Late field goals push Missouri past Iowa football in 2024 Music City Bowl

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz seemed to truly appreciate his time at the Grand Ole Opry in the days leading up to Monday’s Music City Bowl.

“This is unsolicited,” Ferentz said during his pre-bowl news conference. “It is easily the best bowl event. I’ve been to a few bowls. I think 30. … It’s just a really nice thing.”

But come game time, Iowa (8-5, 6-3) — a team that has not won against ranked competition since October 2021 — had to face the music in a 27-24 loss to No. 19 Missouri (10-3, 5-3) in the 2024 Music City Bowl.

“We didn't play well enough to expect to win against a good team, a ranked team,” Ferentz said after the game.

The Hawkeyes had the lead for most of the game, including the entire third quarter. But Missouri broke through in the fourth quarter with a pair of 50-plus-yard field goals by Blake Craig.

Craig first made a 51-yard field goal to cap off the drive that started with Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan’s lone interception of the game. Then after a brief (and unproductive) four-play Iowa drive, Missouri took its first lead of the game with Craig’s 56-yard field goal.

Iowa still had opportunities to tie or take the lead in the final four-plus minutes, but the Hawkeyes fell short at critical moments. Iowa had to punt with fewer than four minutes remaining after Jacob Gill’s dropped pass on third-and-2.

Iowa had the ball again, but the drive ended with a failed Sullivan quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1. Had the Hawkeyes converted, they would have had about a minute to get the ball another 10-15 yards to give kicker Drew Stevens a realistic shot at tying the game. Instead, Missouri could go into victory formation.

“(Missouri) kind of had it figured out,” Sullivan said of the failed sneak. “We were trying to go hurry-up sneak, and it just wasn’t working.”

Before Iowa’s late missed opportunities, its shortcomings in the secondary were particularly glaring. Missouri quarterback Brady Cook completed 18-of-32 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns. Cook also rushed for 54 yards and was the Tigers’ leading rusher.

“We knew he was going to try to extend plays,” Iowa linebacker Jay Higgins said. “He’s a talented quarterback -- we knew that coming in. He does a great job of not turning the ball over, playing smart. ... He played a really clean game.”

Penalties also proved costly, as five Iowa penalties came at a cost of 46 yards. That included a questionable late hit call on safety Quinn Schulte that kept one of the game-changing field goal drives alive.

Sullivan finished the day going 14-of-18 for 131 passing yards. If excluding his two sacks, Sullivan would have had 28 rushing yards. He had one touchdown pass and one (very consequential) interception.

"The end of the story is you can't turn the ball over," Sullivan said. "I think that's what cost us the game. It's something I got to take and I got to live with."

The Hawkeyes also rushed for 166 yards despite being without consensus All-American Kaleb Johnson, who opted out of the game. They averaged 4.4 yards per carry as Kamari Moulton and Jaziun Patterson took the bulk of the opportunities. Sullivan also was a capable threat on the ground.

"We held up for the most part," Moulton said. "Obviously it's a big guy leaving, but I also feel like we have a lot of running backs in this room that can take the load too."

Fellow running back Terrell Washington Jr. had his first career touchdown when he caught a touch pass from Sullivan for a six-yard touchdown reception.

On special teams, Kaden Wetjen returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. It was the first 100-yard kickoff return in the Music City Bowl since LSU’s Leonard Fournette did so in 2014. (Coincidentally, Fournette’s LSU team also lost in that game.)

Iowa has finished the 2024 season with an 8-5 record for the second time in the last three years.

“A lot of good things this season,” Ferentz said. “A lot of really positives.”

At the same time, Iowa extended its streak to nine straight losses against ranked foes and have now lost three of its last four bowl games. Monday’s loss also means that Ferentz will need to wait until 2025 to tie Woody Hayes’ record for most overall wins as a Big Ten member.

Ferentz is at 204 wins, and Hayes has the record with 205 wins. The best-case scenario would be to tie the record in the season opener against Albany and then break the record in Week 2 against Iowa State.

In the meantime, the Hawkeyes will leave Music City on a humbling note with eight months until their next game.

“This one is going to sting for a little bit,” Ferentz said at the end of his opening statement.

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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