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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Early in the second quarter, Iowa punter Rhys Dakin trotted onto the field for his first punt of the game. Seconds after the ball launched off his foot, Northwestern was pinned on its own six-yard line.
Momentum snowballed for Dakin, as his subsequent three punts — each coming in the second quarter — placed offensive coordinator Zach Lujan’s unit within its own six.
“That is not a good place to be in Kinnick (Stadium) with the crowd noise,” coach David Braun said. “(Our) defense continued to get stops. We were not able to flip the field.”
The Wildcats (3-5, 1-4 Big Ten) failed to replicate the Hawkeyes’ (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) special teams success as coach Kirk Ferentz’s team dismantled NU in a 40-14 win.
On the game’s opening drive, redshirt sophomore quarterback Jack Lausch led the offense up the field to the Iowa 32-yard line for a fourth and two.
Braun elected to bring redshirt junior punter Luke Akers, who also served as the team’s kicker due to redshirt junior kicker Jack Olsen’s injury, onto the field for a 50-yard attempt. It fell short of the uprights.
“(We) felt very confident in his ability to execute on a field goal,” Braun said. “I do not second guess that decision.”
In last week’s loss to Wisconsin, the ’Cats had the exact same scenario play out. With a decision on fourth and two from the 34-yard line, Braun brought out Akers, who left the kick short.
On the next drive, the Hawkeyes struck first with a field goal of their own.
When Dakin first placed NU on its own six with 14 minutes remaining in the second quarter, NU nabbed one of its 11 first downs of the day. On the next play, however, Lausch threw an interception.
Lausch led the offense onto the field for the next drive on their own six-yard line again. He took the snap, dropped back and was sacked within the endzone for a safety for the second consecutive week.
“We got put in some tough situations,” graduate student running back Cam Porter said. “Kudos to their punter. That kind of affects the gameplan a little bit.”
Once the ’Cats received the ball again, it was on their own six-yard line. Three consecutive run plays for redshirt sophomore Joseph Himon II netted just seven yards before Akers punted the ball again.
The following drive was déjà vu for NU. Starting on his own five-yard line, Porter took three carries for a total of seven yards.
“Anybody who plays the game knows field position is a very key aspect to the game,” Porter said. “They put the ball in difficult spots, and we had to try to dig ourselves out of it.”
But despite the offensive struggle for the ’Cats, the visitors led the contest 7-5 as Akers took the field with 1:22 left in the half.
At this juncture, the two-sided offensive struggle flipped. As NU’s offense sputtered due to Iowa’s high-level punting, the Hawkeyes found their form. In just 43 seconds, Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson scored the game’s first offensive touchdown with a 26-yard rush.
“Once we got pinned down there, not being able to get back and create some first downs led to a two-minute opportunity for Iowa at the end of the half,” Braun said. “(It was) really frustrating that we weren’t able to at least close out the half and force a field goal.”
Braun said the drive resulted in the Hawkeyes discovering their rhythm. Iowa scored each time it had the ball in the third quarter, including with an 85-yard punt return touchdown by wide receiver Kaden Wetjen.
By the third quarter’s conclusion, the ’Cats were in a 40-7 hole as the Hawkeyes totaled 28 third quarter points — including two third quarter touchdowns by Johnson. Lausch and the offense continued to struggle, finishing the game with just 163 total yards.
“Certainly, in the first three quarters, they won (the special teams) battle,” Braun said.
While the game was all but over, freshman wide receiver Drew Wagner — taking over punt return duties for the game — notched a 72-yard punt return touchdown for the game’s final score.
Having fallen in two straight games, Braun hopes to avoid losing three straight games for the first time as NU’s coach at Purdue next Saturday.
“That was an embarrassing performance, embarrassing loss, embarrassing second half,” he said. “We’re going to have to respond. Everything I’ve seen out of this team in the past, I’m fully confident that they will.
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