For second week, Iowa’s defense burned on the ground

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - You saw Indiana running back Tevin Coleman run through Iowa last week and you kind of got it. Coleman is part bullet and part train on the rails to your fantasy football team next season.

Now Maryland, that you didn't see coming.

The Terrapins bedazzled Iowa's rush defense for 212 yards on 46 carries to lead their cause in a 38-31 victory Saturday. Last week, it was Coleman and Indiana going for 316 rushing yards. This week, that was Maryland, led by quarterback C.J. Brown's 99 yards on 21 carries.

That's 528 yards on 85 carries the last two weeks. That's 6.2 yards a carry. That's a disaster for Iowa's defense, which at one point this season was among the Big Ten's best.

'Two games at 200 plus,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said with a sardonic laugh, 'one game was a concern and now two, I'm not ready to call it a crisis, but I know this, we have five games left and we're not going to win moving forward if we can't stop the run. We're going to play other teams that run the ball well. It's hard to win games if you can't stop the rush.”

Maryland went to the well all day with the zone read. Iowa defenders didn't identify the runner on several plays. Brown did an excellent job of reading the middle of Iowa's defense. Maryland's offensive line held blocks.

'In the backfield, you don't really know who had the ball for a while,” defensive tackle Carl Davis said. 'They made plays, played better than us. [Zone read] looked different from what we've seen on film. It's something we have to check out. We definitely have to correct this.”

Running back Jacquille Veii scored on a 23-yard run that linebacker Reggie Spearman read, but failed to make the tackle. Maryland rushed for three TDs, including two from sophomore running back Wes Brown.

Iowa's secondary usually defends the run very well. Strong safety John Lowdermilk credited Brown. He said from the secondary it was difficult seeing the ball. That forced Iowa run support to try to read UM's O-line. The deception also slowed down pursuit.

'I know we adjusted a little bit to it [UM's zone read], but I really couldn't tell you [what exactly broke down],” Lowdermilk said. 'I know we got out of our gaps. I feel like I say the same thing every week, but it's honestly the truth.”

You knew Iowa's defense would drop off some this year after losing three NFL-caliber linebackers. Here's a number that screams it: After Saturday, Iowa has now allowed eight rushing TDs this year. It allowed eight all of last season.

Missed tackles are a stat that is likely tracked inside the Iowa football complex. Whomever does that will be doing a lot of rewinding of video today.

'If you can't tackle as a defensive football team or on special teams, it's really going to be tough to expect to win games,” Ferentz said. 'You can't do that.”

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