Iowa football rewind: Breaking down Hawkeyes’ 91-yard drive against Purdue

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s offense had plenty of season-bests in the Hawkeyes’ 24-3 football win over Purdue Saturday.

Running back Kaleb Johnson had the most rushing yards for any player not only in this season, but since 2015. Iowa’s two passing touchdowns were the most in a game this season. The 376 total yards were the most for Iowa on the road this season.

The Hawkeyes also had their longest drive of the season.

Iowa’s nine-play, 91-yard touchdown drive at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter was a turning point in the game.

Iowa’s previous two drives went for 13 and 18 yards, respectively. Three of Iowa’s next four drives went for at least 50 yards and resulted in points.

Three big plays from quarterback Spencer Petras to tight end Sam LaPorta were responsible for 71 of the 91 yards on the drive.

The first one still was in the first quarter, when the wind was at the Hawkeyes’ backs. LaPorta was inline on the right side for a second-and-7.

He outran Purdue linebacker/safety Jalen Graham on a vertical route along the right sideline, and Petras’ throw was on the mark for a gain of 41 yards.

The second key play was on a third-and-8. Purdue was in man coverage with one deep safety. LaPorta lined up out wide. He made a double move on a slant route, creating plenty of space from Graham.

Petras made the short throw to the open LaPorta with ease as the Hawkeyes picked up 14 yards and a crucial first down.

“Man coverage let a good player go beat his guy,” Petras said. “Credit goes to Sam for that. … He just did a really nice job beating his guy and giving me a clean shoulder to throw to.”

The third big Petras-to-LaPorta connection of the drive happened on the subsequent play.

Iowa was in an unbalanced formation, with two tight ends on the left side. Wide receiver Nico Ragaini was in a jet sweep motion from right to left. This time, Purdue was in zone coverage. LaPorta, on a levels route, had plenty of space again.

“No one was really near Sam,” Petras said. “So that was easy. Just don’t miss him and get in the end zone.”

While the Petras-to-LaPorta big plays were likely the most memorable moments from the drive, Johnson, the true freshman running back, also had some impressive plays.

The first play of the drive seemed doomed when Purdue defensive lineman Cole Brevard pierced through the A gap between center Logan Jones and left guard Connor Colby and met Johnson about three yards behind the line of scrimmage.

Johnson spun and stayed on his feet to break the tackle before running horizontally toward the east sideline while looking for a gap. He made another Purdue defender miss before three Purdue defenders took him down for a three-yard rush.

While a three-yard gain will not jump out on the stat sheet, it was six yards better than if he did not evade his encounter with the 315-pound Brevard.

Some of the areas of weakness for Iowa’s offense through the first half of the season were areas of strength on the 91-yard drive.

Iowa had been stuck in many third-and-long situations in the first half of the season, but the Hawkeyes only had two third downs on the drive. One of them was a third-and-1.

The Hawkeyes also only had one play for negative yardage, partially thanks to Johnson’s aforementioned acrobatics.

Tory Taylor succeeds both with, against wind

With a heavy wind advisory in effect — gusts were supposed to go up to 50 miles per hour — kicking and punting were likely going to be a challenge. Iowa punter Tory Taylor had plenty of success, though.

When Taylor had the wind at his back, he averaged 62 yards per punt.

When Taylor was punting against the wind, he averaged 41.5 yards.

To put those numbers in perspective, Taylor averaged more yardage going against the gusting winds at Ross-Ade Stadium than Minnesota and Illinois’ punters have averaged all season regardless of wind situation.

Taylor also had the challenge of going up against the reigning Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year, Charlie Jones.

But Jones could not return any of Taylor’s eight punts. It was the first time he did not attempt a punt return since transferring from Iowa to Purdue in the offseason.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com