacks) after contact, per PFF. That’s more rushing yardage than Iowa had on Saturday before or after contact.

Sometimes, Iowa’s ill-fated attempts at tackling amounted to a few extra yards on a play. Other times, like on a second-and-22 early in the first quarter, Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles danced his way while eluding several Iowa defenders for an unexpected gain of 10 yards.

The even more glaring example of Chiles thwarting Iowa’s tackling efforts was on a third-and-short midway through the third quarter. Chiles started to run to the right before cutting left and juking plenty of defenders along the way. Aaron Graves, Quinn Schulte, John Nestor and Xavier Nwankpa all failed to take him down before he ran out of bounds for a gain of 26 yards.

How much did Sebastian Castro’s absence hurt Hawkeyes?

Iowa’s defense was without one of its top players, as Cash safety Sebastian Castro was out with an injury. Ferentz said Castro “tweaked his ankle” although it is not expected to be “anything long-term.”

“I expect him to play next week,” Ferentz said. “At least I think he will. … I thought he might have a chance today, but he couldn’t go yesterday.”

Ferentz did not use Castro’s absence as an excuse, though, as injuries are “part of the game.”

“To say that was a big part of it, that’d be a crutch,” Ferentz said. “Whoever’s in there has got to be able to tackle. And all the guys that were in there tackled before. … I think it’s uncharacteristic, but we have to make sure it is.”

Entringer, who filled in for Castro until his hand injury, was not responsible for any of the 19 missed tackles that PFF tracked.

Joe Rossi shuts down Iowa’s offense again

This was not Joe Rossi’s first time neutralizing Iowa’s rushing attack.

Almost exactly a year earlier — 364 days, to be precise — he was the mastermind behind limiting Iowa to 11 rushing yards on 28 attempts in the Hawkeyes’ 2023 loss to Minnesota.

He had quite the encore in 2024. Before Kaleb Johnson’s breakout 75-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, his defense had limited Iowa star Kaleb Johnson to 23 yards on 13 carries.

Iowa’s failed third-and-2 — well, more like third-and-a-yard-and-a-half — on its second drive was a case study in how Rossi spoiled Iowa’s offensive bread and butter.

Michigan State loaded the box and stopped Johnson for a gain of one yard. Cal Haladay, the MSU linebacker who ended up making the tackle, essentially went unblocked as the rest of the offensive linemen were occupied with the rest of MSU’s defensive front.

“They are selling out for this run game,” NBC commentator Todd Blackledge said after the play.

Rossi’s strategy would be easier to thwart if Iowa had an active threat in the passing game to keep the Spartans honest, but quarterback Cade McNamara went 11-of-23 for 150 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

It’s not like Rossi had many surprises in store schematically against Iowa. Asked if Michigan State was doing anything that surprised him, McNamara pointed to one third-down play on the Hawkeyes’ first drive.

“They ran a coverage that we haven’t seen before,” McNamara said. “So other than that, we were well prepared.”

McNamara was pressured from an unblocked defensive lineman on that third down, by the way, and threw an incomplete pass somewhat in the vicinity of tight end Zach Ortwerth.

Great team win last night. So Proud of HOW hard our guys played. Love coaching them. 🟢⚪️

— Joe Rossi (@JoeS_Rossi) October 20, 2024

Silver lining on special teams

Kirk Ferentz said “probably the one positive thing” he could point to, aside from of course the Hawkeyes’ attitude and work ethic, was the kick return unit.

Kaden Wetjen, the walk-on wideout from Williamsburg, had five returns for 145 yards. That equates to 29 yards per kick return.

His one bad return was when he tried taking it out of the end zone, only to be stopped at Iowa’s 17-yard line. His other returns set up Iowa at its 37, 27, 42 and 31-yard lines.

“Wetjen certainly gave us a little spark out there,” Ferentz said.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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