Game Report: Iowa Hawkeyes 27, Iowa State Cyclones 17

Here’s a closer look at No. 10 Iowa’s 27-10 win over No. 9 Iowa State on Saturday at Jack Trice Stadium.

Turning point

Breece Hall’s 4-yard touchdown run in the closing seconds of the first half brought Iowa State within 14-10, seeming to give the Cyclones all the momentum going into the break.

The score remained that way until late in the third quarter.

Iowa downed a Tory Taylor punt at the Iowa State 6. On first-and-10, Hall took a handoff and headed off left tackle.

Iowa linebacker Jestin Jacobs beat the block of ISU tight end Chase Allen and got to Hall, with his arm knocking the ball from Hall’s grasp. Hawkeye linebacker Jack Campbell picked up the loose ball on a bounce and rolled into the end zone for the 7-yard touchdown.

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That made it a 21-10 Iowa lead with 5:06 left in the third. A Seth Benson interception off the hands of Iowa State receiver Xavier Hutchinson on Iowa State’s next possession set up a 51-yard Caleb Shudak field goal that extended the Hawkeyes edge to 24-10.

By the numbers

3: Defensive touchdowns scored by Iowa in its first two games.

7: Turnovers forced by Iowa defense in the first two games.

14: Consecutive games Iowa State running back Breece Hall has scored a touchdown.

91: Temperature at kickoff at Jack Trice Stadium, the fourth-hottest game ever in Ames. The field temperature was a mere 99.

Notebook

If you are looking for a comparison for Iowa State star running back Breece Hall, ABC-TV color analyst Kirk Herbstreit said he thinks he’s got one.

It’s former Auburn standout Kerryon Johnson.

“That kind of herky jerky, patient (back),” Herbstreit said. “Just waits, waits, waits and kind of bounces through the hole, but with physicality because of his size. Kerryon Johnson, when he was at Auburn, fit great into that system.”

Johnson rushed for just shy of 1,400 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior at Auburn in 2017. He decided to forgo his senior season and enter the National Football League Draft.

The Detroit Lions selected him in the second round of the 2018 draft but his pro career hasn’t been much, partly due to injury. He was waived by both the Lions and Philadelphia Eagles over the summer and is a free agent.

Hall could be a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. If that happens, he’d be the first first-rounder from ISU since running back George Amundson by the Houston Oilers in 1973.

Only two schools from Power Five programs have not produced a first-rounder since 2000: Iowa State and Indiana.

Iowa fans surely went to the internet to check out just who No. 29 was for the Hawkeyes when he caught a pass to begin a touchdown drive early in the second quarter.

Turned out it was wide receiver Jackson Ritter. Who? Jackson Ritter.

The 9-yarder he hauled it at the sideline from quarterback Spencer Petras was Ritter’s first career catch. He’s a redshirt sophomore walk-on from Frankfort, Ill., and Lincoln-Way East High School in the Chicago surburbs.

Ritter played at the tail end of Iowa’s 49-7 blowout win over Michigan State last season and saw a bit of time last week in the blowout win over Indiana. This was his third career game.

Ritter’s mother played volleyball at Iowa in the late 1980s/early 90s, which is why he chose to walk on for the Hawkeyes.

How big was Iowa punter Tory Taylor again?

The sophomore from Australia was a revelation last season in being able to pin opponents deep into their own territories. That happened again Saturday.

Taylor punts were downed at the Iowa State 10, 8 (twice) and 6. He punted eight times overall for a 51.1-yard average.

It was a good day for Iowa’s men’s basketball team, too.

Josh Dix of Council Bluffs Lincoln has joined Iowa’s 2022 men’s basketball recruiting class. He gave a verbal commitment to the Hawkeyes after visiting Iowa the previous weekend.

Dix, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound shooting guard, averaged 19.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists last season for Council Bluffs Lincoln.

He got scholarship offers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Purdue, Northern Iowa, Drake and others. Dix joins three-star Brewster Academy (N.H.) point guard Dasonte Bowen in Iowa's 2022 class.

Injury report

Iowa State starting middle linebacker O’Rien Vance missed Saturday’s game with a leg injury incurred in last week’s game against Northern Iowa. Vance is a former Cedar Rapids Washington prep. He was replaced in the starting lineup by redshirt junior Gerry Vaughn.

Iowa guard Kyler Schott missed Saturday’s game again with a foot injury incurred while bailing hay on his family’s farm prior to fall practice beginning.

Up next

For Iowa, it’s a home against Kent State (1-1). It’s a 2:30 p.m. kickoff, with the game being televised by Big Ten Network. Kent State beat VMI on Saturday, 60-10. The Golden Flashes lost to sixth-ranked Texas A&M in their opener, 41-10.

Iowa State, meanwhile, takes a trip west to Nevada-Las Vegas for a 9:30 p.m. game. The Rebels were 0-1 going into their game late Saturday night against 23rd-ranked Arizona State. UNLV lost its opener to FCS Eastern Washington, 35-33, in double overtime.

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