Music City Bowl Game Report: Iowa Hawkeyes 21, Kentucky Wildcats 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A look at the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 21-0 win over Kentucky Saturday at the Music City Bowl:

Turning point

After a scoreless first quarter that lived up (or down) to most expectations of this game, Kentucky punted to its own 42 early in the second period.

Iowa tight end Sam LaPorta broke six — that’s right, six — tackles for a 27-yard play, and tight end Luke Lachey went the remaining 15 on the next play for a touchdown and a 7-0 Iowa lead.

Eleven seconds later — that’s right, 11 seconds later — Iowa freshman safety Xavier Nwankpa picked off a Destin Wade pass and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0.

That was all the scoring the Hawkeyes really needed, though Cooper DeJean added a second-quarter pick-6 of his own for a 21-0 cushion.

By the numbers

0 — The Hawkeyes were 0-for-11 on third-down conversions. And still won by 21 points.

4 — Iowa doubled its total of pick-6s this year to four, three of them by DeJean.

6 — The Hawkeyes had six defensive touchdowns this season.

8 — Iowa went three-and-out eight times.

10 — Iowa held an opponent to 10 or fewer points for the ninth time this season, a first for the program.

10 — Kirk Ferentz’s 10th bowl win ties him for the all-time lead among Big Ten coaches. Joe Paterno won 10 at Penn State when the Nittany Lions were in the conference.

18 — There were 18 punts in the game. Kentucky’s 10 set a Music City Bowl record.

200 — This was the sixth time the Hawkeye held an opponent under 200 yards.

42,312 — The attendance, this bowl’s smallest crowd since 2005.

Notebook

* It was the first college starts for Nwankpa and Labas. One threw for a touchdown and the other returned an interception for a score.

Nwankpa had eight tackles, second on the Hawkeyes to Jack Campbell’s 10. Labas completed 14 of 24 passes for 139 yards, and didn’t turn the ball over.

* Tory Taylor’s outstanding punting season had another great game. Iowa’s Taylor left punts at the Kentucky 2, 7 and 7 in the first half alone.

Taylor punted to the Wildcats 8 in the third quarter.

* LaPorta did something he’d never done in his storied college career. He took three straight snaps in a wildcat formation against the Wildcats early in the fourth quarter.

Coaches get a lot of time to think between the end of the regular season and the bowl.

LaPorta rushed twice, handed off once. The plays totaled 8 yards, and the Hawkeyes punted.

* Former Iowa quarterback Deuce Hogan came in with 5:53 left in the game. He directed one drive, which started at the UK 28 and ended at the Iowa 48 when the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs. He completed 6 of 7 passes for 19 yards.

* Iowa’s win made the Big Ten 4-0 in bowls this season before Saturday’s College Football Playoff games of Michigan and Ohio State.

* As this reporter entered Nashville’s airport Friday afternoon, a guitarist was playing and singing in an airport bar. Where else do you see that?

But it is the Music City Bowl, after all.

A few people on Friday’s Allegiant Air nonstop from Cedar Rapids to Nashville sang the Iowa fight song as the flight neared its destination.

The other passengers ranged from amused to tolerant. Someone’s dog, however, began barking in what sounded like an unhappy voice. The dog had been quiet the entire flight to that point.

Next game

The Hawkeyes host Utah State on Sept. 2. The Aggies finished this season 6-7 after a 38-10 loss to Memphis in the First Responder Bowl.

As of July 21, there were three preseason $1,000 bets on Utah State to win this season’s national championship at Caesars Sportsbook. They would have paid $750,000 apiece. They were terrible bets.