Iowa Football Stats to Watch Recap: Minny Ha Ha

The Hawks came came north with Floyd. They went south with Floyd. All is good. PJ Fleck, a good coach, had another tantrum that hurt his team. The ol’ cool shoed, jazzy sprinter also had his starters in far longer than he should have. I get it. A big goose egg on the scoreboard. But Morgan, Ibrahim, and Bateman should not have been on the field at that point in the game. Pajamas called timeout. Kirk Ferentz then decided he needed to teach the rah rah coach a lesson. And a lesson. And a final lesson. Kirk’s timeouts were the instrument in this lesson in respecting your elders. Anyway, let’s look back at how the stats to watch unfolded.

Morgan, Ibrahim, Bateman (Meatloaf would say ²⁄₃ ain’t bad)

I am going to backtrack on my claim that the trio of Tanner Morgan, Mohamed Ibrahim, and Rashod Bateman comprise the best QB/RB/WR trio in the Big Ten. Morgan struggled against the Hawks. I officially apologize to OSU; Fields is just that much better than Morgan. Tanner Morgan on the day, 16/33, 2 INT, 1 TD. Ibrahim put up very good numbers, as expected, 33/144 (4.4 yards) but zero TD’s. He’s a great back but it didn’t feel like the Hawkeye defense ever really was threatened. Bateman also had nice numbers, 8/111 1 TD (it was the saddest, most embarrassing TD in the history of TCF Bank Stadium (Kinnick North 2.0). Phil Parker and his absolute DUDES came, they saw, and they kicked that Gopher [rear].

Goph’s DL vs Iowa’s OL

I was thinking this was going to be somewhat of a fun matchup. Yawn. The Hawkeyes bullied the rodents to the tune of 235 rushing yards (I was yelling at Brian Ferentz to run it even more) at a sassy 6.7 yard clip. Iowa’s big nasties also did not allow a sack. Boye Mafe’s 4 tackles, 1 BrUp, and 1 QBH were a non-factor. Esezi Otomewo had 4 solo tackles and 1 TFL. That my friends, was an O-Line clinic.

X Factor (Special Teams) Was a Non-Issue

Finally, I felt this was going to be a close game. It wasn’t and that was glorious. Iowa’s Tory Taylor continues to be a bigger thing than sliced bread. Keith Duncan missed a 50 yard field goal and it didn’t hurt us. The silly Gophers had a 283 play 25 minute drive in the 3rd quarter, only to have Big Jack Koerner say, “Nah” to Brock Walker’s 39 yard field goal attempt.