Game Report: Iowa 31, Illinois State 14

OPENING SALVO

Iowa's aggressive play-calling was pleasing to the eyes of its fan base, even when it failed.

With the Hawkeyes leading 14-0 midway through the second quarter, they faced fourth and 10 at the 30. Instead of a routine 47-yard field goal for senior kicker Marshall Koehn, the Hawkeyes elected for a fake. Koehn took the snap, raced to his left and tried to outrun the Illinois State defense but fell two yards shy of a first down.

'It was something that we had practiced all through camp,' Koehn said. 'We thought we had a good look on them, but it didn't work out as good as we planned. It was kind of fun.'

Koehn last ran the football in 2010 as a member of Solon's Class 3A state title team. Even when it failed, the team received a rousing ovation by Iowa fans.

'I thought it was pretty neat,' Koehn said. 'We're being more aggressive and the fans are being supportive of that. It's kind of cool.'

'Probably won't be as popular next time it doesn't work,' Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'I'm just going to go out on a ledge and take a shot at that one.'

Well, at least this time Iowa fans rewarded the effort despite the result.

BY THE NUMBERS

0 — Sacks allowed by Iowa's offensive line

10 — Tackles for loss by Iowa, including 5 sacks

123 — LeShun Daniels' rushing yards, his career best

57 — Consecutive Iowa games without a missed extra point, the nation's longest streak

59,450 — Attendance, the lowest at Kinnick Stadium since 2003

REPORT CARD

B-plus — Drew Ott compared his bloody nose to an irrigation well. Oh, that image. Drew Ott, master of horror.

— Marc Morehouse

A-minus — The 'rah rah ree, kick 'em in the knee' pep talk the new school prez gave the Hawkeyes Friday must have worked.

— Mike Hlas

A-minus — That really was football out there Saturday, not that other stuff last November.

— Scott Dochterman

GAME BALL

Iowa running back LeShun Daniels rushed for 123 yards and only once was tackled for loss in his first career start. The bruising junior set the tone with a physical style of play right from the start with 54 yards on eight carries in the first quarter.

Afterward, Daniels had a cut-up nose but his physical style seemed to bloody up the Redbirds.

'When a good team like that comes into your stadium, you want to be physical and you really want to show them what you guys are about,' Daniels said. 'I think we did an excellent job of imposing our physical will.'

DRIVER'S ED

Iowa set the tone early with two long touchdown drives. After receiving the opening kickoff, Iowa took the lead on a 13-play, 81-yard drive that milked 7 minutes, 31 seconds off the clock. The Hawkeyes' next drive began at its 1-yard line and Iowa drove 99 yards in 12 plays that culminated in another touchdown.

'It set the tone for the whole offense, for the entire team,' Daniels said. 'When you have drives like that and you build momentum, it gets everybody juiced. Not just the offense, it gets the defense and everybody all involved.

'When you can go out and have those big drives like that, it gives the offense more confidence and the defense more confidence.'

THREE FROSH

Three true freshmen played for in Saturday's game. They included wide receivers Jerminic Smith and Adrian Falconer, along with guard James Daniels. Neither Smith nor Falconer caught a pass. Daniels played most of the second half and had several key blocks on Iowa's final scoring drive. In fact, he cleared a few holes for his older brother in the backfield.

'In a TV timeout I was just kind of talking to him, just like stay focused and as long as you don't false start, I think you'll be OK out there,' LeShun Daniels said. 'It was fun.'

INJURY TIME

Iowa withheld running back Derrick Mitchell and tight end George Kittle left the game in the second half for an undisclosed reason. Defensive end Drew Ott suffered a bloody nose in the third quarter but returned in the fourth quarter.

'Just couldn't get it stopped on the sideline,' Ott said. 'It stunk. I wasn't very happy.'

UP NEXT

Iowa plays at instate rival Iowa State (3:30 p.m. FOX) next Saturday. The Cyclones hold the CyHawk Trophy after their 20-17 win last year in Iowa City. Iowa State has won three of the teams' last four meetings.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com