Hawkeyes drop fourth quarter heartbreaker to No. 11 Indiana

IOWA CITY — Dan McCarney watched the Hawkeyes warm up from the sidelines. As the Iowa football honorary captain for its Homecoming game against No. 11 Indiana (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten), the former player and coach was soaking in every bit of the pregame anticipation.

He even said to multiple fans, coaches and officials that he had a good feeling about this matchup.

It didn’t pan out that way.

For the second week in-a-row, the Hawkeyes (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) found themselves tied heading into the fourth quarter. In a sold-out game at Kinnick Stadium, Iowa had a chance to double-down from its dominant performance against Rutgers a week ago.

Without a touchdown in the second half, and a missed 42-yard field goal by Drew Stevens, it wasn’t happening for the home crowd. Instead, the No. 11 Hoosiers’ wide receiver Elijah Sarratt broke a tackle in midfield for 49-yard touchdown to seal the game, 20-15, for Iowa’s first Big Ten loss of the season.

“It’s tough, it’s hard and it’s emotional,” Hawkeye center Logan Jones said. “You work so hard for something, and for it to go the way did, it’s tough. But that’s football, and we responded, so that’s the biggest thing.”

It’s the first time since 2007 that Indiana beat Iowa in Iowa City, and the first time in five tries that the Hoosiers were victorious over the Hawkeyes. Iowa’s now 0-11 against ranked opponents, going back to its win over Penn State in 2021.

The Hawkeyes had their chances, including an interception by Zach Lutmer that set up kicker Drew Stevens’ missed field goal, and two stuffed fourth down attempts by the defense. Lutmer’s interception was the first time Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was picked off all season.

Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski took an awkward fall on a third-and-long quarterback keeper. The starter went straight into the medical tent and didn’t return. He finished the game 19-for-25 with 144 passing yards with an interception and a rushing touchdown.

Hank Brown, the sophomore transfer from Auburn, took over at quarterback for the rest of the game. He finished with 5-for-13 and 48 passing yards with an interception of his own.

Even with the bitter ending, Iowa held one of the best teams in the country to its lowest offensive outing of the season. The game just started as bumpy as it ended for the black and gold.

“Missed a couple opportunities,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “Overall, everybody understands winning is really hard in college football. It's hard in this conference. Always has been.”

Two plays in, Gronowski was picked off for the second time as a Hawkeye. The Hoosiers scored a 14-yard touchdown two plays later for the early lead.

Silence, and dread, filled Kinnick Stadium. Indiana hasn’t trailed for most of the season, and a Hoosiers lead could quickly become a death sentence.

  Buy Photo

The Hawkeyes defense, however, made sure it wasn’t silent for very long. Iowa allowed less than 250 total passing yards against Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, one of the nation’s best signal callers through these first five games.

Iowa needed to keep Indiana within striking distance to have a chance. For most of the first half, it did that. Stevens knocked down a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter, and the Hawkeye defense had two tackles-for-loss on third downs to stall Hoosier drives.

Gronowski pummeled his way into the endzone with less than two minutes in the first half, scoring Iowa’s first touchdown of the game. He’s scored at least one rushing touchdown in five consecutive games this season, becoming the first Hawkeye QB to do so since Wilburn Hollis in 1960.

Instead of holding a 3-point lead at halftime, however, Indiana kicked a 46-yard field goal to tie it at 10-all at the break.

“I give Iowa a lot of credit,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said. “This is a hard place to play ... They were juiced up for this game and to come out with a win when maybe you didn’t play your best, a lot of it is because of Iowa.”

Hawkeye running back Kamari Moulton led the game with 75 rushing yards on 18 carries, while receiver Sam Phillips trailed with 64 receiving yards on five catches. Iowa relied on eight receiving targets and four runners, including Gronwoski.

Iowa enters its first of two bye weeks, before traveling to Madison, Wisconsin to face the Badgers. Indiana’s also on a bye and travels to Eugene, Oregon to take on the Ducks. Following the Hawkeyes’ game against Wisconsin, Iowa faces ranked opponents in two of its next three games.

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