Game Report: Iowa Hawkeyes 26, Michigan State Spartans 16

IOWA CITY — A closer look at Iowa’s 26-16 football win over Michigan State Saturday night at Kinnick Stadium.

Turning point

Michigan State, flailing on offense with two consecutive false-start penalties before an incompletion made it fourth-and-13 at its 22, punted with 4:02 left in a 16-16 game.

After shanking a 15-yarder on his previous try, MSU’s Ryan Eckley outkicked his coverage and Iowa’s Cooper DeJean caught it at Iowa’s 30.

DeJean outran a Spartan at the Iowa 45, eluded another at the 50, cut past two more at the MSU 45. He eluded a last-chance diving tackle try at the Spartan 38, then zipped past what was left of the MSU punt team down the left sideline for the game-deciding touchdown.

By the numbers

minus-5 — Iowa had a minus-5-yard scoring drive in the third quarter that ended with a Drew Stevens career-long 53-yard field goal.

1 — Deacon Hill had one career college completion before he took over at quarterback in the first quarter.

2 — Erick All got his second TD pass of the season, matching his career total at Michigan.

4 — The Spartans had four false-start penalties in the second half.

10 — Iowa had 10 rushing yards in the first half. It finished with 61.

58 — Michigan State’s Jonathan Kim made a Kinnick Stadium-record 58-yard field goal to end the first half. It was the Spartans’ longest field goal since 1983. Iowa’s Marshall Koehn held the record with a 57-yarder since 2015.

108 — Michigan State’s Nathan Carter became the first 100-yard rusher against Iowa since Mo Ibrahim had 263 last Nov. 22.

127 — Iowa was outgained by 127 yards, 349-222, and ran 17 fewer plays than the Spartans. Those stats don’t show up in the won-lost department.

Notebook

* Former Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald attended the game. He didn’t come alone.

Fitzgerald is a parent volunteer for the football program at Loyola Academy, the suburban Chicago high school sons Ryan and Brendan attend. Ryan and other Loyola students were with his father.

Former Coe College/Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson also was in attendance. Jackson’s son, Braeden Jackson, is an Iowa recruit.

Also in attendance: MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo. He loves football, always has.

* On a day in which it was 92 degrees at 5 p.m. as most tailgating was held on paved surfaces, Iowa fans wore black because they were told to do so for a specific look on the NBC telecast.

Hopefully, no one blacked out because of the “Black Out.”

Michigan State’s players wore white jerseys and white pants, even though it was after Labor Day.

* WLNS-TV’s Audrey Dahlgren reported Friday night that Michigan State’s official NIL brand — Spartan Dawgs 4 Life — had canceled or paused nearly all of its contracts with Michigan State football players.

SD4L reportedly had deals with 30 to 35 football players. Dahlgren reported “less than five” of them will continue to receive their NIL funding from SD4L.

David Harns, publisher of Spartans Illustrated, tweeted that the “This Is Sparta!” NIL fund had stepped in to help.

Injury report

The Injury of the Year to date came on Iowa’s second possession when quarterback Cade McNamara fell awkwardly while scrambling out of the Hawkeyes’ end zone.

He couldn’t walk on his left leg as he was helped off the field, and was carted back to the team’s locker room. His status will be updated in days to come.

Hawkeye guard Nick DeJong was injured with 6:23 left in the game and went to the medical tent on the sideline, favoring his left arm. He was replaced by Connor Colby, who hadn’t played to that point because he got dinged up in the previous week’s loss at Penn State.

Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said DeJong’s injury “seems like it’s not as bad as it could have been,” and wasn’t a dislocation.

Iowa went another game without two of its top running backs, Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson. Their status for next week in uncertain.

Next game

Iowa hosts Purdue (2-3 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Boilermakers beat Illinois Saturday in West Lafayette, 44-19.

The game will be streamed on Peacock. Those not savvy to the streaming game have all week to figure things out.