UCLA gives QB-thin Iowa thorny reality check in loss at Rose Bowl

PASADENA, Calif. — From the “Let’s go Hawks” and “I-O-W-A” chants to the wave at the end of the first quarter, the Rose Bowl crowd seemed somewhat like Kinnick Stadium West at a few points on Friday night.

But on the field, Iowa experienced a thorny reality check as they suffered a 20-17 loss to UCLA.

“One thing about football — you typically get what you deserve, and we certainly didn’t play well enough to expect to win tonight basically in any category,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said.

Iowa (6-4, 4-3 Big Ten) had its chances for a rosier outcome, as the score was tied 17-17 for much of the fourth quarter and it trailed by only a field goal for the final five minutes.

But after Iowa’s defense gave up a drive that led to Mateen Bhaghani's go-ahead 27-yard field, the quarterback-thin offense could not muster any more scoring. UCLA then ran out the clock as it strung together a four-minute drive.

Iowa’s quarterback position — already pilloried with injuries — lost Brendan Sullivan to an injury in the third quarter. That meant the Hawkeyes had to turn to Jackson Stratton for its attempt at a fourth-quarter comeback.

Stratton — 4-of-17 with one touchdown and two interceptions in his career before Friday’s moment — went 3-of-6 for 28 yards and was on the field when Kamari Moulton tied the game at 17-17 with a 1-yard rushing touchdown.

“He’s done a heck of a job,” Ferentz said.

But the fourth-string quarterback’s efforts were not enough to make up for the Hawkeyes’ other shortcomings, which included much more than injuries on Friday.

Iowa’s defense picked off UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers twice, but the Phil Parker unit also allowed Garbers to throw for 204 yards and two touchdowns while completing 62 percent of his passes.

Iowa, which was without All-American linebacker Jay Higgins for much of the game, also allowed UCLA’s offense to convert on third down 64.3 percent of the time. That’s significantly higher than the Bruins’ season average of 38.1 percent.

“They executed in the tough moments, and we couldn’t,” defensive end Deontae Craig said. “We had a lot of third downs where we couldn’t get off the field.”

UCLA went into Friday’s game with only 73.9 rushing yards per game, yet the Hawkeyes allowed 211 rushing yards against the Bruins. That includes 125 yards from T.J. Harden on 20 carries.

In fact, the Bruins had more rushing yards in the first half (146) than Iowa had in the entire game (80).

UCLA held Iowa star running back Kaleb Johnson to 49 yards on 18 carries. That was well below Johnson’s previous season average of 142.1 rushing yards.

“They ran the ball extremely effectively, and we didn’t,” Ferentz said.

Before Sullivan’s exit, he was 6-for-9 for 157 yards, but he also gave up his first three turnovers of the season — two interceptions and one fumble. Those three turnovers set up two UCLA scoring drives.

“Both teams did a poor job of protecting the football,” Ferentz said. “That could have been helpful for us if we’d done a better job. Needless to say, that’s usually the biggest factor in any game.”

Friday’s loss snapped Iowa’s momentum from back-to-back 26-plus-point wins against Northwestern and Wisconsin. Iowa has lost four regular-season games for just the second time in the last six seasons.

“Obviously wins and losses come with the sport, but we don’t feel like we played our best,” Craig said. “When you leave the field, whether you win or lose, you want to feel like you put your best foot forward. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that tonight.”

The Hawkeyes will have a couple weeks for the loss to simmer — and for top-two quarterbacks Cade McNamara and Sullivan to ideally get healthier — before their Nov. 23 game at Maryland.

“We’ll be critical about what we did out there tonight, and we’ll build on it and keep moving forward.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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