GAME REPORT: Iowa vs. Tennessee Tech

BY THE NUMBERS

7 - True freshmen who played for Iowa. They include running backs Mika'il McCall and Damon Bullock, linebacker Marcus Collins, tight end Ray Hamilton, cornerback Jordan Lomax, wide receiver Marcus Grant and safety Nico Law.

8 - Iowa players starting their first game. They include guard Matt Tobin, tight end Brad Herman, fullback Matt Meyers, wide receiver Keenan Davis, defensive end Lebron Daniel, defensive tackle Dominic Alvis, linebacker Christian Kirksey and safety Collin Sleeper.

11 - Consecutive season-opening victories for Iowa, the Big Ten's fourth-longest streak

35 - Consecutive games Iowa has held an opponent to two or fewer touchdown passes

1:24 - Time of delay because of lightning

GAME BALL

Iowa WR Marvin McNutt. The senior caught six passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns for the Hawkeyes. McNutt now has 18 touchdown catches, third most in Iowa history. Co-leaders Tim Dwight and Danan Hughes - which have 21 career touchdown receptions - were in attendance Saturday.

McNutt's first touchdown was on an 88-yard reception. He caught the ball at Iowa's 36-yard line, nearly stepped out of bounds but moved up the sidelines and sprinted past the Tennessee Tech defense for the score. His second touchdown was on a 19-yard reception.

"I knew I was pretty close (to the sideline), I didn't know how close exactly," McNutt said. "I knew I was close, but I wasn't going to stop until I heard a whistle."

REPORT CARD

B-minus - Iowa, your press box leaks.

Marc Morehouse

C - 49 years ago, Bob Dylan said a hard rain's a-gonna fall. He was right.

Mike Hlas

C - While lip-syncing back in the 1980s, Milli Vanilli told everyone to blame it on the rain. But the film doesn't lie.

Scott Dochterman

FORMULATING A PLAN

Through three quarters, Iowa's offense was balanced in its formations. The Hawkeyes used a pro-set formation - two receivers, one tight end, a fullback and running back - on 17 of its 52 offensive plays. Iowa ran 11 plays out of a formation consisting of two tight ends, two receivers and one running back. Iowa ran nine plays from its two tight end/two running back/one receiver formation, and eight plays from its three wide receiver/one tight end/one running back set. Iowa had three plays from its three tight end/two running back set. There were also four special teams plays (two punts, two field goals).

THE GOOD

Iowa cornerback Shaun Prater returned an interception 89 yards for a touchdown with just 10 seconds left in the first half. Prater jumped up and grabbed the ball over Tennessee Tech's Doug Page and raced up the sidelines for his second career touchdown return.

"The quarterback just lofted it up in the air," Prater said. "I just boxed the tight end out and tried to catch it at its highest point.

"I saw all green so I had to make sure I scored a touchdown."

Iowa's safety tandem of Micah Hyde and Jordan Bernstine each had different views of Prater's interception. Bernstine was behind Prater and wanted the ball for himself. Hyde ran alongside Prater looking for someone to block.

"I was kind of hoping, 'Just tip it so I can catch it,'" Bernstine said, laughing. "That's what I wanted but he caught it, and Shaun's a fast kid."

Prater was snapping at Hyde to make a block for him on the return. Hyde crushed Tennessee Tech quarterback Tre Lamb to spring Prater for the final 40 yards.

"(Lamb) actually came and tried to cut me, and I just went down with him," Hyde said. "I became his fullback. They should probably put me at fullback now."

THE BAD

True freshman running back Mika'il McCall had a dazzling debut in the first and second quarters, rushing for 61 yards on nine carries, including a 22-yard carry. But he suffered a season-ending broken ankle on his final carry. He will receive a medical red-shirt for this season.

"He's just been climbing the charts with every opportunity and he's impressed us an awful lot," Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said.

THE UGLY

The weather ruined the day for most Iowa fans, from an early and persistent rain that prompted Iowa officials to keep the stands clear until 10 a.m. to the 1-hour, 24-minute lightning delay in the second half.

A close second is Iowa's second-team defense. It was drug up-and-down the field in the second half by Tennessee Tech's second-team offensive unit. That's not the best display for a Big Ten school full of scholarship players against a middle-of-the-pack FCS program.

UP NEXT

Iowa will play in-state rival Iowa State for a temporary (and not-yet-determined) trophy at Jack Trice Stadium. Iowa has won the last three by an 87-15 margin.