It was also Iowa’s first loss against an FCS team.
Advertisement
“We’re not where we want to be or need to be”. Senior Jaleel Johnson leads the Hawkeye’s defensive line and he has been more disruptive in the backfield than his 1.5 sacks indicate.
North Dakota State 23, (13) Iowa 21: In Iowa City, Iowa, Cam Pedersen kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired, and North Dakota State beat Iowa for its sixth straight victory over an FBS opponent.
For just the fourth time since the turn of the century, an FCS school has knocked off an Associated Press Top 25 team from the FBS. “That’s not their style”.
North Dakota State outgained Iowa 363 to 231 in total yardage and held the ball for 36 minutes, 40 seconds. They beat Kansas in 2010, Minnesota in 2011, Colorado State in 2012, Kansas State in 2013 and Iowa State in 2014. Iowa was previously 13-0 against FCS foes.
“They have a lot of good players”. “We expect better than what we’ve delivered so far”. Turn off the internet, ESPN and Colin Cowherd if you don’t want to hear the storm of invective that will camp over the Hawkeyes’ heads going into Saturday’s Big Ten opener at Rutgers (2-1). Stick is 10-0 as a starter though, with 17 TD passes. Armstrong converted a fourth-and-9 with a 14-yard pass to Jordan Westerkamp before taking off on his winning run for the Huskers (3-0).
“We came here to win, ” Klieman said. “We take it seriously, protecting Kinnick”.
But it was the Bison defense scoring the first points on the ensuing drive.
Iowa appears to have the proper focus and mindset going into the game, despite this being an FCS opponent. “It’s kind of like baseball, when you walk a guy in the ninth inning, it invariably comes back and gets you”.
King still does not have a kick or punt returned for a touchdown, and he’s visibly frustrated when he gets close to one.
There was progress against the Cyclones. “Some of it was that Josey was out most of the first game, but that shouldn’t matter and that’s on the defensive line, too”.
“They are doing something right if they are a five-time national champ”, Iowa linebacker Ben Niemann said. “We had a good week of practice”. If we get a chance to end the game with the ball in our hands, we got to do it.
North Dakota State is off next week before opening Missouri Valley Football Conference action in the annual homecoming game Saturday, Oct. 1, against two-time defending league co-champion Illinois State.
“We just didn’t execute the way we should have”, Beathard said.
“We told them all week long that we belong”.
The Bison were the most physical team on the field Saturday.
“They are a very aggressive, tough football team and we didn’t measure up”, said Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz. “They’ve got our attention”.
“Even if they have 10,000 people here, hopefully there will be 60,000 of our fans here drowning them out”, quarterback C.J. Beathard said.
By playing them both, Iowa has been able to maximize their talents and keep them fresh.
Advertisement
Beathard threw a pair of touchdown passes to Matt VandeBerg and hit Riley McCarron for a 30-yard score – the second touchdown of his career. However, this one loss undoubtedly stole all the magic around Iowa City that surrounded the team during its huge winning streak last season.
