This time, on fourth and four from the Iowa 7, the Hawkeyes sent pressure at Simon, and the quarterback fired a pass into the end zone that wasn’t near anyone in red. That was the key moment in an 82-yard drive that ended, predictably, on a fourth-down play that did not go their way. The first two plays, the Scarlet Knights moved the chains - including a nice 10-yard pass from Simon to receiver Shameen Jones. He kept his offense on the field three times in Iowa territory in the second half on fourth down. Remember the crazy lateral play in a 2020 loss against Indiana? This was like that, only less dramatic. Still, as he has done since returning to Piscataway, Schiano set the tone by refusing to accept an outcome that seemed certain. Rutgers was down 24-3, a deficit the Scarlet Knights weren’t going to overcome in a month, much less in a quarter. The defense wasn’t perfect, but it held its own on a night when the Rutgers offense kept scoring points for the opposition. Wesley Bailey, a sophomore defensive lineman, knifed through the Iowa line on first-down run to tackle Gavin Williams for a six-yard loss. The D attacked when Iowa ran the ball, too. Before quarterback Spencer Petras could throw, Rutgers defensive back Christian Izien brought him down for a drive-killing eight-yard sack on a well-timed blitz. The Hawkeyes were running the ball effectively when, somewhat inexplicably, they called a pass. The aggressiveness certainly worked against Iowa in the second quarter. Rutgers blitzed on 41.8 percent of its plays, according to the site, well ahead of Purdue at 34.9 percent. Rutgers, under first year defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak, was leading the Big Ten in blitz rate against FBS opponents - and it wasn’t particularly close. The Twitter account had a fascinating stat this week. The eye test, however, on injured quarterbacks Noah Vedral and Gavin Wimsatt during warmups indicates that both will be back sooner than later. Schiano won’t given an injury timetable for any of his players. Simon, the only scholarship quarterback available for this game, threw two killer interceptions - including one that was returned for a touchdown - and misfired on several throws early in the game that might have changed the outcome. Evan Simon completed 28 of 49 passes for a career-high 300 yards, and one week after the Scarlet Knights had just 59 passing yards in a 16-14 win over Temple, that is a certainly a big improvement.īut the numbers, mostly amassed late in the game against Iowa second teamers, don’t tell the story. Here are five observations from Rutgers-Iowa: It certainly won’t beat anyone if it keeps scoring against itself. The result for Rutgers was a Big Ten record 20th straight home loss in conference play, and for this season, it casts doubt on how this team will compete as the Big Ten meat grinder begins. Then, in the second quarter, Iowa safety Kaevon Merriweather returned a Joshua Youngblood fumble for a TD and a 14-3 lead. Rutgers was ahead 3-0 when Evan Simon’s pass was intercepted by Iowa linebacker Cooper DeJean and returned 44 yards for a touchdown. Rutgers is 8-0 since 2020 when it doesn’t make a turnover, which is likely the reason head coach Greg Schiano has taken such a conservative approach in victories against Boston College and Temple.īut with a chance to go 4-0 against a much better opponent, playing it close to the vest wasn’t going to work. Fans might pin that on Sean Gleeson, the offensive coordinator turned message board pinata, but execution was the bigger problem in this game. Rutgers still can’t get out of its own way offensively. It ended with a predictably empty stadium and a few hardy Iowa fans - is there any other kind? - chanting “Let’s go Hawks!” as the away team celebrated another ugly win. The night started with an announced crowd of 53,117, with most of the fans in their seats when FS1 turned on its cameras to a national audience. This was a major missed opportunity for the Scarlet Knights. Two mistakes that end up in their own end zone? Just forget about it. Rutgers is not a program that can make any mistakes against a solid Big Ten program like Iowa and expect to win the game. This one isn’t all that complicated, folks. Actual score: Rutgers 14, Iowa 13, Rutgers 10.
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