The good, bad and ugly key moments in Iowa football’s loss in Cy-Hawk Week

IOWA CITY — A rivalry loss doesn’t go away overnight, but it helps to see it with fresh eyes the next morning.

The Hawkeyes’ 16-13 loss to now-No. 14 Iowa State Saturday afternoon was exactly what many expect from this college football rivalry. It was close, it was gritty and it was intense until the final snap.

It just didn’t work in Iowa’s favor this season.

“The series has kind of been the last six years, at least, decided basically at the end of the game,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said postgame. “And it’s a close margin certainly. So we had our opportunities — had several opportunities during the game — and we weren't good enough to cash in.”

There’s only so many slim margins the Hawkeyes could miss before it became too much. Iowa State had its own flaws, but it covered them well behind quarterback Rocco Becht and kicker Kyle Konrardy.

This game was a chance for Hawkeye quarterback Mark Gronowski to showcase how he’s made the necessary adjustments from his Week 1 performance. He did show improvement, but there still were obvious flaws in the offense.

In his lone year at Iowa, he won’t be able to include a Cy-Hawk trophy in his resume.

Coming down to the fourth quarter is a Cy-Hawk staple, but there were other moments throughout the game that determined the outcome.

Here is one positive, one not-so-positive and the low tide-tilting moments of the Week 2 matchup.

The good

A Demon Deacon influence

Iowa’s offense brought in senior football analyst Warren Ruggiero over the offseason. He brought more than just his resume to Iowa City, however.

The Hawkeyes debuted a slow mesh as a part of their offense against Iowa State. The viral RPO was one Ruggiero had a plethora of experience with, famously using it as the offensive coordinator at Wake Forest, and taught the offense how to use it during the offseason.

“I think it's going to be a little bit a wrinkle into our offense,” quarterback Gronowski said. “It's not going to be everything we're running, but it’s good.”

The play worked in its two appearances against the Cyclones, with Gronowski picking up an 11-yard run and Terrell Washington Jr. creating a third-and-short scenario. For a team that doesn’t waiver from their gameplan too often, it was the right “wrinkle” to continue what became Iowa’s longest drive of the game.

“If it fits we’ll use it,” Ferentz said, “if not we won’t, but it’s something Warren just brought with him.”

The bad

The picked off play

On second-and-long in the second quarter, Gronowski opted to go for a pass to wide receiver Kaden Wetjen. Wetjen burst off the line of scrimmage toward the Cyclone sideline, turned to run toward Gronowski and slipped on his heel.

Instead, defensive back Jeremiah Cooper slid in and picked off the pass to the joy of Iowa State’s sideline.

“He ended up just slipping there,” Gronowski said. “Things happen sometimes, which kind of sucks. Sucks to happen there, but I just gotta trust he's gonna come out of his route and just throw it on time.”

The pick was just Gronowski’s eighth career interception, but set the Hawkeyes up to fall into a 10-point deficit.

Turnovers have been the star of the Cy-Hawk series before. Over the last 12 games, the winner of the turnover battle is 9-0-3 against the opponent.

There was just two turnovers in the entire game. Both went in Iowa State’s favor.

“Two turnovers are probably illustrated for that,” Ferentz said. “The margins always slim. And those things really are important, obviously.”

The ugly

Two-minute drill gone wrong

Iowa State’s defensive line has never been big on the pass rush. It doesn’t run blitzes very often, and only had one sack on the season. Iowa’s offensive line gave Gronowski plenty of time in the pocket for 58:02 of a 60-minute game.

Iowa’s offensive line is one of the better lines in the Big Ten. It’s almost entirely made up of veteran players and was one position there was no worry about.

Gronowski said he had to take some of the fall.

“I’ve gotta get through my read a little bit faster,” Gronowski said. “Find that guy open on the back side. I ended up waiting just a little too long.“

Cyclone Tamatoa McDonough was credited for both sacks. The first one he ran straight through the center of the line and the second came from Gronowski’s right. It was a loss of 12 yards in two plays spanning less than a minute of action off the clock.

“I mean, the defense just made an awesome play,” Gronowski said.

The margins for error in the Cy-Hawk game always are thin, but in this drive, it was as thick as a strand of hair.

Comments: madison.hricik@thegazette.com; sign up for my weekly newsletter, Hawk Off the Press, here.