IOWA 16, NORTHWESTERN 10: SECOND HALF GAME THREAD

The game started sluggishly for both teams and got worse after Jordan Canzeri suffered a lower leg injury.  And then: Akrum Wadley!  The forgotten man in Iowa's running back rotation -- he was fourth-string at one point -- came off the bench to rush for a pair of second quarter touchdowns, including a very pretty 34-yard run around the edge where he walked into the end zone untouched.

At that point Iowa had a 16-0 lead and things looked good.  The game turned on two plays.  On one, Northwestern converted a third and long situation with a deep pass; a few plays later they had a touchdown and Iowa's lead had been cut to 16-7.  On Iowa's very first offensive play on their next possession, Beathard hoisted a pass into coverage that was picked off and returned deep into Iowa territory.  The Iowa defense stiffened and held Northwestern to a field goal that cut the lead to 16-10, but the damage was done: game on.

Iowa's going to need Wadley to come up big in the second half and the defense is going to need to get some more stops, too.  A few more turnovers certainly wouldn't go amiss, either.

Let's go Hawks.