Stat Pak: YAkrum Wadley on that 46-yarder

AMES — Josey Jewell had a look of relief after the Hawkeyes escaped Jack Trice Stadium with a victory over Iowa State.

He knew.

Yes, Iowa's defense had two late stops that played a role in securing victory. The obvious one was in overtime, when Iowa State wide receiver Hakeem Butler dropped a third-down pass with Iowa safety Jake Gervase closing fast. That forced Iowa State to kick a field goal and set the stage for quarterback Nathan Stanley's 5-yard touchdown pass to true freshman wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, lifting the Hawkeyes to a 44-41 win.

The bigger stop came with 3:01 left.

Iowa State held a 38-31 and had the ball at its 25 with 3:32 left in the game. The Cyclones (1-1) wanted to run the ball and drain the clock. After gaining 2 yards, Iowa defenders Gervase, Michael Ojemudia and Bo Bower surrounded Iowa State wide receiver Allen Lazard on a third-and-8 pass and forced a punt.

Iowa (2-0) was forced to use all of its timeouts, but it squeezed a three-and-out from ISU and gave its offense the ball back with 3:01 left in the game.

Running back Akrum Wadley took it from there, scoring from 46 yards on a short pass and tying the game with 1:03 left.

Jewell certainly enjoyed the glow of victory. He won his senior game against the Cyclones and helped carry the Cy-Hawk Trophy off the field. But those stops didn't quite fill all of the divots the Cyclones chunked on Iowa's defense.

'I wish (the stop in overtime) washed away all of the missed tackles I had and missed tackles our defense had,' Jewell said. 'It's something to learn from, I think.'

Missed tackles were a problem for the Hawkeyes. The Cyclones had a lot to do with that. Their no-huddle air attack kept Iowa running around the width of the field all day. ISU running back David Montgomery, who finished with 112 yards on 20 carries, became the first back to rush for more than 100 yards against Iowa since Penn State's Saquon Barkley went for 167 last November, a span of six games.

'We got thrown around a little bit on the defensive side of the ball,' Jewell said. 'We had missed tackles, missed opportunities, missed assignments. We really need to come away with a better understanding of what we need to get better at and how to fill the void.'

Defensive coordinator Phil Parker pushed a lot of buttons.

The Hawkeyes played a dime package for 14 plays, with linebackers Bower and Ben Niemann being subbed out for safety Amani Hooker and cornerback Manny Rugamba. Rugamba made the start, but was lifted in the second quarter in favor of Ojemudia.

Park was in sync with his receivers most of the day, throwing for 347 yards and four TDs. The Hawkeyes rushed more than four defenders eight times. The Hawkeyes did get 12 QB hurries and seven QB hits, but only had one sack and did little to disrupt the Cyclones' timing.

'It's a game of peaks and valleys,' Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. 'We've got faith in our guys and they went out there and dug in and held them to a field goal and that gave us a chance, and they got the ball back on the possession before, too. The things we had to do to be successful today we were able to execute. But, boy, nothing was uncontested. It was a really tough game.'

The Hawkeyes again played eight defensive linemen, but definitely leaned on ends Anthony Nelson (five hurries, two QB hits and a half of a QB sack) and Parker Hesse (two hurries, 14 plays as a tackle and an interception that set up a field goal).

It's probably time to gauge the sweet spot for true freshman end A.J. Epenesa. In 16 snaps, he had a half of a QB sack and a hurry. He was almost as productive last week in only 10 snaps. Does he know enough of the defense to earn more snaps? Can he play the run the way this defense demands?

Iowa's defense has its stuff to figure out. The Hawkeyes' offensive line will be undergoing a makeover after senior tackle Ike Boettger was likely knocked out for the season with what's feared to be an Achilles tendon injury.

When Boettger, a three-year starter at right tackle, left in the third quarter, senior Sean Welsh (84 snaps) slid out to tackle and junior Ross Reynolds (10 snaps) jumped in at guard. Later in the third, senior Boone Myers (36 snaps) went in for freshman Alaric Jackson (81) at left tackle. Myers suffered a high-ankle sprain early in camp and still is not moving well. By the end of the third, Myers replaced Reynolds at guard and Jackson held down left tackle.

The Cyclones gave Iowa everything it could handle on the line of scrimmage. Pass protection for Iowa was outstanding (one sack in 41 passes and few hits and hurries), but Wadley had to work for his 118 yards on a career-high 28 carries.

'I think they did some great things on the defensive side,' Welsh said. 'They had some great schemes and a lot of stuff we didn't prepare for. I think it's that and there were sometimes when we didn't execute, too. We have a lot to improve on, but you have to give credit to Iowa State. They did a great job.'

Three stars

1. RB Akrum Wadley

Best player on the field Saturday. Moves at a different speed than everything else. Doesn't panic. He did have a fumble, but he also took a ton of blind hits from trailing defenders and hung on to the ball.

Let's 'mean,' 'median' and 'mode' on Wadley's day:

minus-3

3

2

3

20

1

6

4

35

2

5

1

minus-3

3

2

10

11

2

minus-1

minus-2

8

3

6

Mean — 4.2 yards per carry

Median — 0 is the number

Mode — 0 is the number

Absolutely it was another work day for Wadley.

Are you not following my friend @Mbenson6 on Twitter? He works for Stats Inc. and is an Iowa grad. His game day tweets are not to be missed. Here's a few on Wadley:

Wadley became the 4th Big Ten player since 2000 with 100+ rush yards, 1+ rush TD, 70+ rec yards and 1+ rec TD.

— Matt Benson (@mbenson6)

And the first Big Ten player to do all that in a road game since Penn State's Curtis Enis in 1997. https://t.co/6aixTGj5Ro

— Matt Benson (@mbenson6)

2. QB Nate Stanley

Anytime you can attach your day's output to one of the Chucks (in the case Hartlieb, in that Stanley finished with 300-plus yards and five TD passes for the first time since 1987 vs. Northwestern), you've had a day as an Iowa QB.

Yes, Stanley missed four very possible TD passes on overthrows. Know what else he missed? Interceptions. He threw maybe two passes that were bad balls or up for grabs.

From @mbenson6:

Nate Stanley is the first Iowa QB with 300+ pass yards and 5+ pass TD since Chuck Hartlieb vs. Northwestern in 1987.

— Matt Benson (@mbenson6)

Stanley is also only the second Big Ten QB in the last 20 years with 300+ pass yards, 5+ pass TD & 0 INT in a road game.

— Matt Benson (@mbenson6)

3. ISU QB Jacob Park

The numbers are nutty, but I liked this: The first pass after Park totally didn't see Hesse on his interception was a 74-yard TD to Butler. Great discussion here on Twitter on what happened on this one. I initially thought Gervase got caught looking at the play-action mesh, but was Bower supposed to reroute Butler? Bower had his eyes on the mesh, too, and Butler streamed by him without a look.

Butler also put an inside-out move on Gervase that really sprung the play. Interesting discussion. We can do that on Twitter when you guys aren't complaining about having to play Iowa State. (Stop doing that. Contract is signed through 2023. Stop doing that.)

The DVR Chair

(It's sort of an ugly green)

— This turned out to be a game of matchups on linebackers.

Iowa State tried to get Jewell and Bower in space and did successfully a few times. Iowa went after ISU LB Joel Lanning and struck gold.

Of course, you've heard all about Wadley's 46-yarder. Wadley ran an angle route, Lanning trailed and then missed a diving tackle attempt at Wadley's feet. The TD ended up tying the game.

On Iowa's first scoring drive of the third quarter, the Hawkeyes hit a third-and-15 off play-action. Lanning took the fake. Iowa TE T.J. Hockenson was alone in the middle of the field for a 24-yard gain. Two plays later, Stanley again executed play-action. Hockenson blocked down. Lanning flowed to the middle. Hockenson then pivoted into the flat and was wide open for a 17-yard gain to the 1.

This is Lanning's first season at linebacker. He's a physical specimen. This isn't an easy game and, man, it's unforgiving.

— Rugamba started and then was replaced by Ojemudia midway through the second quarter. I don't know what that was. Rugamba might've dropped one coverage in the first quarter. He did have two pass interference penalties, but those weren't until later. Parker must like Ojemudia a little better right now.

Or Parker had a ton of dime in the game plan and knew Rugamba would be used there.

Speaking of which, these were the first meaningful snaps for Hooker. He was targeted twice and was beaten on a 3-yard option route run by Allen Lazard for a TD. Maybe he carves himself out some quality playing time in dime.

— Another first day: CB Josh Jackson replaced WR Matt VandeBerg at punt return. He knows he has to catch punts or watch them roll like Colin Downing's did for 61 yards in the fourth quarter. Iowa ended up going the 89 yards to tie the game, but it probably didn't need the degree of difficulty.

— Special teams helmet sticker to punter Colten Rastetter. Yes, he's not wowing with feats of strength yet, but he punted seven times and ISU returned just one.

— Targets: Tight end Noah Fant 3 catches on 7 targets, Hockenson 2 of 3, TE Peter Pekar 1 of 1, Smith-Marsette 4 of 6, WR Nick Easley 7 of 9, VandeBerg 3 of 7, RB James Butler 1 of 1, Wadley 4 of 4, FB Drake Kulick 2 of 2.

— Defensive targets: Jackson 6 catches on 14 targets (73 yards, TD, 2 breakups), Rugamba 4 catches on 6 targets (42 yards, TD, two PIs), Bower 3 of 5 (37 yards), Jewell 3 of 5 (25 yards, breakup), Ojemudia 2 of 6 (18 yards, PI, breakup), Hooker 1 of 2 (3 yards, TD), Gervase 0 of 1. Passes that were between defenders: Gervase/Rugamba/Bower 1 of 1 (25 yards), Jackson/Miles Taylor 1 of 1 (6 yards), Gervase/Jackson 1 of 1 (20 yards), Bower/Gervase 2 of 2 (93 yards, TD).

— Defensive stops (stopping the offense at 45% of needed yards on first down, 60% of needed yards on second down, or 100% of needed yards on third or fourth down): Niemann, A. Nelson 4, Jackson, Jewell 4, Epenesa, Brincks 2, Hesse 4, Bazata, M. Nelson 2, Bower, Ojemudia, Gervase, Brady Reiff

— QB hurries: Hesse 2, Bazata, Cedrick Lattimore, A. Nelson 5, M. Nelson, Reiff, Epenesa

— QB hits: Bower, Jewell, Gervase, Lattimore, A. Nelson 2, Epenesa

Two plays

— This is more than two plays, but Kirk Ferentz was asked how he thought Brian Ferentz, his son and offensive coordinator, called the game.

'He called a heckuva game,' Kirk Ferentz said (little catch in his voice). 'I like what I see during the week. That's the room I spend the most time in. I like the way the plan's going in and then during the game, there's a lot of great conversation. Everybody is involved in that, and I just listen. They're always thinking good thoughts, processing what happened and moving on to the next thing. ...

'But he called a really good game. I joked with (radio play-by-play voice Gary) Dolphin in there that there were a couple of calls I would've second-guessed, except they worked, so I can't do that.'

For lack of a better word, I thought Iowa was unpredictable. Out of 11 personnel (one back, one TE), the Hawkeyes ran 11 times. That historically has been a pass group. Iowa passed six times out of 22 (two TEs, two backs), including the game-winner to Smith-Marsette.

None of the personnel groups were terribly out of balance. In 21 (two backs, one TE), Iowa passed eight times and ran 10.

After 82 plays, it was 41 pass and 41 run. That perfect mix made tendency work against the defense.

— How about going back to Smith-Marsette?

Not only going back to him, but 44 snaps. Smith-Marsette is the clear No. 3 receiver. Fellow true freshman WR Brandon Smith saw 13 snaps. His role seems to be growing.

Up next — North Texas (1-1)

(at Kinnick Stadium, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2)

— Not a lot went right for the Mean Green in a 54-32 loss at SMU last week, writes Brady Keane of the North Texas Daily.

— The guts of that defeat, from The Dallas Morning News.

— I think Iowa State seemed 'Air Raid' in its offense. UNT is legit 'Air Raid,' from the North Texas Daily.

The numbers game

Touchdowns in the red zone

Iowa

— 5 of 6

Iowa State

— 3 of 5

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. Wyoming — 1 of 1 (off), 0 of 0 (def); Week 2 vs. ISU — 5 of 6 (off), 3 of 5 (def)

The takeaway

: After converting its only trip into the red zone last week into a TD, the Hawkeyes were relentless this week. So were the Cyclones, BTW. These are the numbers of a shootout.

Three and outs forced by the defense

Iowa

— 5

Iowa State

— 6

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. Wyoming — 3 (def), 5 (off); Week 2 vs. ISU — 5 (def), 6 (off)

The takeaway

: When Boettger left the game, Iowa was discombobulated and croaked out back-to-back three-and-outs in the third quarter. Six plays and 7 yards. Meanwhile, ISU scored four TDs in five possessions. But it's about how you finish.

Efficiency

(50% of needed yards on first down, 70% of needed yards on second down, or 100% of needed yards on third or fourth down)

Iowa

— 46.3 percent (38 efficient plays out of 82 total)

Iowa State

— 47.2 percent (34 of 72)

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. Wyoming — 42 percent (off), 34 (def); Week 2 vs. ISU — 46.3 (off), 47.2 (def)

The takeaway

: Iowa beats the odds here. You lose this number, you usually don't win. Also, this wasn't a particularly good day for either defense, but we already can see that.

Explosive plays

(Runs of 12-plus yards; passes of 16-plus)

Iowa

— 9 (2 runs, 7 passes)

Iowa State

— 10 (2 runs, 8 passes)

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. Wyoming — 5 (off), 1 (def); Week 2 vs. ISU — 9 (off), 10 (def)

The takeaway

: Wadley accounted for four of Iowa's nine explosive plays (two runs, two receptions). The others: 26-yard reception to Butler, 17-yard TD pass to VandeBerg, 26-yard pass to fullback Drake Kulick (great read to the flat by Stanley) and a pair of receptions by Hockenson (17 and 24).

Iowa State's Montgomery did damage. This was one nutty game of pinball.

Magic Points (scores inside of two minutes)

Iowa

— 14

Iowa State

— 0

Tracking the Hawkeyes

: Week 1 vs. Wyoming — 7 (off), 0 (def); Week 2 vs. ISU — 14 (off), 0 (def)

The takeaway

: Stanley is now 3-for-3 in two-minute drills. That's pretty good, right? He finished a 10-play, 91-yard drive with a 17-yard TD pass to VandeBerg with 52 seconds left before halftime. Then, Stanley hit Wadley for the 46-yarder that tied the game with 1:09 left.

But truth be told on that one, it was a lot of YAC (yards after the catch). Or, and boo me loudly, YAkrum.

Waka, waka, waka.

I didn't count the OT, because there's no clock.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com